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Two Northern Grimoires: The Trondenes and Vesterålen Black

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Article in Acta Borealia · December 2013

DOI: 10.1080/08003831.2013.813779
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Two Northern Grimoires: The

Trondenes and Vesterålen Black Books
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Roald E. Kristiansen
a
Department of History and Religion, Faculty of Social
Sciences, Humanities and Education , University of Tromsø ,
Tromsø , Norway
Published online: 27 Jun 2013.
To cite this article: Acta Borealia (2013): Two Northern Grimoires: The Trondenes and
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Acta Borealia, 2013
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08003831.2013.813779
Two Northern Grimoires: The

Trondenes and Vesterålen Black
Books
ROALD E. KRISTIANSEN*
Department of History and Religion, Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education,
University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
ABSTRACT The so-called Black Books (grimoires) contain collections of conjurations and
charms which provide instructions on how to make magical objects such as protective amulets and
talismans. Two such Black Book manuscripts were recently rediscovered in the archives. They
were part of the source material used by Bishop Anton Chr. Bang, who published excerpts from
them in his book on magic formulas from Norwegian folk tradition. The two manuscripts are from
ca. 1760 and 1800, and derive from the parishes of Trondenes and Bø in Vesterålen, respectively.
This article will examine the two manuscripts with regard to their content and how they differ
from each other. The use of grimoires is then discussed in order to clarify how we might interpret
such books in their historical and social context in which Christian norms were taken for granted
as the foundation of society.
KEY WORDS: Black Book, Folk medicine, Grimoires, Magic, Religion, Worldview
Two handwritten grimoires (in Scandinavia commonly called ‘‘Black Books’’)

were recently recovered from Norwegian library archives after they were
thought to be lost for a long time. Both manuscripts had been used by Bishop
Anton Chr. Bang1 for the publication of his book, Norske Hexeformularer
(Bang 19011902).2 Bang collected many such manuscripts himself, but he
also had access to other collections, such as one belonging to his friend and
collaborator, folklorist professor Moltke Moe. In recent years, folklorists
have studied such manuscripts with a renewed interest on an international
scale.3 In Norway, a group of researchers at the department of cultural studies
at the University of Oslo are seeking to compile a list of all preserved Black
Book manuscripts. In late 2011, the list included 126 items.4 When scanning
this list to look for material from Northern Norway, I noticed that two items
mentioned by Bang in his Hexeformularer as ‘‘P’’ (from Trondenes) and ‘‘Y’’
(from Vesterålen) were missing. The grimoires list included three books from
*Corresponding Address: Roald E. Kristiansen, Department of History and Religion, Faculty of Social
Sciences, Humanities and Education, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway. E-mail:
roald.kristiansen@uit.no
# 2013 Taylor & Francis

2 R.E. Kristiansen
Northern Norway (no. 5 from Beiarn, no. 20 from Leirskar in Hemnes and
no. 107 from Vefsn). What had happened to Bang’s P and Y manuscripts?
Based on the description of the manuscripts given by Bang, I made
inquiries to two libraries where I thought the lost manuscripts might be
located and sure enough, the manuscripts were soon found, digitalized and
made available to the public. The Trondenes manuscript belonged to the
Storaker collection5 in the National Library in Oslo (Ms.fol. 580),6 and
the Vesterålen manuscript was found in the manuscript collection at the
University Library in Trondheim (Gunnerus XA Oct. 120). These two Black
Books were probably written at the end of the eighteenth century and are
quite different. The purpose of this article is to analyze the content of the two
manuscripts in order to interpret this difference, and to reflect from a church
historical perspective on the religious worldviews that they represent.
The Black Book tradition

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)
Norwegian grimoires usually consisted of small, handwritten notebooks

