Instructions on how to perform sorcery survives
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| Memorial of the Icelandic pastor, Björn Halldórsson (1724-1794), who first cultivated potatoes in Sauðlauksdalur in the Westfjords. “Sunny” by Rob Oo is licensed under CC BY 2.0. |
Paganism and witchcraft had been a part of Icelandic culture since the very beginning and Christianity wasn’t going to stop that. In fact, many continued their old pagan habits, but adding the Christian god into their practice.
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| Landscape in Strandir in the Westfjords where sorcery was heavily practiced. “Scenes from the Strandir coast in the Westfjords” by Jennifer Boyer is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0. |
When it comes to practicing magic, the Westfjords has the most history. Some argue it was because they were quite isolated from the rest of the island and its residents therefore often felt they were left to their own demise. Dying from hunger or weather exposure was not uncommon in Iceland, especially in the Westfjords.
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| “Gufudalur” by Delphinidaesy is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. |
Magic spells, symbols and rituals were often the only way people knew how to protect themselves when natural means weren’t enough. The pagans were diligent in passing down their witchcraft both orally and by writing them down.
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| Iceland’s most comprehensive sorcery museum is located in Strandir. “Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft“ by Jennifer Boyer is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0. |
Out of all the places in Iceland, the Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík gives the most comprehensive account of its history. It is well worth a visit.
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| Shortly after sunrise in Strandir. “moon over strandir“ by Smülli is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. |
Icelandic magic is divided into two separate parts: Galdur (Galdr) and Seiðr.
Galdur
Galdur is mainly based on positive and respectable magic. It was usually practiced by males, the Norse God Óðinn, was one of them. This type of magic was practiced with full self-awareness and therefore didn’t require the sorcerer to enter an altered or trance-like state.
White magic
This was a more naturalistic kind of supernatural practices used for beneficial purposes.
Black magic
The more darker kind of magic or demonized magic. These were supernatural powers used for the evil purposes.
Varnargaldur
This type of magic was important to know as it contained protection spells. They were applied at the end of each spell to protect the sorcerer from the mischief of other sorcerers.
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| Borgarnes. “Borgarnes_170917_0919” by Raico Rosenberg is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 |
Seiðr
Seiðr was magic practiced by females. The Norse goddess Freyja was one of them. It was considered shame for men to practice such lesser magic. Nonetheless, the Norse god Óðinn was taught this type of magic and known to practice it as well.
Unlike Galdur, Seiðr required the sorcerer to enter an altered or trans-like state.
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| A sorcerer’s kitchen. A display inside the Sorcerer’s Cabin at the Museum of Witchcraft and Sorcery. “the Sorcerer’s Cottage“ by Jennifer Boyer is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0. |
Books and Manuals
Iceland has a collection of books, pamphlets, parchments, documents, etc on magic. Some of them are listed below.
Íslensk Galdrabók (Icelandic Book of Magic)
This book of magic is said to be from the 1600s consisting of 32 pages of parchment and three loose pages. Some believe the book is from the 1500s. It consists of, among other things, prayers, rituals, spells and superstitions, such as which days in the year bring bad luck.
It contains three elements: Graphic signs, spoken/written words, and natural substances.
It’s located at the National Historical Museum (Historiska Museet) in Stockholm, Sweden under the name as Svartkonstbok från Island.
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| The cover of Galdrabók (Boof of Magic). “Kat nr 062 Svartkonstbok, från Island” by Bengt A Lundberg / Riksantikvarieämbetet is licensed under CC-BY-2.5 |
Graphic signs
This includes galdrastafir (magic staves). Each has a name and they all vary in potency. One of the most known magic staves is the Ægishjálmur or Helmet of Awe (terror).
Spoken/written words
These are spells and conjurations. They can be used independently and to activate the graphic signs.
Natural substances
Powerful elements within sorcery consists of such things like blood, wood and herbs.
Galdrakver (Little Book of Magic)
This is a 17th century manuscript, written by hand on animal skin. It contains, among other things, magic staves, sigils, diagrams and prayers.
One of its owners was Hannes Finnson (1739-1796), a bishop at Skálholt in southern Iceland. Hannes was known for his large collection of magic related texts.
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| Pages from Galdrakver. “Galdrabók” by Ræveðis is licensed under CC0-1.0. |
Galdrakver consists of two small books. The first volume is a reproduction of the handwritten document which is from the 17th century. The second volume is an actual documentation of the text with translations into Icelandic, Danish, English and German. It contains epistles, symbols, spells and prayers.
This book of magic can be read online here.
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| Pages from Galdrakver. The symbol on the right is Ægishjálmur or the Helm of Awe. “Galdrakver” by Ræveðis is licensed under CC0-1.0. |
Gráskinna (Gray Leather)
There are to volumes of Gráskinna, one from Hólar and the other from Skálholt.
Gráskinna at Hólar
Þorkell Guðbjartsson (1400-1483), the right-hand man to the bishop of Hólar was the first to write in the rune book Gráskinna. This was a book where all knowledge from times passed were written.
The book was for a long time at the school in Hólar where some of the boys learned from the section written with málrunir (speech-runes). This was a part of the book that contained harmless magic, such as winning at sports, etc.
The latter, and longer part of the book, was written with villurúnir (delusion-script/heretical script) which only magic masters understood. This is where the more serious and darker magic was written.
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| Hólar in 1813/1814. The old church is located in the center of the village. “Iceland; or the Journal of a residence in that island, during the years 1814 and 1815 … Illustrated with a map and engravings. The second edition“ by the British Library is licensed under no known copyright restrictions. |
One of Iceland’s most famous sorcerers, Galdra-Loftur, knew this book inside out and could recite every word by heart. He wanted the even darker magic book Rauðskinna. Unfortunately, it had been buried with its owner, Gottskálk the Grim, so Galdra-Loftur planned to wake up Gottskálk the grim from the dead.
