If you’re guilty of witchcraft or sorcery, you must die. Every country has its own variations of this dreaded punishment. In Britain, you’ll get hanged, and in Sweden and Norway, beheading is the norm. The most dreaded form of capital punishment is death by burning however.
In Denmark, only people guilty of incest, sodomy, murderous arson and witchcraft are condemned to death by burning. This punishment is reserved for those sinners who have angered God the most. The consequences of such wickedness are made frighteningly clear to people who witness the macabre ritual. Besides hopefully appeasing God and fulfilling a need for revenge, death by burning also serves as a deterrent.
The actual execution is planned meticulously. The witch is led to the pyre at the announced time by a group of guards. She is dressed in white execution garb and has been given wine to take the edge off her terror. It takes a lot of firewood to reduce a human to ashes, and the pyre is constructed from numerous cartloads of wood and in some cases barrels of tar as well.
A minister follows takes up the rear of the procession and gives the witch one last chance to confess her sins. Finally, the pyre is lit. In Denmark, the witch is usually tied to a ladder, which is then tipped into the burning fire. In Germany, the condemned is tied to a stake on top of the pyre, which is then lit – hence the expression death at the stake.
As an act of mercy, some condemned people get a bag of gunpowder tied round their waist to shorten their suffering in the flames. As a bitter conclusion to it all, the family of the witch is obliged to pay for the execution – including the price of the firewood and the fees of the executioner and the minister.