where the owner wrote down the formulas that he had acquired. They were
sometimes named ‘‘Konstbog’’ (art of skills). Most of the manuscripts known
today date from the middle of the eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth
century and were collected during the late nineteenth century when the early
collectors of Norwegian folk traditions searched the countryside for old
traditions and customs. In this period, such material was considered
interesting because the researchers believed that they contained valuable
insights into pre-Christian beliefs that had been preserved as the secret
knowledge of various ‘‘cunning-folk’’.
Some Norwegian grimoires were printed as curios after the terror that had
formerly been connected with such books had faded and their magic had
come to seem less real. This happened to a part of the Vesterålen manuscript,
which was published as a leaflet in Fredrikstad ca. 1860.7 Many of the recipes
in the Black Books has to do with the art of healing, how to protect one’s
property and farm animals, and how to obtain luck in one’s daily chores.
However, there was also information on how to use magic for both good and
evil assisted by supernatural powers or by the power inherent in the remedies
used (e.g. spells, ritual drawings, animals, plants, etc.).
The concept of ‘‘Black Books’’ is connected with another term often used,
namely the sixth and seventh Book of Moses.8 In Germany this title was used
extensively to the extent that Davies calls it ‘‘the grimoire supreme’’ (Davies
2007: 130). The reason why Moses was connected with such books is
Two Northern Grimoires 3
connected with the idea that the church had chosen to hide part of the Bible
from public view because it contained dangerous information. The first five
books of the Bible were thought to be written by Moses himself, who was
known to be a powerful magician who outwitted the Egyptian wizards in his
struggle to free the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt (see Ex. 7 : 815).
Peoples of antiquity saw Egypt as the locus of occult and esoteric
knowledge,9 and even early Christians connected Moses with wizardry:
‘‘Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in
both speech and action’’ (Acts 7 : 22). The notion of Moses’ wizardry was
thus a common idea in medieval times, and in the aftermath of the religious
upheavals of the Reformation period, the success of the Protestants could be
associated with the use of magic. According to popular beliefs, the
Reformers had made use of Moses’ secret knowledge in the ‘‘original bible’’
which contained the complete revelation that God gave to Moses. Some
assumed that the new Lutheran priests had studied this Bible, which was
supposedly secretly kept in Wittenberg.10 Those priests who had studied the
secret books containing information on Moses’ wizardry were commonly

called ‘‘black book priests’’ and it was believed that they were capable of
performing magical feats, such as healing the sick, protecting people from
dangerous forces and even using demonic powers to gain personal
advantages.11 The grimoires may be understood as locally produced
versions of what was believed to be the secret books of Moses. Such beliefs
became very popular and can be found even in recent times.12 One
researcher (Lily Aall) came across a book called the sixth and seventh
book of Moses in Kautokeino as late as in 1963. It was very similar to a
Swedish book found in 1952 and a Finnish edition preserved at the
University of Helsinki. Printed editions of such books are known from
many countries. The authorship was not only attributed to Moses, but also
to other persons related to the biblical tradition, e.g. King Solomon who
‘‘was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth’’
(1.Kings 10 : 23) and therefore was believed to be able to provide
information on how to gain wealth, love and power. The Scandinavian
tradition often ascribed the authorship of Black Books to Christians
associated with the practice of wizardry. One of the most popular ‘‘authors’’
was the legendary figure ‘‘Cyprian’’, perhaps reflecting popular traditions
