About the author
Michael Ostling is credited with two studies of European religious history: Between the Devil and the Host: Imagining Witchcraft in Early Modern Poland (Oxford University Press, 2012) and the edited volume Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (Palgrave Macmillan). The first examines how ordinary people in early modern Poland came to imagine their neighbours as witches, and the consequences of that imagination, contributing to English-language scholarship on Polish witch trials. The second draws together scholarship on fairies, demons, and nature spirits from multiple theoretical and disciplinary angles, considering their place at the margins of Christian belief. Both books are historically grounded academic works aimed at readers of witchcraft studies and the history of popular religion rather than at practitioners of witchcraft or folk magic. No further biographical information is given in the listing.
📖 Where to start with Michael Ostling
💬 What our editors say about Michael Ostling's books
“Ostling delivers a rigorous academic analysis that may prove dense for casual readers seeking narrative flair. The work is primarily suited for historians, theologians, and specialists in gender studies who are prepared to engage…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Between the Devil and the Host: Imagining Witchcraft in Early Modern Poland Ostling, Michael
“Ostling provides a dense, academic examination of the contested relationship between Christian doctrine and folk supernatural entities. While thorough in its tracing of cultural negotiation, this text is strictly for those with…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018) Ostling, Michael
