Lisbet Nypan (née Elisabeth Pedersdotter Kulgrandstad) (c. 1610 – September 1670) was an alleged Norwegian witch.
The case against Lisbet and her husband, Ole Nypan, is the only Norwegian witch-hunt described by Rossell Hope Robbins in his 1959 book, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology.
[1] Its fame grew a few years later, in 1962, when it was dramatized in Norway by Torbjørn Prestvik in his novel, Lisbet Nypan : Den siste hekseprosess i Trøndelag som førte til bål og brann (Lisbet Nypan : The Last Witch Trial in Trøndelag, from the Beginning to the Burning).
Lisbet was born and baptized as Elisabeth Pedersdatter, from the Kulgrandstad farm in Høllandet (later part of Hølonda Municipality, and now part of Melhus Municipality), located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of the city of Trondheim, in "Trøndhjems amt" (now Trøndelag county).
[2] The family's surname was taken from its farm, Nypan, in Leinstrand Parish, just south of the city of Trondheim, in Sør-Trondelag.
Charges against Lisbet and Ole were brought in 1670, when they sued in the courts for slander, but their case was quickly turned against them.
One of them was used and presented by Lisbeth during her trial in the following lines: "For Reene "Jesus red over de He, han steed udaf "go lagde i Leg, Herren i Hou og Huud med Ben "heelt siden som før.
"[4] ["For Purity "Jesus rode over the moor, he stood forth, "and made the leg, Lord in flesh, skin, bones, "ever since as before.
The parish priest of Leinstrand, Ole Mentsen, and the bailiff Hans Evertsen Meyer (1615-1688) tried to persuade the couple to confess.
Judge Willem Knutsen and the court viewed Lisbet as more guilty of witchcraft than Ole.