concerning the second-century bishop Cyprian. According to tradition,
Bishop Cyprian (d. 258) had been a magician before he became a Christian.
With the aid of demons, he had attacked a Christian woman, Justina. She,
however, countered the attacks by using the sign of the cross. In despair,
Cyprian made the sign of the cross himself and thus was liberated from the
devil. He subsequently became a Christian and later on priest and finally
bishop. Justina became the head of a convent. According to the Legenda
Aurea, they were both beheaded under the Diocletian persecutions.13
Access to books was very limited for common people in earlier times, and
there was a widespread belief in the power of the written word. Those with
access to books were therefore believed to have superior power. The clergy
belonged to this privileged group. When at the end of the seventeenth century
4 R.E. Kristiansen
the clergy was instructed to keep church registers, they also had a book in
which the names of individual parishioners were listed in connection with
important events in their lives. One might therefore raise the question whether
the notion of Black Books might be connected with this introduction of
church registers. In the beginning, the registers were in the form of dairies
in which the clergy wrote down chronologically their daily chores. The
registers gradually evolved into real registers with columns for baptism,
confirmation and burials. Access to such books was strictly regulated, but
anyone could watch the priest writing down names and dates of those who
were to partake in the church rituals. The privileged access to the church
registers books might have given rise to speculations on their meaning and
whether the clergy might possibly be connected with magic deriving from
these ‘‘secret’’ books.14
A classic Norwegian study on the Black Book material is the above-
mentioned work by Anton Chr. Bang, who wrote a lengthy introduction to
his book based on the norms of scholarship at that time. Recent scholarship
on the black book tradition has mostly been carried out by folklorist and
ethnographers. Velle Espeland has written about a Black Book from
Gudbrandsdalen (Espeland 1974) as well as a valuable introduction to the
Black Book genre in a 2005 reprint of Bang’s book. Arne Bugge Amundsen
has written on the so-called ‘‘Borge book’’ from Østfold (Amundsen 1987),
Oskar Garstein on a book from Vinje in Telemark (Garstein 1993), and Mary
Rustad on a book she discovered as recent as 1994 in Elverum (Rustad 1999).
Kathleen Stokker has also dealt extensively with the Black Book tradition in
her work on folk medicine in Norway and among Norwegian immigrants to
America (Stokker 2007), whereas Ronald Grambo (1979, 1993) has focused
on the use of spells and rituals in the Norwegian tradition of folk healing,
whereas Ane Ohrvik focused on the Black Book tradition as a way of
conceptualizing knowledge during the early modern period in her dissertation
(Ohrvik 2012).
Folk medicine has been a major subject of both folklorists and social
anthropologists (cf. Alver & Selberg 1984, 1992). Research on folk healing
practices in contemporary Northern Norway has been carried out by, for
example, Stein R. Mathisen (1987, 1989, 2000) and anthropologist Anni
Henriksen (2010). The former mentions the grimoire tradition, but is overall
more interested in folk practices in an ethnic context. The latter discusses
faith healing primarily related to a Læstadian15 context.
Outside the Norwegian context, excellent treatment of the grimoire
tradition has been carried out by historian Owen Davies (2007, 2009). In
recent years, much academic work has focused on charms and other forms of
magic in popular religion by British and American researchers such as
Jonathan Roper, Karen Jolly, David Elton Gay, Richard Kiekhefer and
others. An interesting approach, albeit somewhat controversial, is the work of
Emma Wilby (2005) who attempts to link traditional practices of sorcery and
magic in Britain with ancient forms of shamanism.
The Trondenes Black Book

