Witch boy

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Hexenjunge (original title Visgossens bror ) is a book for young people written in 1997 by the Swedish author Bo R. Holmberg and is about the so-called witch boys who are said to have recognized witches by the "sign of the devil" in Sweden in the 17th century. The action takes place in the northern Swedish landscape of Ångermanland .

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Sweden in the 17th century: numerous women are suspected of indulging in evil, beheaded and burned. So-called witch boys believe the bite of the devil to recognize the stigma diaboli on the foreheads of the victims . Young Olof is looking for his older brother, Johan, who has been separated from him for over a year. When the two meet again, Olof learns that his brother is now working as a witch boy and can see the sign of the devil on people's foreheads. He moves from church to church and earns good money with his services, from which the two brothers can live. Johan believes that his younger brother has this special gift just like him and wants to help him awaken it and use it from now on. However, Olof has to admit that he is not able to identify suspicious signs in people in question. When he is supposed to participate in the appointment of devil servants at a church, he unknowingly accuses the pastor's wife. Horrified about this, especially since he wasn't even sure that he really saw a mark on their forehead, he immediately flees and is separated from his brother again. Somewhat out of the way, he is building a new life in a small town. There he also hopes to find his mother, who, according to Johan's statement, has been jailed for adultery, but to no avail. When Olof learns that it has meanwhile been recognized that the statements made by the witch boys were pure arbitrariness, he worries about his brother and decides to look for him. A pastor, who was deeply affected by his trust in the boys, reveals to him that Johan is hiding in a remote forest hut. Olof finds him there half starved, gives him food and wants to bring him to safety, as some citizens of the region, who have lost relatives due to the accusations made, are now looking for the witch boys in order to take revenge on them. When Olof, who had had doubts about the matter for a long time, asks his brother directly whether he really saw the marks on the accused, the latter bursts into tears and confesses that he only thought he had seen something. He also confesses to Olof that her mother is no longer alive: he himself saw her being hanged, which was so bad that he didn't want to tell Olof. Olof leaves Johan in a spot in the forest for a short time to look for food for both of them. When he returns, however, he finds his brother murdered and the corpse desecrated.

Trivia

However, Holmberg's novel Witch Boy should not be confused with the Swedish novel of the same title, which was written by Maj Bylock .

literature

  • Bo R. Holmberg: witch boy ("Visgossens bor"). Ravensburger Buchverlag, Ravensburg 2000, ISBN 3-473-35207-1