#skummelt

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Lamb with two heads, Nordland, 1900-1930s

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Mugshot of Sophie Johannesdatter, 1875. The last woman in Norway to be executed.

Sophie emigrated to Norway from Sweden in 1867. After a time at the cotton spinning mill in Halden, she got a job as a maid at wholesaler Niels Anker Stangs house. She almost immediately fell out with her fellow servants and a number of them quit because of Sophie’s behavior. During most of her service, she stole from her employer.

On October 16, 1869, she murdered another of the servants of the house, Maren Johannesdatter, with arsenic mixed in a cup of tea. The poison had been sent to Sophie by her sister in Sweden. The motive was supposedly a conflict between the two women. 

Then in October 1872 Sophie gave their employer Cathinka Elisabeth Foyn Wiel (Mrs. Stang) arsenic. She died several days later on October 16. Mrs. Stang had repeatedly tried to sack Sophie, but her husband had always stopped her. Sophie had repeatedly told other staff in the house that someone should kill Mrs. Stang. In October 1874, the grocer had finally discovered that Sophie was stealing from him and had decided to let her go. To stop him she gave him arsenic, and he died the same night. 

On January 18, 1875, she poisoned 16-year-old Mathilde Wiel, a relative of Mrs. Stang that lived in the house. The girl did not die from the poison but was injured and suffered for the rest of her life. The motive for this attempted murder seems to have been that Sophie had been tasked to care for Mathilde while she had the flu, and she didn’t want to do that. 

February 10, 1875 Sophie lit the house on fire (she moving her own belongings out first). The whole house burned down, but no one was injured.

Following rumors, the graves of the grocer and his wife were opened on March 23, 1875. The bodies were transported to Ebenezer Hospital in Halden for autopsy. The next day Sofie was taken to the hospital and confronted with the bodies. She then confessed to the murders of her two employers. The autopsy showed copious amounts of arsenic in the two bodies. On March 31, 1875, she also confessed to the murder of Maren Johannesdatter and the attempted murder of Mathilde Wiel. She also confessed to the arson and numerous small thefts.

On May 12, 1875, Maren Johannesdatter’s body was excavated and analyzed for arsenic.

On July 19, 1875, Sophie Johannesdatter was sentenced to death.

On November 6, 1875, the death sentence was upheld in the Supreme Court.

On February 18, 1876, Sophie Johannesdatter was beheaded at The Mayor’s square in Halden. The executioner was Theodor Larsen, this was his third execution.

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Laura Odvik, 19. Norwegian woman with leprosy, 1893

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Gravedigger, Norway

1910s

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Einer Nielsen. Materialization

1910s

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“Bustein”, petrified goat fetus to assist in childbirth, this one belonged to the farm Risnes, Vest-Agder

Norway, 1800s

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Post mortem photography

Norway, 1800s

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Picture from the 1930's of bear paw and the box it was stored in

A birth was an important and dangerous event and there was much folklore and traditions designed to protect the woman and child from dangerous animals and vættr (a sort of wight or gnome/fairy). An unbaptized child were especially exposed, and you could end up with a changeling.

Among other things people sometimes used a bears paw to bring luck and protection during birth. The paw would be stroked over the lower abdomen of a pregnant woman or during labor. Bear paws were used because people believed bears where especially dangerous for pregnant women, that they would attack them and even rip the child out of their stomach.