This book consists of 18 handwritten pages. A collector of Norwegian folk
tradition, Johan Theodor Storaker (18371872), received it from his friend,
Eilert Sundt (18171875), a pioneer in Norwegian sociological studies. Sundt
had received the manuscript while visiting the parish of Trondenes in 1863. In
the manuscript he included a note that the owner had recently died, and
that he was a ‘‘Dreiner [and] Aarelader’’,16 originally from Storelvdal in
Hedmark. Based on this information it was possible to identify the book’s
owner as Gudmund Pedersen (18011862) who came to Trondenes in 1834
and settled in Storvassbotn with his wife, Oleanna Johnsdatter (18011848)
and their five children. She later gave birth to seven more children before she
died, whereupon Gudmund married the widow Ingeborg Benjaminsdatter
(18211890) with whom he had three children. From Gudmund’s book, Bang
chose 52 formulas out of a total that may have been 249,17 leaving out only
2 of Gudmund’s formulas.18
When Gudmund married Oleanna in Åmot in 1825, he is listed in the

church register as a hunter. This profession is probably the reason why his
book contains several formulas dealing with hunting and guns. The formulas
deal with how to shoot to hit the target, how to protect one’s rifle from evil,
and how to rid the gun of evil spells cast upon it by others. In order to hit a
target one may mix one’s own feces or add fragments of bones from a dead
person in the gun powder, or mix heart and liver from a bat with lead when
one makes bullets. Spells read over a heart from a crow will protect the gun
from evil. If one wants to destroy another person’s hunting luck, one can
make a fart and say the moment the gun is fired: ‘‘it shall go in again!’’
Recipes connected with hunting are one aspect of a group of formulas we
might call spells for luck in activities. There are 12 such spells in Gudmund’s
manuscript, dealing mostly with hunting, fishing and daily farm activities, but
they also deal with love, gambling and fighting. Spells for luck in fishing
could be in the form of prayer in which one refers to the luck that Jesus’
disciple, Peter, had when he was told to cast out his net in the Sea of Galilee,
or it may be a magic recipe where one mixes part of a beaver with human
blood, rye flour, and liquor. Luck in love is acquired by reading a magic spell
over a pot of beer. Luck in gambling is secured by carrying a paper with
magic words written in the blood of a black dog, or by carrying a white stone
from a swallow’s head. Luck in fighting is gained with magic words written on
a piece of silk wrapped around the neck.
Two major groups of formula deal with protection against various forms of
evil as well as everyday dangers such as fire, theft, and predators. Against fire,
Gudmund used a commanding form of prayer which alludes to Jesus’
crucifixion: the fire is to cease like Jesus’ work was put to an end by nailing
him on the cross. The identity of thieves can be revealed by means of magical
rites and spells, and thieves can even be punished magically. Similarly,
enemies can be stopped by a spell and they can be silenced (at court) with the
use of magic words spoken in specific ways. To protect one’s farm animals,
Gudmund had ways of confusing wild animals (klomsing/fjetring) either by a
6 R.E. Kristiansen
prayer to Jesus and Mary or by looking through a hollow bone from a human
hand with a glass mounted in one end of the bone.19
Some of Gudmund’s formulas in which he calls upon the Virgin Mary may
reflect old and well-known practices in which the Catholic Church awarded
indulgences for pious acts such as certain prayers.20 In post-Catholic times,
prayers to Mary in which one mentions important events from her life
(e.g. her seven joys and seven sorrows) became part of popular lore and
frequently used in formulas to bind or release from various kinds of evils an
analogy to the way a Catholic priest was believed to have the power to bind or
release penitent people from their sins.
As mentioned earlier, Gudmund was called a healer, and the third major
group of formulas deals with his ways of performing such services to those in
need. He had recipes on how to heal wounds and sprained legs, get rid of
frostbite and itching, and even how to heal sciatica. There are several
formulas on how to stop bleeding, mostly by using prayers that make
allusions to biblical events and recited in the name of the triune God. Lesser
problems such as tooth aches could be cured by means of magic words. Most
healing formulas refer either to biblical events or persons (usually Jesus,
St. Peter or Mary) in a commanding form of prayer, but there are also on a
couple of occasions examples of the use of healing plants.
Healing words are usually in the form of commanding prayers used to
drive evil away. Command words may refer to holy persons or even to natural
entities such as birds. It is not always easy to distinguish between prayer and
command words as there seems to be no clear-cut distinction made between
the will of the individual and the will of God. Most Lutheran ministers thus
denounced all healing formulas as forms of diabolism. As Stokker points out:
‘‘Though the folk healer’s formulas appealed for power not from the devil but
from the Christian trinity, Lutheran doctrine rejected such direct supplication
to God and repudiated the notion that man-made rituals could influence
God’’ (2007: 83). Such theological restrictions were not, however, the concern
of the common people. They relied on the ways of their ancestor and so
command words are directly used in regular prayers, like when Gudmund
wants to heal frostbites. Then he read in Jesus’ name: ‘‘Here there is no room
for heat, not for wind, not for frost, as the body was earlier whole’’. The
formula is to be closed in the name of the triune God and to be read three
times.21 This is typical of what was called signeri [white magic] and was
openly frowned upon by the church representatives and usually looked upon
as misinformed attempts to alter God’s divine providence, which they deemed
evil and as a desecration of the sacred words of Scripture based on ignorance
and superstition. The fact that many formulas used words from the Catholic
tradition was offensive to many Lutheran priests, who considered them as
superstitious remnants from the old faith and its religious practices.22 Even
healing prayers referring to Christian saints were demonized by orthodox
Lutherans. Following the ban on Catholic customs after the Reformation, it
is no wonder that many commoners felt a need to protect and hide their
collections of formulas from the view of others, in particular from officials of
the state.
Formulas that mix words of prayer with commanding words may be called
prayer magic. Formulas may portray Christ afflicted with a similar disease as
the patient and then continue having Christ utter words that drive the
sickness away. When repeating Christ’s words, the words then will heal the
patient as such words are believed to have healing properties. The words work
not only on people, but even on tools. When consecrating a new blacksmith’s
bellow, one is to recite: ‘‘With the same wind entering into this bellow that
blew on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus was sleeping’’. The formula is repeated
three times in the name of the triune God (1205). Words of a commanding
nature are frequently used in formulas that are read in such a way that one
removes the final letter from the word every time it is repeated. Examples of
such words are kalamaris, katalibus, ratalibus and auratebul (1044, 1046,
1049, 1052).23 The first three words are for removing toothaches while the last
is for protection against thieves. Gudmund also had formulas on how to
become invisible and how to make a girl fall in love, as well as recipes on how
to make amulets for protection against evil. Amulets were usually words
written on paper to be carried on one’s body. Words to be used may

