Galdrabók

Common card · No. 354953

The galdrabók (lit. 'galder book', "incantation book"; cf. "cook book") is an Icelandic grimoire dated to c. 1600. It is a small manuscript containing a collection of 47 spells and sigils/staves. The grimoire was compiled by four people, possibly starting in the late 16th century and going on until the mid-17th century. The first three scribes were Icelanders, and the fourth was a Dane working from Icelandic material. The various spells consist of Latin and runic material as well as Icelandic magical staves, invocations to Christian entities, demons, and the Norse gods, as well as instructions for the use of herbs and magical items. Some of the spells are protective, intended to work against problems such as trouble with childbearing, headache, insomnia, previous incantations, pestilence, suffering, and distress at sea. Others are intended to cause fear, kill animals, find thieves, put someone to sleep, cause flatulence, or bewitch women. The book was first published in 1921 by Natan Lindqvist...

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