Preface

This is a practical grammar of the kind of magic practiced in Iceland from the Middle Ages forward. From a theoretical standpoint it is partially based on the pagan practices that preceded the coming of Christianity, but as it stands in its grand synthetic form it is a mixture of various kinds of magic. This mixture is unique to Iceland. Many of its techniques can easily be applied by practitioners within various traditions. As a synthesis of disparate traditions it is a good model for the individual magician of today. We are lucky that so much magical material was recorded by Icelanders throughout history and that so many of the books in which their records were kept have survived. One of the things that makes this kind of literature so worthy of our attention is the fact that it represents part of a continuing tradition and transmission of ideas from the pre-Christian age right up until the twentieth century. The tradition of recording magical spells in books went on in secret in Iceland on a scale that is only revealed by the number of surviving manuscripts in the Landsbókasafn, the National Library in Reykjavík.

Medieval books of magic were often called “grimoires,” a word derived from the French grammaire. These books provided principles from which magicians could create their own magical operations. This is the main intent of this book as well. Much of the practical material presented here is taken directly from actual Icelandic sources. Principal among these is the famous book that has come to be called the Galdrabók (book of magic), which is one of the earliest and most elaborate examples of an Icelandic grimoire text that has been preserved. Additional historical examples are drawn from various other Icelandic books of magic, as well as from a few personal experiments.

STEPHEN E. FLOWERS,
WOODHARROW INSTITUTE FOR
INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES