Grimoires are well known from many countries. According to Owen Davies,
such books can in general be characterized as,
[. . .] books of conjurations and charms, providing instructions on how to make magical
objects such as protective amulets and talismans. They are repositories of knowledge
that arm people against evil spirits and witches, heal their illnesses, fulfill their sexual
desires, divine and alter their destiny, and much else besides. (Davies 2009: 1)
The authors of the two grimoires must obviously have been two quite
different persons. If we assume that Gudmund (or perhaps his father) is the
author of the Trondenes book, he seems be a person who is preoccupied with
the struggle of everyday living: hunting, fishing and protecting his property,
whether it be from dangerous animals, harmful persons or spiritual beings.
When necessary, he has the means of aiding those that need his services for a
variety of reasons. His formulas mostly call upon the assistance of benign
spiritual beings, although at times he may seek the aid of other, less benign
powers. When he encounters ill will from others, he believes that he can force
them to silence, even at court, and he can if he must use the devil to hurt
someone.
Whereas Gudmund in his Trondenes book had only one formula for calling
upon the devil for help, the author of the Vesteralen book had many such
formulas, and he seems to have been much more eager to call upon the dark
forces that inhabited his world. He knows many of their names, and seems to
frequently call upon them for assistance. The Vesteralen author is a man
of the world who protects himself against danger, is eager to win games,
please others, win the love of women, and use his power to influence other
people and even cause their embarrassment.
Common to them both, however, is a worldview in which the spiritual
world is absolutely real, and the spiritual beings are close at hand and can be
called upon to render their services. Gudmund, however, seems to be a little
more cautious in the way he asks for assistance. He will usually remind them
about events that have happened before (such as in biblical times) in order to
have them help him in the moment he needs help. The Vesteralen man acts in
a much more direct manner. He is not afraid to command the spiritual world
to help him, assuming that he even has control over the most dangerous
spirits, including the devil himself. The common feature, however, is the fact
that they have to deal with the powers that influence the fate of the world.
One cannot, as in the Church, renounce the devil in order to pray to God
only. Other powers are also real and cannot be dismissed, and for the person
who is knowledgeable, they can be employed for personal benefits. There is
Anton Christian Bang (18401913), born at Dnna, Nordland, was a reputable Church historian
(professor 1884), productive writer, and politician (Minister of Education and Church affairs 1893
95). He was appointed bishop of Oslo in 1896.
2
He also included an essay on Black Books in an earlier publication (Bang 1890).
3
Many such scholars are members of The International Society for Folk Narrative Research, an
international organization for specialists in the areas of folk narrative, popular literature, folklore, and
related fields.
4
The list is currently available on URL: http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/tjenester/kunnskap/samlinger/norskfolkeminnesamling/trolldom-i-norge/svarteboeker/registrant-svarteboker-07022012.pdf (accessed 27
April 2012). The most recent list (7 February 2012) now contains 143 manuscripts.
5
Johannes T. Storaker (18371872) was a collector of Norwegian folk beliefs. A large part of his
collections was published by Nils Lid in the 1920s and 1930s in the series Norsk Folkeminnelags
skrifter.
6
At the same time as P was discovered, another Black Book manuscript was found. It was bundled with
the P manuscript and contained 21 formulas. This grimoire is Bangs manuscript D (Ms.fol.
580:14:a:2) which had belonged to the collection of Jakob Kobberstad, a teacher in Nordfjord, Sogn
og Fjordane.
7
Archivist Otto G. Lundh had published an article on the manuscript in the journal Skillings-Magazinet
in 1859 after having borrowed it from the owner. The article includes 18 formulas from the
manuscript.
8
A popular introduction to the theme of Black Books is found in Steen (1964).
9
The Roman historian Pliny (first century) describes Moses as the founder of a magic sect (i.e. Judaism).
This idea of Moses appears in individual incantations of Late Antiquity and gets enshrined in both
Hebrew and pagan magical manuals. Some Black Books also connect their secret knowledge with the
Hebrew kabbalah.
10
The Church Ordinance of 1629 made a university degree prerequisite to a Lutheran ministers
ordination. Students were therefore sent to study in Denmark or Germany. Some studied at the
University of Wittenberg.
11
I have elsewhere given an analysis of the tradition concerning the Black Book priests in which I
connected them with the popular mythic trickster figure (cf. Kristiansen 2003).
12
In the mid-1990s, I interviewed an old man who lived near Alta, Finmark, who told me about his own
Black Book which he regularly consulted.
13
Cf. The Life of S. Justina in The Golden Legend (Aurea Legenda), compiled by Jacobus de Voragine,
1275. Eng. transl. by William Caxton, 1483 (modernized by F.S. Ellis). E-text version: http://www.
fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume5.asp (accessed 9 January 2013).
14
A common motif is that of a servant secretly reads in the priests Black Book and thus releases the devil
until the priest returns and drives him away, cf. the tradition on devil pacts in Olli & Bugge Amundsen
(2012).
15
The Lstadian tradition is a Pietistic revival movement that originated in Northern Sweden in the 1840s
and quickly spread to the northern provinces of Finland and Norway.
16
A folk healer using methods such as bloodletting (dreining) and cupping (aarelading).
The manuscript may be fragmentary. The numbering of formulas is a not original (probably made either
by Storaker or Bang) and begins with no. 202. We do not know whether the manuscript has included
other formulas that are now missing, or if the numbering refers to another list of formulae.
18
The two formulas not included by Bang deal with protection against evil (finne-skot) and a ritual for
making a thief return stolen goods (nos. 213 and 249 in the manuscript).
19
Cf. formulas no. 217, 228 and 248 in the manuscript (Bang nos. 314, 292 and 248).
20
The late church historian Oluf Kolsrud points to the fact that certain forms of medieval cult practices
with regard to the worship of the Virgin Mary survived well into the 19th century in many parts of
Norway (Kolsrud 1958: 346ff).
21
Formula no. 203 in the manuscript (Bang no. 65).
22
Cf. e.g. Bang (1884). His opinion that the Black Books were remnants from a bygone age, was
probably a dominant one among the Norwegian clergy, although judgments varied on whether they
were harmful.
23
The first three words are used in Gudmunds formula no. 211, and the fourth in no. 210. Here the words
are written as Kaiamaris, Katetibus, Ratetibus and Auratabul.
24
The numbers given in the manuscript seems to be original, but they are somewhat erratic. Some formulas
are not preceded with a number whereas at other times several formulas with similar content are listed
under the same number. For this reason it is difficult to refer to the numbering of formulas in the
manuscripts.
25
Nicolay Wilse was parish minister at B from 1816 and remained there until his death. He became a wellknown local figure due to his marriage to an unmarried woman with a child. She had been betrothed
to a man who drowned at sea before marriage. For a priest to marry such a woman was unthinkable at
that time, but his congregation sent a letter to the bishop where they asked for permission on his
behalf to marry the woman, which was granted by the bishop. The motif has been used by the author
Regine Normann for her novel Dengang da which was published in 1912.
26
Some formulas refer to circumstances or customs that probably were not common in Vesteralen.
27
The manuscript available today contains only 121 formulas, although the numbering suggests that there
many more originally (ca. 170). Bang did not always copy faithfully from the manuscript, but
sometimes split up formulas that dealt with similar topics. This has also been done with regard to the
P manuscript.
28
Magic connected with the gratification of sexual desires are frequent in many grimoires, e.g. spells on
how to make women dance naked, which is found in a French grimoire (Le dragon rouge).
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