Episode 4 – Fear, Silence, and the Witch Trials of Vardø

In this haunting episode of Gateway Books by Crestance, we travel to 17th-century Norway, where suspicion turned deadly and silence became survival. We begin with The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, a novel inspired by the real women of Vardø accused of witchcraft. Then, we explore the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, the manual that fueled centuries of persecution, and The Witches of Vardø by Ingrid Hale, a deeply researched account of Norway’s deadliest witch trials.

Through fiction, doctrine, and history, we examine how fear spreads, how communities fracture—and how the voices of the accused, once silenced, still speak to us across time. Hosted by Cindy Cruz, this episode honors the memory of those lost and invites us to reflect on the dangers of hysteria, the misuse of power, and the cost of being different.