Ankarloo, Bengt, and Stuart Clark, eds., Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Middle Ages, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.

In Lagerlöf's story, the lay brother mistakes the blooming forest for witchcraft and is so scared at this possibility, that he frightens the miracle away. In this collection of essays, noted experts examine the various views of witchcraft and magic in medieval Europe.

Nissenbaum, Stephen, The Battle for Christmas, Knopf, 1996.

Nissenbaum explores the troubled history of Christmas celebrations, which, from the fourth until the nineteenth centuries, were characterized by wanton drinking, violence, and crime. It was only in the Victorian era that Christmas began to resemble the modern holiday, with its focus on family—and commercialism.

Sawyer, Birgit, and Peter Sawyer, Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, circa 800-1500, University of Minnesota Press, 1993.

This comprehensive study of medieval Scandinavia challenges long-held assumptions, which are largely...