The Freebooter of the Baltic: A swashbuckling tale of piracy on the Baltic

Set in seventeenth-century Sweden — with political overtones. When young nobleman Gustav Drake is drawn into a conspiracy against the regency, his fate becomes bound up with witch trials, high-seas adventure, and a love that puts everything at risk.

The novel weaves together two dark threads of the age: a secret plot among the Swedish nobility to overthrow the council of state, and the witch trials that swept the country, condemning innocent women to burn at the stake. At the center of the second thread stands the fanatical priest Suenonius — described by Swedish critics as one of the most frightening clerical figures in all of Swedish literature.

Freebooter of the Baltic is grounded in real history. The real Gustaf Drake preyed on Baltic shipping between 1657 and 1663. Councillor Skytte and his daughter Maria appear as characters. The conspiracy and the witch trials are drawn from documented events in seventeenth-century Kalmar County.

Viktor Rydberg's debut novel, first published in 1857, is vivid, suspenseful, and driven by a strong moral current. This translation aims to render its  period atmosphere and dramatic force faithfully in English.