The Witches of Vardo: THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: 'Powerful, deeply moving' - Sunday Times

Product Information

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Death of parent, Child death, Grief, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit Even if I don't think the "make them afraid" strategy would've worked that well, I think it maybe still would've worked better to me if Maren didn't actually possess powers, and just was very good at manipulation. The sudden 'deus ex machina' magical powers after months in confinement felt forced to me - why didn't Maren use them earlier if she was so powerful, and instead let the other women be tortured first? I came across the story of the witch persecutions on the island of Vardø, while I was living in Norway. I lived there for six years, and a Norwegian friend told me about them. I’d always been interested in the history of witch trials and my imagination was just triggered. I was astounded I had never heard of it because it was one of the most ferocious centres of witch-hunting in Europe. As I started looking into it, I became hooked. If you loved The Merciesby Kiran Millwood Hargrave, which was based in the times of an earlier Vardo witch trial, then The Witches of Vardowill be the perfect book to put to the top of your to be read pile.

For many people today, tales of witches and sorcery are a popular form of entertainment. It’s easy to forget that only a few hundred years ago, such activities were a dark part of reality. The Steilneset memorial in Vardø, Norway Vardo in 1621 was a foreboding place. Though the Medieval period, when supernatural powers were accepted as fact and the practice of magic was believed to influence everything, was long gone, belief in witchcraft survived. The church banned it. Science attempted to disprove it. Yet still the belief persisted, and it led to what might be called an epidemic of witchcraft trials–and executions–from 1570 to 1680. Scholars estimate that during this 110-year period, as many as 60,000 people were put to death on suspicion of witchcraft, with Sweden and Spain known for their high numbers of child witches. This is a tale based on true events, with characters drawn from real people, and you can really feel it. It isn't a story for the faint of heart. It asks some harsh questions as it invites you to take a deeper look at these historic events, and to experience them for yourself. You'll sit in the dark, rancid squalor of the cells, you'll feel the cruelty and the torment, the pain of betrayal, of mistrust, of men's want of power and using any and every means to get it. Believe me you'll ache for these women, feel the pure brutality of their treatment, and you'll feel angry, so very angry.My thanks to Bonnier UK Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Witches of Vardø”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook. PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Witches_of_Vardo_-_Anya_Bergman.pdf, The_Witches_of_Vardo_-_Anya_Bergman.epub I'm not sure what to think of this book. It's well written style-wise, the characters are well constructed... the author's intentions are noble. But I feel conflicted about the ending. The memorial is in two parts. A 100-metre long memorial hall communicated the stories of the victims, written by historian Liv Helene Willumsen based on original court records. The other building, a mirrored cube, contains an evocative burning chair.

I remember being very hungry at one point but not wanting to leave my reading spot to go and get food. I ended up with an omelette -taking care of course to crush the egg shells into thousands of pieces…..(important to protect against witches it seems.) The setting of The Witches of Vardø, an isolated fishing community in a remote part of Norway in the latter half of the seventeenth century along with its subject matter, reminded me strongly of The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave which I read in 2021. And those who have read, as I have, books such as The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore or Widdershinsby Helen Steadman will be familiar with accusations of witchcraft being levelled against women, especially those considered "different", for instance women skilled in healing. Also how fear of association can turn a community against those accused, how natural events can be interpreted as portents of evil or how unconventional behaviour can be viewed as a sign of possession by the Devil. I think there’s many different factors. What’s interesting is that it’s covering all genres. There was always an interest in witches, but it was mainly in the fantasy space. But now we’ve got big-selling non-fiction books, historical books, historical novels, well-being books, all sorts!The horrors of the witch trials are not shied away from. They are presented to you in a very real, very tangible way. You'll need a strong stomach, you'll want to turn away, to not see these events unfold; but it is your duty to these women to bear witness, to know their truth, and to always remember. During the witchcraft trials in Finnmark in northern Norway, during the seventeenth century, 135 persons were tried, 91 of whom were executed, most of them at the stake.’– Author note (On Fact and Fiction). Anne Larsdatter from Vadsø, who was exposed to the ordeal of water, claimed in her confession that the Devil tied the tongues of witches so they could neither cry or confess until they were exposed to the ordeal of water. She said that she had flown to a witches' sabbath on Baldvolden outside of Vardø, where she had seen forty others. She had partied so that she barely had time to get home to her bed before it was time to get up for church on Christmas morning. Many of the women interrogated between January and February 1621 pointed out Kirsti Sørensdatter as their leader and admiral. Anna is the King’s prisoner. She longs to return to the mighty Court in Copenhagen, yet the only way to achieve this is to cast her accusing finger on her fellow women. Also captive in the fortress is Anna Rhodius, once the King of Denmark’s mistress, who has been sent to Vardo in disgrace. What will she do – and who will she betray – to return to her privileged life at court?