sometimes be derived from the church liturgy and are frequently quoted in
Latin such as In nomine patris et filie et spiritus sancti. Latin words are often
misspelled (written as they were heard). The Lord’s Prayer, however, is usually
cited in the vernacular language. When quoting from the liturgy of the
church, one might assume that it had a twofold rationale. On the one hand,
the words carried a perceived power that came from the almighty God and
thus had supreme power to cause the desired effect. On the other hand, it
might also protect one from the accusation that magic was performed by the
aid of the devil. Christian words could not be used to create works associated
with demonic powers. The authorities thus had to distinguish between
trolldom (sorcery) and signeri, the latter signifying magic prayers containing
words that derive from the Christian tradition.
The Vesterålen book

The grimoire from Vesterålen consists of 33 sheets. The book is fragmentary
(16 formulas at the beginning are missing).24 According to Bang’s evaluation
of the manuscript, it dates from ca. 1770. The author did not know Latin, as
he frequently makes elementary mistakes in spelling. Bang believes that he
was a Norwegian since he occasionally writes words according to their
Norwegian pronunciation.
The Vesterålen grimoire was handed over to the Trondhjem Scientific
Society in 1856 by lieutenant colonel Reinhold Ziegler (18391918), who was
very much interested in history and a collector of antiquities. He had received
the grimoire from his friend Jacob Wilse (b. 1836), the son of the parish
minister of Bø in Vesterålen, Nicolay Wilse (17781845)25 who had found the
manuscript under the alter cloth in the church. A new church was built at Bø
in 1824, but the book was, according to local tradition, found in the chapel at
Malnes in the same parish when it was dismantled and rebuilt at a new
location in 1829. Bang calls it the northernmost Black Book yet known,
8 R.E. Kristiansen
although he considers the possibility that the book might have been brought
to this district by someone from another part of the country (Bang 1901
1902: xxiv).26
The Vesterålen grimoire is quite different from the Trondenes grimoire, and
Bang has included most of the material (a total of 127 formulas)27 in his
book. Magical recipes and formulas dominate in the manuscript: how one
can use sand from graveyards, needles, alcohol, snake skin, part of the bodies
of dead animals (pulverized or burnt to ashes), and words or signs written on
paper. The author describes several ways in which wizardry may be carried
out, i.e. how the devil can be called upon for services or be evicted. He is very
specific that spells and rituals are to be done in the name of Lucifer (the
devil): ‘‘Now come forth in the name of the most high and powerful Devil,
Lucifer! Amen. Lucifer, the mighty Satan and ruling Master and Monarch
confirm and mightily makes possible casting spells, curses, rune and character
making in four ways’’ (Bang’s formula #1338).
In the Trondenes grimoire, Gudmund had only one formula for revealing
the identity of a thief which allows one to blind his left eye by stabbing a knife
in his mirror image in a bucket of water. In the Vesterålen grimoire, there
are no less than six such formulas and an additional six formulas for making
the thief return the stolen goods. Although the Vesterålen grimoire contains
formulas for healing and protection with references to the benign powers of
Christianity, the Vesterålen book is much more concerned with demonic
powers and how to gain personal desires and advantages. There are a few
formulas for how to be immune to the effects of alcohol, create friendship,
make people fart and cause a girl to lift up her skirts. Furthermore there are
six formulas to create good luck charms for winning in games, four to reveal
secrets, seven to discern whether a girl is a virgin, and six to make her fall in
love with oneself.28
Biblical figures are often mentioned in the Vesterålen book: Adam, Eve,
Abraham, Sara, Mary, Jesus, Peter, and Paul are common figures. Many
formulas are to be read in the name of Jesus to protect from wolves and bears,
and many close with the words ‘‘in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost’’ (the same words in Latin are also used). Various objects are used in
rites and for various purposes, such as salt, plants, sand or bones from a
cemetery, human blood, milk from a woman, male urine, mercury, cheese,
bread and lead. Even more common is the mention of various body parts
from animals (either used as is, or burned to ashes). Animals mentioned are
cow, sheep, elk, fox, mole, beaver, bat, snake, ants, goose, owl, hen or egg,
lapwing, and swallow. Most common, however, is the use of spells, either
spoken, or written on a piece of paper. The words often have a commanding
(or cursing) form like when rats and mice are to be evicted from the house.
Often magic words in (corrupted) Latin or German or words with no
apparent meaning are used. Graphic signs or drawings are also found. Words
are sometimes names that appeal to help from biblical persons or demonic
beings for carrying out one’s desires. There seems to be no distinction made
between names referring to beings of heaven or hell. Divine and demonic
names may even be mixed and used in one and the same formula. In an
introduction to the art of witchcraft, there seems to be a fourfold distinction

