Reflections of Historical Witch Trials in Latvian Folklore: Veckušķis Legend Cycle

Abstract

Large-scale criminal prosecution of witches in Europe started in the alpine valleys of Switzerland, Italy, and France in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries (Behringer 57–68). By the middle of the sixteenth century, that tide had reached the territory of Latvia, where it did not abate until the 1720s. The goal of this article is to analyze the cycle of legends about the sorcerer Veckušķis and his execution, documented in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century, to answer these questions: to what extent do the migratory plots recurring in these legends reflect local historical events and local beliefs; what is the chronology of these legends—were they inherited from the period of witch trials or formed in a later period; and what narrative voices can be heard in these legends?