Disir
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The once highly rich tradition of Icelandic books of magic of the 16th and the 17th centuries has survived only in a fragmentary state. Despite this fact, Icelandic folktales speak about the existence of famous occult books owned by even more famous historically attested sorcerers.
Famous Black Books of Legend
In Iceland, there are two main texts in the history of black books. The most famous such text is ‘ Raudskinna’. The title of this black book of magic means ‘Red Skin’ and the text was compiled by the Bishop Gottskalk Niklasson the Cruel. He was the bishop of Holar who died in the year 1520.
As for the book, it is said to be a book of the blackest of magic with knowledge preserved from the Heathen Age. It was said that this book was written with golden letters and runes on red parchment. This explains the title of the book which means ‘Red Skin’ or ‘Red Vellum’.
According to legend, Gottskalk was buried with the Raudskinna as he never wanted to pass down the magic compiled in the book. This is why the text is believed to hold great secret power.
One other famous book of magic from Iceland was the ‘Graskinna’ which meant ‘Gray Skin’. This book had two volumes. One of these resided at Holar, while the other resided at Skalholt.
This text has two parts. The first is written using the Roman alphabet and it discusses the lesser magical arts such as wrestling magic (known as ‘glimugaldur’) and palmistry (known in Iceland as ‘lofalist’).
The second part was written in a type of coded runes which concealed their actual meanings. This runic code is known as ‘villurunir’ and, in the context of this book, the code talked about black magic spells .
Icelandic Sorcerers and the Books of Black Magic They Coveted
That is an interesting little article.
Famous Black Books of Legend
In Iceland, there are two main texts in the history of black books. The most famous such text is ‘ Raudskinna’. The title of this black book of magic means ‘Red Skin’ and the text was compiled by the Bishop Gottskalk Niklasson the Cruel. He was the bishop of Holar who died in the year 1520.
As for the book, it is said to be a book of the blackest of magic with knowledge preserved from the Heathen Age. It was said that this book was written with golden letters and runes on red parchment. This explains the title of the book which means ‘Red Skin’ or ‘Red Vellum’.
According to legend, Gottskalk was buried with the Raudskinna as he never wanted to pass down the magic compiled in the book. This is why the text is believed to hold great secret power.
One other famous book of magic from Iceland was the ‘Graskinna’ which meant ‘Gray Skin’. This book had two volumes. One of these resided at Holar, while the other resided at Skalholt.
This text has two parts. The first is written using the Roman alphabet and it discusses the lesser magical arts such as wrestling magic (known as ‘glimugaldur’) and palmistry (known in Iceland as ‘lofalist’).
The second part was written in a type of coded runes which concealed their actual meanings. This runic code is known as ‘villurunir’ and, in the context of this book, the code talked about black magic spells .
Icelandic Sorcerers and the Books of Black Magic They Coveted
That is an interesting little article.
