Burning Questions: Icelandic Witch Trials, 1625–1719

Abstract

This study offers a historiographical analysis of Icelandic witch trials within the wider framework of early modern European persecutions, integrating judicial records with vernacular belief traditions to show how accusations shaped communal dynamics and authorities’ efforts to impose social order. It identifies procedural ambiguities, a distinctive gender pattern, and the lack of explicit legal authorization for burnings. Situated in their intellectual and social context, these cases illuminate how belief and law shaped harm and governance, underscoring their distinct value for folkloristics.