|Bonfire in Denmark with witch-doll, wikipedia.|
|Bonfire in Finland, wikipedia.|
|Confessions from witches, Arras, France, Bibliothéque nationale, Paris.|
The midsummernight's feast was the most free among the ancient celebrations of nature. The church had succeeded in transferring and changing the pagan customs into clerical customs, but they could do nothing about the old Nordic midsummernight celebrations. The midsummer feast was a celebration of summer and an outburst of joy of what people had achieved this year. This nature feast kept its old prestige as the second grand festival of the year. There was a change when reformation arrived; the customs of the nature feast were called rests from the Cathloic period and was fought by the reformists as being "papistic". But the midsummer feast did not suffer much in prestige - and it kept on being celebrated in the old-fashioned way. The reformators tried to freshen up the feast for John the Baptist in connection to the Midsummer Feast by demanding a solemn service in the church on the next day , but the church could not achieve any power over people's minds.
The popular midsummernight's feast began with bonfire upon all hills at sunset. The fire had actually to be a "nødild" (emergency fire), it had to be made by rubbing two pieces of wood, this was not respected everywhere. This bonfire night was the most great event all year - and it did outshine the similar event on Valborgsaften (Sct. Walpurgisnight). The evil and the good powers, working at Midsummer time, surpassed all other powers. There was power in the bonfires on that night. Witches, trolls and elves, all were out that night, and invisible dragons flew through the air, corrupting everything which had not been secured with fire or steel. In the 19th century it was still known in North Zealand that the seed had got fire at a farm. "It is because you haven't bonfired!" said people to the farmer.
The meeting place of the witches depended on which Nordic country they came from. The Swedish witches met usually at a small rocky island between Øland and Småland, called Blåkulla. It was notorious because of the dangerous sea around it. Seafarers avoided the cliff and dared not express its right name: Blåkulla. They just called it the Maid or the Virgin and tried to secure themselves by throwing women's jewelry into the sea by the island. An old legend told that when they did so from a ship, a voice sounded from the cliff, telling the crew to change the anchorage - and when they did so the ship was saved, while the other ships were wrecked.
The witches from Norway rode to Troms, it was the high mountain Trommen, facing the sea at the northside of the peninsula, not long from Finmarken. Other Norwegian witches went to the hign, sinister Lyderhorn, one of the seven fjelde (mountains) surrounding the town Bergen.
|Gørding church, Ribe, Google Earth.|
|Vindblæs church, Mariager, Google Earth.|
The Danish witches would either stay in Denmark - or they would go south or north in some local places, like in Gjørding church yard at Ribe, or in Ullemose - or in some other meeting places, but the main part of the Danish witches went to Brocken or Bloksbjerg in Harzen. This was a main meeting place, but many witches preferred to go north, either to the mountain Hekla upon the (then Danish island) Iceland. Hekla was called Hekkenfeld in the witch-connection. Or they went to Troms in Norway, which in Denmark was called Tromskirke. The witches from Jutland ,who went north, followed usually a special route, and they had a "praying place" at Vindblæs church south of Mariager Fjord. Many witches preferred to take the ferry across the fjord. If someone stood at the ferry place at Hadsund at midnight, he could - even though he wore no green turf upon his head - see them coming through the air , crying "Heja, aboard, aboard!" But he had to take care, for it was a dangerous place for him to be watching, he might be taken by the witches and used as a riding transport on their route to the north.
|Hekla, S. Münster, Cosmographica universalis, Basel 1554.|
|frescoe in Sædinge church, Lolland copy J.Kornerup,National Museum.|
|Fandens Oldemor ( Devil's great-grandmother) Under pulpit Vejlø church, Zealand|
But upon an occassion like this meeting everything looked different. There had been cleaned and sweeped and decorated and ligthed for feast, and the devil himself stood at the door, welcoming each guest. He bid them courteously to kiss his behind. Inside was the Mrs. of the house, Fandens Oldemor ( the devil-s great-grandmother, she saluted everyone. She was according to descriptions and images a very stately woman in her best age. A picture of her, which in the 17th century was set up in a church at Zealand, where she carries a pulpit, is quite similar to this perception. Both she and her great-grandson had the ability to be at more places than one at the same time, so they were both present in Tromskirke, Hekkenfeld, Bloksbjerg and in all the other middle stations.
As the witches arrived at the meeting place, they delivered their gifts: food, torn flax and alike. The first-visiting witches had to write their names with their blood in a book, and when they had done this, the entertainment began, mostly dancing, where the devil lead on and often was playing his fiddle. Sometimes the dancing was around a May pole. Afterwards they went to the table for a splendid evening meal. The devil brought the chief witch to the table, his great-grandmother preferred the finest male person. Each witch had a devil as a her table cavallier. The tone was very frivole, and beer and wine were flowing. At Blåkulla they enjoyed themselves by producing some strong snaps. The devil finished the feast by caressing each witch with an embrace so wild and violent, but wonderful that it was both pain and joy - and never forgotten.
|Dance around the Tree, confession from witches, Arras, France, Bibliothéque nationale, Paris.|
Various people in the 16th century had witnessed such meetings. In the year 1549 Eline Mørk in Kornerup at Zealand attended the meeting at Ullemose. The participants got together in "the name of the 7000 devils" and came "from all corners". The devil himself was present as the chieftain. The party was mostly a drinking party. They were sitting by the table, the upper places were the most popular - and ten till twelve barrels of beer were drunk.
In the end of the century Johanne Jenses from Nakkebølle at Funen attended the feast at Bloksbjerg twice. She stayed down there for only one hour; she rode both back and forth upon her little devil "Allebast". Upon the mountain she met many acquaintances, among others the aristocratic lady Christence Axelsdatter Kruckow, also from Nakkebølle. The Danish participants brought a musician, and they held each other's hands two and two and were dancing. The devil gave them enough wine. When they began to dance, three or four fell over, and Johanne said to the party:" Now we were surely revealed"!"
A boy had witnessed the meeting at Gjørding churchyard near Ribe. He put a green turf upon his head and sneaked unseen by the witches on Midsummernight into the churchyard. Here he saw the strange dance of the witches around "Old Erik" in the middle. But while he was looking, a woman came close to him, and when he jumped aside he lost the green turf. The witches discovered him at once and rushed after him - and if the priest had not saved him outside the gate, the witches would have taken him.
|At the table with the devil and his great-grandmother, confessions from the witch-process,Arras, France|
|The devil embraces witch from Mora, Dalarne, Sweden, aft. etching Gravenhag 1670.|
The material from the 16th century is interesting and show us a very different way of life than we live today. The socalled Middle Ages must have been a frightening time to live in, especially for women. It would be easy for someone to accuse a woman of being a witch. " My child is sick - she has sent us evil eyes. She must surely be a witch." A wise woman who was some kind of healer with herbs or with her knowledge would really be in danger .
The drawings from Arras in France show what the "witches" had confessed under torture during the witchprocess in Arras.
The frescoes in the church and the image of the devil's great-grandmother show people's fear. To us the devil's great-grandmother is a somewhat comic figure, but she infused a terrible fear into people at that time. They believed that they would meet her and her scary great-grandson if they were sent to hell. So they had to behave well, while they were living here on earth. Thus you kept people down.
Projekt Runeberg, Dagligt liv i Norden i det 16. århundrede, VII Bog: Årlige fester. 7. Midsommerfest.
photo: bonfires: wikipedia, two churches: google Earth, copies from the 16th century from Projekt Runeberg.