made between the way the devil confirms his participation, but this
distinction does not refer to the content of the rites performed, but rather
to the way rites are performed (silent recitation and sign-making) and the
strength of one’s attitude when performing the rites (the desires of the mind
and will, and the faith of one’s heart).
A few examples will suffice to convey the impression of the typical content
of the formulas and the desires that characterize the author’s interests. In
order to find out whether a girl is a virgin, one is to take a penis from a fox.
Small pieces from it are to be mixed with beer and given to the girl. If she is
not a virgin, she will immediately pee. For luck in games, a mole is to be
burned to ashes which are put into one’s shoe. A mole’s foot can also be used
as a good luck charm to win games. Likewise, the head from a bat can be used
as a charm for the same purpose. A bat’s head can also be used to make
people tell their secrets while asleep. The uses of plants or parts from animals
occur frequently in the Vesterålen grimoire, but rarely in the Trondenes
manuscript.
When one wants a thief to return stolen goods, one is on a Thursday
morning before the sun rises, to read above running water while sitting on the
knees and turning one’s face from south to north: ‘‘I bewitch [maner] you,
sun, moon, stars, planets, and all the heavenly firmaments forces, never to
shine above this thief who has stolen this [naming the item]. And his blood
shall make him afraid like Christ was when he suffered pain and death on the
cross. And his blood shall run in his body and through his heart and he shall
never have peace like this water is running under my knee before he returns
what he has stolen. In nomini patris et fili et speritus [sic!] sancti. Amen’’
(Bang’s formula #1385).
Although the Christian blessing formula concludes the spell and includes a
reference to Christ, the formula does not appeal to the heavenly powers, but
rather to earthly elements (sun, moon, etc.). When using spells and charms for
protection and healing, appeals are usually directed to divine powers, but
when attempting to hurt others, the attention is directed towards earthly or
demonic powers. A case in point is the above-mentioned example of blinding
a thief: the ritual is prepared four weeks in advance by making a nail on four
consecutive Sunday mornings. The egg white is mixed with mercury and used
to draw an image of an eye. Then the nail is to be hammered through the eye
in the name of the devil (Bang’s formula #1376i; see also the b-version of this
formula, which has an even more detailed explanation on the course of events
preceding the ritual which includes the naming of nine devils for their
assistance). The contrast to Christian ideals is alluded to in the formula by
having the nail made on a Sunday, the day in which Christians are not
supposed to work. Such reversions of Christian ideals are also obvious in
other formulas, like when the Lord’s Prayer is read backwards, and in a
formula which says that Christ created his own flesh and blood in the womb
of Mary. This formula is for rendering an opponent’s sword unusable.
The focus on the earthly and demonic does not, of course, preclude the
book’s author from appealing to divine powers, as is often the case in
10 R.E. Kristiansen
protective and curing formulas. The shortest formula is to be found in a

blood-stopping formula: ‘‘Our Lord Jesus made the wound on earth and it
was cured in heaven’’. The author seems to be free to use whatever powers
available for obtaining his will and is largely driven by his own desires, which
can clearly be seen from his prayer to win good luck and good will from
others: ‘‘In the morning before you get up, you shall three times read these
words: Within these four walls I put my trust in the hands of Jesus. Heaven be
kind to me. The whole world be good towards me like to the body and blood
of Jesus. All men and women, girls and boys, young and old, young and old,
poor and rich, yeah, all creatures shall bow for me, like the angels bowed for
the virgin May by her blessed son Jesus Christ. And I [name] shall win luck
and good will by God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen’’.
The religious worldview of the Grimoires

