Urban Legends, Haunted Places, ETC .

Maret Jonsdotter

Märet Jonsdotter (1644 – September 1672) was an alleged Swedish witch. She is one of the most known victims of the persecutions of sorcery in her country; she was the first person accused of this in the great witch hysteria called "Det Stora Oväsendet" ("The Great Noise") of 1668–1676, and her trial unleashed the beginning of the real witch hunt in Sweden, which was to cause the death of around 280 people in those eight years. She was known by the name "Big Märet" because she had a younger sister with the same name called "Small Märet" Jonsdotter.

In the autumn of 1667, a little shepherd boy in Älvdalen in Dalarna, Mats Nilsson, claimed to have seen a girl lead goats over Eastern Dalälven by walking on the water at Hemmansäng by Åsen. This little boy had tended the herd of sheep with this same girl, they had had a fight, and the girl had beaten the boy up. The girl's name was Gertrud Svensdotter (Svensdotter meaning "daughter of Sven"). She was twelve years old.

Gertrud Svendsdotter was then interrogated by the priest, Lars Elvius, who encouraged her to say that she had indeed walked on water, and that she had done so by magic, which had been given to her by the Devil. After long talks with the vicar, Gertrud said that while she lived with her parents in Lillhärdal in Härjedalen, a neighbour's maid had taken her to the Devil. The name of the maid was Märet Jonsdotter.

Gertrud Svendsdotter made a detailed confession to the priest. She claimed that, in 1663, when she was eight, Märet had taken her on a walk. They had passed a sand-pit, and then came to a three-way crossroads, where Märet had cried out: "Thou Devil, come forward!". She claimed that Satan had then appeared in the shape of a vicar. They had dined, and the following night, Märet had come to Gertrud and smeared her body and one of her father's cows with a red oil, after which they had flown away through the chimney and all the way to Satan.

Since then, Gertrud had often visited Blockula, milked cattle with familiars, smeared her feet with oil to walk on water and taken children to Blockula, where their names had been written in a book with black pages. The reason she had admitted this was that she had met an angel in Blockula, a man in white, who had told her to confess, or else a hunger epidemic would sweep over the kingdom.

Gertrud's confession came after the shepherd boy Erik Eriksson (15 years old) had reported that he had had a vision in the woods where he was sucked up in the air and saw Gertrud sit in Blockula with the children she had taken, among them his little sister, and that he had heard an angel and a devil discuss how many people they had in their respective kingdoms, and that Gertrud had taken many to the kingdom of the devil. Erik was only to give his testimony once, but he was given credit by the priest of having revealed the whole affair.

The confession of Gertrud was the starting point of the famous "Mora witch trials" and, in the long term, the Swedish witch trials, and the first victim was Märet Jonsdotter. Gertrud also pointed out seven others, and the witch trial started in September 1668. This was the beginning of the real witch hunt in Sweden, a country where witch trials had previously been a rarity.

Märet Jonsdotter was called to court to answer to the accusations. She was urged to confess and to name her accomplices. Märet denied everything. Witnesses were called forward.

The father of Gertrud, Sven Hwass, was one of the witnesses. He claimed that Märet had made him sick and exhausted by using him as a riding horse on her visits to Blockula. Märet had been a maid at his farm and acted as a mother for Gertrud after the death of his wife, and he had the intention to marry her, but he had been discouraged when, during a trip with her to Dalarna, he had been attacked and beaten up by another of her suitors; his rival was the son of an ensign. Märet had then left his household. It was after this incident that Gertrud had been sent away to live with her grandmother's sister in Dalarna.

Märet had a mark on the little finger of her left hand, which was thought to be the Devil's mark. But the only thing they could make her admit were some harmless practices from folklore. She admitted that she had the practice of "reading in salt"; when a cow was sick, she gave it salt which she had moved facing the sun in her hand, and read a verse, which she read up in court: "Jesus our lord travelled mountains and far, he cured shots and magical shots, shots of water and all that is shot between sky and earth. God's worlds and amen." ("Shots" was referring to sickness.) That was all she was prepared to admit.

Gertrud and another girl, Anna Olofsdotter, were then called in to give testimony. Anna Olofsdotter also identified Märet in a confrontation. The girls told Märet that they had confessed because they had come to realise their sins, and that she should do the same, but Märet answered their testimony with questions; if she had truly been in Blockula, then why did she not know about it herself? Why would this be hidden from her? In the end, Märet asked Gertrud to leave – she did not wish to look upon her anymore.

Next, the siblings of Märet (her little sister Small Märet, sixteen years old, and her brothers Oluf, fourteen years old, and Joen, ten years old), were called to give testimony. Small Märet said that her older sister had taken her to Blockula riding backwards on a cow where her name had been written in the book of the Devil with the blood of her left little finger. Big Märet had had sex with Satan, and so did Small Märet after her ninth birthday. The two sisters milked with familiars and rode cows to slaughter to Blockula every Christmas and Easter. Her little brothers said almost the same thing, except that it was their father Jon who had taken them, and that their big sister would never admit anything.

At the testimony of her little siblings, Märet Jonsdotter told them that they had forsaken God and were heading for a dark road, and crossed herself. Her little sister and brothers cried and embraced her and pleaded with her to confess to save her soul, as did her mother, the only one in the family who was blameless. Märet denied everything, said that she had no idea what they were talking about, and asked God to forgive them.

Märet's siblings continued their confession by saying that they had not got even halfway to Trondheim, and pointed out a woman in the audience, Karin i Äggen, called "Widow Karin", who was to have rested with them in the cathedral in Trondheim on the way. They continued to point out Karin Biörsdotter, Oluf Biörsson, Brita Jonsdotter, Per Nils Anna and Märet Persdotter. At the end of the day, ten people were accused.