Two Icelandic Books of Magic

by Magnús Rafnsson

Grimoires and magical staves are interesting and exciting. The magic in them are remnants of forbidden knowledge and the common man believed in its use for various purpose. Manuscripts and single staves feature prominently in Icelandic witchcraft cases and those who handled them were wipped or burned. The two manuscripts printed here were written around 1800, only 100 years after prosecutions for witchcraft ceased in Iceland.

The first manuscript in the book, Lbs 2413 8vo, was written ca. 1800 and is the largest collection of magical staves in a single manuscript even when compared to those collected by amateur scholars almost a century later. Many of the magical acts described are the same as those mentioned in court records and similar ones can be found in the 17th century grimoires.

The manuscript itself measures 10 x 8 cm with 74 leaves and nothing is known of its history or how the library acquired it. Apparently a systematic collection was intended, beginning with various acts to prevent theft or find who has stolen, then a collection of love magic, but after that there seems to be no specific order to the staves. After a number of protective staves or sigils there follow a number of invocations against ghosts and evil spirits.

The second manuscript in the book, Lbs 764 8vo, was written ca. 1820 and is very different. It is 14 x 8,5 cm, only 14 leaves and wrapped in an old leather wallet. The manuscript was bought in 1903 but no information about its history has been found. The first half appears to be of European origin and this part consists of protective signs and texts in Latin and with little connection to Icelandic court cases unless such signs or texts are the kind of blasphemy sometimes associated with staves or sigils.

The book is both in English and Icelandic. The Icelandic text is printed with modern spelling on the right hand page and in English on the left page.

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating work that is, effectively, excerpts from Icelandic grimoires. Each rune stave is shown with a short description in Icelandic and English which describes how to use it and what it does. The book itself is a consolidation of several surviving grimoires from 17th and 18th century Iceland and includes staves for a variety of things, often with multiple staves for ant single purpose. These include everything from winning in court or catching a thief, to testing a woman's virginity or turning her heart to you, to casting out spirits and protecting from witchcraft. Two versions of the somewhat infamous "Fretrúnir" are given, which I was pleased to see, as they comprise one of the more interesting aspects of Icelandic rune magic. There are also several prayers listed, all thoroughly Christian, although in other sections the Norse Gods - particularly Baldr, Thor, and Odin - are invoked. I will warn readers though that at one brief point several descriptions/prayers are offered not in English but in Latin, so if you don't speak either Icelandic or Latin you won't be able to understand what those few rune staves are for.

[James Tomasino · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly fascinating collection of Icelandic magical grimoires from the 17th/18th centuries translated into modern Icelandic and English (and a bit of Latin) with diagrams and notes. Historian Magnús Rafnsson has done an excellent job pulling this together and giving it some structure. What's left paints a fascinating picture of the great steps and detail work that went into the sorcery of the times, and what special needs drove such actions in the face of persecutions and burning. If you're interested in the history of this type of sorcery I would also recommend stopping in at the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in the Westfjörds. They have extensive displays and documents from this time period.