Gráskinna at Skálholt
This book stayed at the school in Skálholt. It has two stories.
Three schoolboys from Skálholt, one was Eiríkur Magnússon (1638-1716) knew that a man had been buried there with his magic book. The curious schoolboys were eager to get their hands on it. No one knew where he was buried, but the boys eventually were able to get hold of a few pages of the book.
The boys made good use of the pages and wrote fjölkynngisbók which they called Gráskinna and they kept it on the school table at Skálholt.
Jón Ólafsson the Strong (1530-1579) who wrestled seaman in Eyrarbakki and killed him. As a consequence he had to give an Eyrarbakki merchant the greatest science book in the world.
Jón didn’t know what book that was. During his search, he went up into the mountains and found a mystical couple and stayed with them all winter. In the spring the man gave Jón a book that he and his wife had written that winter.
When Jón got back to Eyrarbakki, he gave the merchant the book. The merchant looked through it and became so horrified with what he read that he ran into the ocean and killed himself. Jón kept the book and let it be buried with him.
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| Skálholt in 1772, painted by John Cleveley. “Skalholt” by Theturducken is licensed under CC-BY-2.0/ Cropped from the original. |
Rauðskinna (Red leather)
The darkest magic book of them all, written in gold-lettered runes by a bishop, Gottskálk Nikulausson the Grim (1469-1520), with the objective of gaining control of Satan. It is quite possibly the darkest magic known to have been created by a Christian man. He was known to be a very dangerous and powerful man. Nobody knew black magic the way he did.
Gottskálk may have been a bishop and from a good Christian family, but that didn’t prevent him from being a selfish man. He had two children: Oddur and Guðún, a mistress named Guðrún and a lover named Jónsdóttir whom he had a daughter named Kristín with.
He was an ambitious man, yet manipulative and cruel. His spiritual status came second to his worldly desires. Most of all, he obsessed over ancient witchcraft in its darkest form possible and spent many years writing Rauðskinna. His plan was to make Satan his slave, while he ruled the world.
Not wanting anyone to reap the benefits from his book, Gottskálk made sure he didn’t teach anyone its secrets, in fact, he made sure it was buried with him. The bishop didn´t hand down his book to anyone before his death and let the book be buried with him.
Rumors have it that the magic book was actually Bishop Ólafur Rögnvaldsson’s Málsbók (cartulary). He was the bishop before his nephew, Gottskálk the Grim Nikulásson took over. The cartulary was bound in ancient, unshaven red hair, most likely bull’s skin. The ancient cover was later shaven, so the original binding of the book was lost and its quality quickly eroded. It is believed that it was the red binding of the cartulary that got the stories of Rauðskinna started.
Huld Manuscript
A manuscript compiled by Geir Vigfússon from Akureyri in 1860 contains such things as the runic alphabet, sigils, magical incantations and staves. It is more artistic than most other writings.
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| A page from Huld Manuscript. The first part of the book consists of numbers and letters. “Huld Manuscript” by Ræveðis is licensed under CC0-1.0. |
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| A page from Huld Manuscript. The first part of the book consists of numbers and letters. The image above is, among others, the Svörturúnir or Black runes. “Huld Manuscript” by Ræveðis is licensed under CC0-1.0. |
The compilation is divided into two parts. The first half consists of a list of 329 runic alphabets ranging from recognizable to cryptic letters. The second half includes 30 staves/symbols, sigils, insignia, bind-ruins, cryptically coded text and galdrastafir.
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| Two pages from the symbol section of the Huld Manuscript. “Huld Manuscript” by Ræveðis is licensed under CC0-1.0. |
Kreddur Manuscript
This manuscript is fairly new. It was found in Eyjafjörður and copied in the late 19th century. It appears to be a copy from a manuscript written in the 17th century.
It contains instructions for such things as how to use staves and symbols for gain, protection and cause harm.
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| Thjofastafur or the Thief Stave from the Kreddur Manuscript. Drawn by author using Sketchbook. |
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| A stave to avoid embarrassment. Using your ring finger on your right hand, draw this symbol with your saliva on your forehead. Drawn by author using Sketchbook. |
Svend Grundvig’s Collection
This is a fairly new collection, written in the mid 19th century. It’s currently in the Royal Collection in Copenhagen. It contains signs such as how to protect yourself from runes and carvings (this sign is called Astros).
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| “Svend Grundtvig (1824-1883), Danish folklorist” by anonymous is licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0 |
Jón Árnason Collection
This is the most known and comprehensive collection of Icelandic folktales called Íslenskar þjóðsögur og ævintýri (Icelandic folktales and fairytales) from the 18th and 19th century. The collection contains a little bit of everything, including how to use magical staves.
It´s understood that the þjóðsögur are based on real events while the fairytales are not.
Two volumes. Volume one published in 1862 and Volume 2 in 1864. A newer edition has been made in 1954-1961, which divided the collection into 6 volumes.
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| “A portrait of Jón Árnason (1819 – 1888)” by Hans Peter Hansen is licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0 |
Ólafur Davíðsson Collection
Ólafur collected various manuscripts from the 17th century which he published in 1903. It’s an account of the sorcery practiced in Iceland and the witch trials that took place in the 17th century.
In the next few posts we will delve deeper into the stories of the sorcerers and their magic.
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| “Portrait of Ólafur Davíðsson” by Unknown is licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0 |
