Customer Reviews

The Black Books of Elverum

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4 star:		(1)
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This work represents an astonishing find, two so called black books from Norway. There are only around 100 or so black books known, all of them collections of spells and common wisdom in the Scandinavian tradition. Far from being diabolical "black magic", these collections give an intimate glimpse into the greatest hopes and fears of our Medieval ancestors. A survey of the spells reveals, for instance, that theft was a common concern, that childbirth was often difficult, and that finding love was as complicated in the past as it is today. Mary Rustad has done a wonderful service in bringing these personal collections to light.

This is a rare find. Quite an insight into some of the lesser known folk ways of Norway in past centuries. The author does an excellent job of setting the historical and cultural contexts before getting into the heart of the matter - photocopies of every page of two original, hand-written books, along with English translations. These very old books contain everything from simple remedies, recipes, and potions up through some darker spells and incantations. Fascinating stuff!

Are you sick and tired of the lame *ssed spellbooks that are out on the market today? Have a desire to get back to the roots of Magic from elder days gone by? Here's a treasury of great material for you to peruse!

In this offeirng. Mary S. Rustad has given you a tremendous look into the past by showing you actual authentic 'spells' from the past! Ever had that dream of finding some old Witch's pesonal journal? Look no further! Page by page you're shown the original manuscript on the left page and on the right page you've given the translation. This way you can compare the translation (if you can read old Norwegian!)

The 'Black Book' this is based on has a hand written date of 1682 however the author and other experts believe it's actually dated from around 1790 to 1820 when it was penned. These books were copied from one another much like Witchers were said to do in Medieval times. This particular black book has a renunciation of God the father which you (allegedly) sign in blood.

Then inside are spells for everyting: abortions, boils, cards/dice games, fevers, fishing, hauntings, judicial proceedings, money, relatives, sexual relations, and many more. There's old folk-lore and Ms. Rustad even discusses a relative of her's who was convicted and burned alive in Rustad for Witchcraft.

This is a fascinating account from a bygone era. If you just happen to be a purveyor of old and unusual folklore then this book is for you. Or perhaps you revel in ancient folk medicines and remedies? If so, you too will like this book. Rare are such books and it is wise to take advantage of them when & where you can before such knowledge is suppressed yet again by the Religious Reich.

I give this book five out of five possible stars.

Aside from the black magic aspects of the work (which may be of interest to others) this book is important for a couple of reasons:

1) Many ideas found in them correlate to other Norse mythic and magical works from the Eddas to the Icelandic Galdrabok, but not Mediterranean magic. This is even more true once one filters out the Christian elements.

2) Some elements of the work correlate to broader Indo-European ideas. Compare the remedy for infertility with the dragon-slaying formulae discussed by Calvert Watkins in "How to Kill a Dragon."

For anyone studying folklore, Scandenavian mythology and ideas, Indo-European studies, or magic relating to these traditions, this is an important work.

If you're familiar with the German traditions of folk magic, the Pennsylvania Dutch Pow-wows / Long Lost Friend traditions, or even other American folk magical practices such as Hoodoo, the contents of the two collections of manuscript spells from the 19th century presented in this book aren't going to be all that unfamiliar. The material needs, first, to be taken at face value. There's no ideology here, much less theology; the original collectors freely acknowledged that the spells were a mashup of dimly remembered pagan traditions, garbled bits of liturgical Latin from the Roman Catholic era, and conventional Christian prayers.

The spells will be especially interesting if you can follow the nineteenth century Norwegian presented in facsimile, in crabbed, Sutterlin style cursive blackletter hands. The handwriting is as much an obstacle as the language, which is definitely 19th century Dano-Norwegian and not "Old Norwegian" as suggested. As a magical handbook for current practice, it would need some updating: what you have here, as in the corresponding Cyprianus traditions, is a collection of rustic spells, largely concerned with curing minor ills, manipulating love or fertility, and other such homely concerns. Put three baby mice in a bottle of liquor and give it to a drunkard to drink to make him stop drinking. (Just might work.) Beat a snake to death with a stick and lift a woman's skirt with the same stick three times to get her to conceive. (Maybe not.)

This is an interesting bit of folklore in its own right. The aspiring wise woman or cunning man would learn from this mostly how the old spells were put together; they may need to be updated to address more contemporary concerns in actual practice.

This nice little grimorie contains great occult information. On the left hand side of the page, you see a scanned photo of the actual page from the original grimoire and the right hand side has the english translation.

This is a great book to read when it comes to taking a closer look at older magical practices. Most of the spells in this book would not be suitable to use in today's magical practice without altering some of the information and especially the ingreadiants to make it work in today's world.

Overall, this is a great book to own.... Highly recommended!

Much Love & Many Blessings,
Thorn Nightwind

A fascinating glimpse into Norway's past. These precious books are a reflection of what people did when medical help was not readily available. The book comes from a time of fear and superstition. It is a fascinationg window into the thinking of old Norway. What would you do if your a family member was ill and you had only yourselves to depend on?

So these are the spells that got our ancestors burned for witches in Norway? A little bit of dog Latin, and a lot of wishful thinking. I enjoyed this look at the past, but the book made me very very sad. That's because it illuminated the general level of ignorance and superstition in which our ancestors lived.

This is definitely a worthwhile resource for anyone interested in the folk-medicine folk-belief practices of rural Norway. I'm glad Rustand managed to rescue a copy and provide us with a translation. And for what it's worth, some of my more pietistic Norwegian relatives refused to come into my house once they learned I had a copy here.

I really like this book. It's informative, intresting, and facinating. I recomend this book to people who are quite advanced in the study of Black Magick.