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 Vesterålen 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 Vesterålen 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 Vesterålen 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
no clear distinction between good and evil only between what is beneficial
and what is dangerous, and secret knowledge gives the knowledgeable person
(those who are farsighted) the means to overcome what might be a threat to
ordinary humans. Popular tradition thus accepted the Church’s attempt to
demonize the folk tradition, but their conclusion was nonetheless different
from what was considered proper by the church. What was considered good
and beneficial for people’s daily living could be approached even by the aid of
the dark (evil) powers. The devil himself could be called upon for receiving
knowledge about the content of the Black Books, even if it could have
disastrous consequences for one’s eternal soul. However, those whose
knowledge really surpassed normal standards could fool even the devil and
redeem what was ostensibly lost. Stories about the famous Lutheran minister
Petter Dass (16471707) at Alstahaug tell how he controlled the devil and
could make use of his services for the benefit of both himself and others
(see Kristiansen 2003).
Stokker (2007: 89) points out that most common people found no conflict
between folk beliefs and their pious Christian faith: ‘‘Rather than resisting
official church doctrine, the almue [commoners] simply supplemented it with
traditional beliefs and practices that addressed the practical needs of their
daily lives’’. I have argued for a similar view on popular religion, pointing out
its double aspect with reference to a story from Lofoten (see Kristiansen
1995). In my interpretation of this story, the ‘‘ideal’’ North Norwegian
fisherman is portrayed as someone who needs to be both ‘‘from’’ (pious) and
‘‘fremsynt’’ (farsighted). The ideal of piety is reflected in the story’s emphasis
on conforming to the Christian tradition for the sake of one’s eternal
salvation and performing Christian charity which is necessary in order to live
properly according to socially accepted norms. Christianity, however, was not
always considered to be sufficient, as there were situations in which the
Christian tradition did not offer efficient help. People continued to believe in
an otherworld populated with spiritual beings. The Church, however, had
little to say about how to deal with the powers of the otherworld. In order to
cope with such powers, it was necessary to learn from the folk tradition. This
is what is referred to in terms of being ‘‘farsighted’’ in the Lofoten story. The
Church also gave little advice on how to deal with the powers of darkness. It
is not sufficient to encourage people not deal with them, so when people
believe that they encounter such forces, they have to find other means of
coping. This need is one reason why grimoires became popular, as they
offered practical help for a variety of situations in which the Church had no
answers. The grimoires were not overly concerned about proper morality and
social norms. By following the directions offered by the grimoires, one could
acknowledge one’s own desires and attempt to find solutions by means of
various rituals and magical spells. Secret knowledge was believed to be
effective at solving problems which by ordinary Christian means seemed to
have no solutions. Some people were cautious in using such remedies,
knowing that the use of dark powers might have consequences for one’s
eternal soul. Others were more open to handling such problems by whatever
means available, assuming that with skill and proper knowledge, one could
12 R.E. Kristiansen
fool even the devil. So-called Black Book priests were believed to be experts in
the use of such knowledge, so why could not others also make use of this
knowledge when opportunity arose? Some did, and the Vesterålen author
certainly believed that he was one of the skillful ones. Gudmund was probably
more cautious in his approach, limiting himself to the use of remedies that
were more closely connected with benign powers. However, both ‘‘knew more
than the Lord’s Prayer’’, as the saying goes, and were willing to test out their
ability to contact spiritual powers to obtain certain benefits. By doing so, they
have both left an interesting legacy for posterity that allows us a glimpse into
a fascinating universe of folk beliefs and practices.
Notes
1
Anton Christian Bang (18401913), born at Dønna, 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/norsk-
folkeminnesamling/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 Bang’s 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 minister’s
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 priest’s 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 Læstadian 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).
17
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 Gudmund’s 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 Bø from 1816 and remained there until his death. He became a well-
known 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 Vesterålen.
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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Two Northern Grimoires: The Trondenes and Vesterålen Black

Article in Acta Borealia · December 2013

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Two Northern Grimoires: The

Two handwritten grimoires (in Scandinavia commonly called ‘‘Black Books’’)

# 2013 Taylor & Francis

The Black Book tradition

[. . .] books of conjurations and charms, providing instructions on how to make magical

Norwegian grimoires usually consisted of small, handwritten notebooks

secret books containing information on Moses’ wizardry were commonly

The Trondenes Black Book

When Gudmund married Oleanna in Åmot in 1825, he is listed in the

written on paper to be carried on one’s body. Words to be used may

The Vesterålen book

introduction to the art of witchcraft, there seems to be a fourfold distinction

protective and curing formulas. The shortest formula is to be found in a

The religious worldview of the Grimoires

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