Remembering Witches: Missing Memorials and the Reimagining of the Historic Sorcery Trials in Agder

In the 2010s, public memorials commemorating historical witch trials have appeared in several countries, including Norway. However, in the southern region of Agder, no official recognition of the historic witch trials exist. This article describes the 2024 interdisciplinary project Remembering Witches, which asked what it means to forget and remember the trials in the region and beyond. First, we examine how alternative forms of memory culture—including research, artworks, literature, and public discourse—have addressed this absence by reinterpreting the figure of the witch in Agder. Second, we document our efforts to foster public dialogue about a potential local memorial, involving university students, artists, scholars, and musicians. Throughout we draw on scholarship about dark tourism and memorialisation, including Ann Rigney’s concept of ‘disabled memories’ to consider how the memory of the so-called witches of Agder became inactive, and how it might resurface again. We also compare the lack of engagement with this history in Southern Norway to the activity in Northern Norway, where an ambitious, large and impactful memorial to local trials serves as a counterexample, or perhaps guiding star. By engaging with both historical and contemporary responses to witch trials, we seek to spark a broader conversation about remembrance, justice, and cultural memory.