Character Relationship Map: Häxan

Characters

• Karna / Sorceress (played by Ella La Cour) — protagonist

  A sorceress in the medieval dramatizations, shown in the witch's kitchen with her assistant preparing potions. She is one of the women accused of witchcraft and appears in the film's depiction of folk...

• Karna's Assistant (played by Emmy Schønfeld) — supporting

  The assistant to the sorceress Karna, appearing alongside her in the witch's kitchen scenes. The character helps Karna prepare the magical potions shown in the medieval sequences.

• Anna's Mother (played by Elisabeth Christensen) — supporting

  The mother of Anna, who is accused of witchcraft when her daughter is tortured by the inquisitors. She is one of the women implicated in the false confession extracted under torture.

• Anna (played by Astrid Holm) — supporting

  A young woman in the medieval sequences who is tortured by the witch judges. Under extreme pain, she falsely confesses to witchcraft and accuses her mother and sister, demonstrating the film's critiqu...

• Anna's Sister (played by Karen Winther) — supporting

  The sister of Anna, who is accused of witchcraft when Anna is tortured by the inquisitors. She is one of the innocent women implicated in the false confession.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Anna's Sister → Anna's Mother (sister)
• Anna's Mother → Anna (mother)
• Karna's Assistant → Karna / Sorceress (assistant)

Story Analysis

The film traces witchcraft beliefs from medieval superstition to modern interpretations of mental disorder and mass hysteria.

Plot Progression

1. Roots Of Superstition — The film introduces its historical investigation into witchcraft, beginning with medieval society and its supernatural beliefs. It also identifies the Malleus Maleficarum as a source for its historica...
2. The Machinery Of Accusation — Dramatized historical sequences examine accusations, inquisitorial interpretations, and the escalation of witch-hunts. Fear gradually develops into a collective social force.
3. Illness Behind The Myth — The film shifts toward an analytical explanation of witch-hunts. It proposes that misunderstood mental or neurological disorders may have been interpreted as supernatural activity.
4. History Meets Modernity — The discussion reaches the twentieth century and suggests connections between historical superstition and modern interpretations of abnormal behavior. Documentary and dramatized methods converge in th...