Torgrim Sørnes has written the book “Ondskap - de henrettede i Norge 1815-1876” (Evil - the executed in Norway 1815-1876), which is about the last 44 executions that took place in Norway in peacetime. These executions were also the last to be carried out by beheading; the executions in the wake of the treason settlement were carried out by shooting.
After beheading, the executed were often tied to a wheel and placed on top of a pole. Here they remained for years, through summers and winters, while carrion birds feasted on their bodies.
The 420-page book has assigned each execution its own chapter, starting with the murderer Anders Flatebydalen, who was executed at Galgeberg in Christiania. The last person to be executed in Norway in peacetime was Kristoffer Svartbækken from Elverum. He was executed on February 25 at Løten in front of more than 2,500 spectators.
It is likely that more executions would have taken place had it not been for King Oscar II, who pardoned all executions. A form of punishment that he strongly opposed. The method of punishment was later banned by law in 1902.
