If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you'll probably know by now that

some 80% of people accused of witchcraft in early modern Europe were women.

But the were countries where the majority of witches were not women, but men.

Among those there was one in particular where some 91% of all those executed on charges

of witchcraft were male.

It was Iceland.

Then as now volcanic plateau with mountain peaks, ice fields, glaciers and a coastline of

fjords.

It was then an almost entirely rural society governed by the Althing, one of the world's

oldest parliaments, though then chiefly operating as a court, but under the rule and influence

of Denmark.

And the Danish king Christian III had in the middle of the 16th century imposed Lutheranism

on his Icelandic subjects.

But in Iceland folk beliefs continued and people lived cheek by jaw and out of this context

witchcraft accusations and prosecutions began.

Dr. Olyna Gheruth, Thor Vardadottyad, holds a doctorate in Icelandic literature and

folklore from the University of Iceland and is an award-winning author.

She won the Icelandic literature prize 2020 for her work with a title that translates

as magic, religion and medical practice, a historical approach.

She's also been an MP in Iceland's parliament.

And so she is the perfect person to approach to learn about this fascinating period of

Icelandic history.

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