On this date in 1676, two starkly contrasting women were executed for sorcery in Stockholm. Anna Simonsdotter Hack — also known as “Tysk-Annika” — is the forgotten one of the pair, who played the expected role of a condemned witch and meekly gave herself over to the judgment. There were rewards for good behavior: Tysk-Annika had her head cleanly lopped off. Malin Matsdotter, however, did not plan any reciprocal back-scratching with the men who came to kill her. Accused by her own daughters of carrying their children — Malin’s grandchildren — to Satanic masses, “Rumpare-Malin” obstinately refused to cop to...