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ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS, 47%
They further confeffed, that while they faftened three knots on a linen towel in the
name of the devil, and had fpit on them, &c. they called the name of him they doomed
to deftruétion, One confeffed that fhe had raifed a tempeft, by means of wind fhe had
fhut up in a fack ; and added, that fhe deftroyed a veflel of Bergen, for which undertak-
ing an immenfe wave came to her afliftance and funk the fhip. Another faid that fhe,
with other forcerefles, had raifed a tempeft on fome failors in this manner: they went
to the fea-fide in a human figure, and going aboard a fmall bark, in which were fome
men, who had a black heifer with them, they trod down with their united force the veflel
on the way. Another told a ftory, how, after fhe had brought, with another witch,
deftruction on a {mall bark and its crew, they threw a piece of {pongy wood faftened to a
{tone into the fea, and openly darted on it. Another added, on her part, that fhe, blow-
ing into a pipe in the name of the devil, not only overturned a boat, in which were two
young men, but, accompanied by three other witches, had brought deftruétion on a
veflel ; for which purpofe the one aflumed the figure of an eagle, the fecond of a fwan,
the third of a crow, and fhe herfelf of a dove, and all fitting in the bottom of a tub,
were carried over the fea from Vafoea to Domen, a rock fo called, diftant from Vafoe
the {pace of a few miles, where leaving their fhip, or rather the bottom of their tub, they
fled aloft, and then untying the knots they exclaimed, Wind, in the name of the devil:
when this was done they fled to the fea, and did not ftop until they came up with the
veffel they doomed to deftruction ; on which, in the above-mentioned fhape, they all
perched, one on the helm, two on the hatches, and one in the hold. Another confeffed
that fhe had deftroyed a veffel that loofed anchor, and put into a creek, on ftrels of
weather ; for that on its putting out a little to fea, fhe approached it in the fhape of a
fea-dog and overfet it. Another related that fhe, by putting two egg-fhells into a cafk
filled with water, could take away the lives of men; fhe added, that a boat, in which
were failors, perifhed on twirling round the fhells of the faid egg.
As thefe forcereffes pretended by various methods to call up bad weather, and thereby
deftroy men at fea, fo they fpread abroad alfo that by one fuperftitious fpell or another,
inftilled into them in their commerce with Satan, and by fome fatal contrivance they
could bring on men diforders, that they could maim them, nay more, deprive them of
life; one time by a draft of butter-milk mingled with herbs and earth, over which they
repeated the Lord’s Prayer ; another by a draught of beer, in which was an aétive de-
mon, with whom they were in underftanding: now by a charmed piece of cloth of
linen, interwoven with a black piece of woollen, which they had concealed in a hole in
the wall; at another time, by mixing the meat of the perfon whofe deftruction they
aimed at with a certain matter, not unlike fea-weed; and la{tly, by {pitting three times
on a knife, and anointing the victims with that fpittle. A witch eonfefled that the devil,
with whom fhe was leagued, was gone to Vardoe in the fhape of a bird, called Strand-
Erle, promifing that he would take her to Bergen: that fhe fhould kill by her art a
man, who lived at Sandvig, whom fhe hated.
Another woman was accufed of witchcraft, praétifed on a poor girl, after this manner :
fhe turned her fon into a cat, and made him roll himfelf before the girl, drawing a fledge
of fand. The girl ftruck him feveral times when he got in, and killed him at laft with
the inftrument in her hand. On her return fhe paffed by the houfe of the faid woman,
when fhe came out and addrefled her in thefe words: You have killed my fon; may it
beill with you. Soon after the girl was diftrafed and died.
Witches related various modes of tormenting cattle: one time they fat on the back
of the poor animal, faying, Go, get away: giving him a little corn, they faid, Eat and
be accurfed: another time they brought the poor animal what is called the falt of envy.
Another
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