One was sentenced to a workhouse, two tortured to death, and 18 were burned alive. It was the largest single witch trial in Scandinavia, but the third significant one in Vardø. The memorial was designed by artistLouise Bourgeoisand architectPeter Zumthorand was opened in 2011.Photo: Hege Lysholm / Statens vegvesen These Witches of Vardø are stronger than even the King. In an age weighted against them, they refuse to be victims. They will have their justice. All they need do is show their power. These Witches of Vardo are stronger than even the King of Denmark. In an age weighted against them they refuse to be victims. They will have their justice. All they need do is show their power.My journey with Anna was really interesting. When I wrote the first draft of the book, she was the baddie. I blamed her completely as the historians have done. But then I started thinking ‘hang on a sec…’ All that trial testimony is recorded by a male scribe in the employ of the government of Finnmark. They needed a scapegoat to blame. On 2 September 1662, Dorthe Lauritzdotter [12] [8] [13] was brought in for questioning at the Vardøhus fortress. She had been accused once before, but acquitted, in 1657. Lauritz Braas said that two of his servants, who had recently died, had claimed to be bewitched by her. Four witches led by Dorthe in the shape of a dove, an eagle, a crow and a swan were to have opened their "wind-knots" over the sea to make a boat sink, but the plot supposedly failed because the crew had prayed to God. Dorthe was burned at the stake on 6 November 1662 with two other women, soon followed by another two. Beyond these beliefs, historical events were at work that spurred the panics on. In 1617, Norway suffered a particularly violent storm on Christmas Eve. What should have been a happy time was marred by tragedy — of the 23 boats out to sea when the storm hit, a total of 10 boats and 40 men never returned. At the time, Vardo and neighboring Kiberg only had 150 residents each — so to lose 40 of the 300, all of whom were men or young boys, was a significant blow to the region. The villagers wanted a reason for the storm and the deaths. Two women, Mari Jøgensdatter and Kirsti Sørensdatter, were tried as witches responsible for the weather. Mari confessed, and other witches were tried. Mari was convicted and burned at the stake in January of 1621, marking the first death in the Vardo Witch Hunt of 1621. Within six months, 11 more women were convicted and burned. Vardø Witch Trials (Norway, 1662 - 1663) - Witchcraft". Wise Witches and Witchcraft. 2018-12-16 . Retrieved 2019-10-25.

Thanks to the opening of this striking 2011 memorial, many more people are now aware of what took place in Vardø and across Finnmark in the 17th century. The Vardø witch trials Then it became something else: it became an obsession. When I met with Liv Helene, she said to me: ‘raise their voices with tenderness’. That became my purpose with the book: to raise the voices of these women who had been persecuted and forgotten about by history. And to give them a space to have their story told. I became like a dog with a bone! Then they went to Kirsti, who said that Mari was to come with her to a Christmas party at Lydhorn mountain outside the city of Bergen in Western Norway, over 1,600 kilometers away. She then threw the skin of a fox over Mari and transformed her into the shape of a fox. [4] There is beauty in this story. There is love, friendship and strength. It’s just so tragic that despite it being a somewhat feminist celebration, the characters are absolutely powerless in the face of the real evil: the men in power. But legacies live on. Though all of the young girls accused of witchcraft were acquitted, they had all lost their mothers and, in some cases, sisters and aunts, to witchcraft executions. Those that had fathers living were sent home, while the rest–orphaned by a century of tragedy–were taken care of and fostered by other mothers living in Vardo, brought up in new families who tried to move on from the horrors of those dark, cold winters.

Featured Reviews

Ingeborg sets off to Vardo on a quest to rescue her mother accompanied by wild natured and outspoken Maren (daughter of an accused witch) and friend Zare. Finally, in this time of climate crisis, witches speak to the relationship between humanity and nature and a reverence for nature. A lot of people identify with being witches because of this spirit and connecting to the rebel within ourselves. Let’s not take this lying down!