Trolldom: Spells and Methods of the Norse Folk Magic Tradition

Finally a book on Norse Folk magic! The book is mostly a collection of various spells used for a variety of reasons. The spells are based on pre Christian methods but in reality a variety of spiritual entities are called upon. Occasionally Thor and Odin will show up in a spell, on even more occasions the devil and his demons will be summoned, and finally most of all the Christian deities of Jesus, Mother Mary and the Holy Ghost are invoked. The reason the methods survived and not the belief in deity is that when Christianity took over, the Norse used the same spells and prayer but adopted them too different saints and other spiritual creatures in the Christian Pantheon. So the saints after a while get the prayers.Trolldom is any sort of magic that falls outside the official purview of the Church. The spells include the usual gambit of blessing the field and cattle, protecting the cattle and farmstead from both magic and regular human assault. There are a variety of spells for revenge, hunting luck, getting Justice , so forth and so on. There is also extensive discussion on divination and talk of the different spiritual creatures that are still worked with.While I am not too sure about how many people use this magic, I think the numbers are dwindling. The spells are relatively simple which would qualify this as low magic, or magic to obtain things. Some of them are impractical cause they ask you to take the parts of a dead man, or hair of an intended lover or put something in their food. No one is going to do that. There are other spells that can be used and they are simple to perform.

I love this book. I seen people complaining that there are Christian spells in here - if they were smart they would study the structure of the spell then just rewrite it in a pagan context, for example: instead of “ in the name of god the father, son and Holy Ghost say “in the nameof Thor, Odin and Frigga”. This gives many examples of the types of troll formulas that were in use and Johannes’ commentary about their structure. I’m currently taking Johannes’ class online which is invaluable if you’re looking to really become a trolldom practitioner. I’ve actually used a spell from this book to catch a thief the other day and it worked! My girlfriends brother stole the package, which I suspected, soI put the piece of parchment with the spell written in my blood (which I got from flossing my teeth and mixed with dragons blood ink) where it was stolen late at night and the next day he gave my girlfriends mother the package to give me back once she informed him it was mine and not my girlfriends. This was all after he claimed he left it on the porch when he seen it was my girlfriends 😂😂

Excellent item arrived right on schedule!

I thought the book would be based on the original Norse belief systems, not the post Christianised world they were forced into. Good book, but kind of a bait and switch tactic if you ask me.

The beginning of the book is about a basic understanding of the history of trolldom and Swedish immigrants to the US. It's very good background information to have. The vast majority of the book is different spells and practical magic written down from interviews between 100 and 200 years ago (although I've found one or two spells from closer to 300 years ago). I love this book. If you are disappointed by modern Wiccanized magic, then this is the book for you.

I really did not appreciate the incredible amount of information in this book when I ordered it, got it, and first started reading it.However, very soon I was agape at the incredible information presented in this book.It has the kind of ancient ways and knowledge that those of us who are interested in magic would be blessed beyond belief to have passed down to us directly!It is precisely as if a long-dead practitioner were able to write down their spells and personally hand them to us on paper.This book is probably not well understood enough in its subject matter to scream "Buy Me" to the casual observer, but take it from a serious student of old magic and ways, this book is an absolute treasure horde of knowledge wrapped in an unassuming title.If you are interested in genuine, nature based traditions which work, this is the book to buy. And though it is collected in a more modern era which calls upon Christian Gods, anyone familiar with the older Norse traditions can use those gods instead as these traditions may be older than either pantheon, and one can see where vestiges of Norse and not Christian traditions exist (i.e. the use of the number "9" in magic, which is a significant number in Norse, but not Christian, traditions).Get this book! And give yourself the time to devour and absorb it. You will NOT be disappointed!

I don’t understand why people explain in the review section. This book is about FOLK MAGICK. That alone should be enough of a hint that there will probably be Christianity involved. Sure, if you’re looking for pre-Christian stuff, go read another book, this one is not for you. But since it’s about folk magick, this book is great! Definitely recommend it to anyone interested in actual Scandinavian folk magick.

This book is amazing!

It is a good book more for educational purposes but for now days practicers is not useful

A wonderful and brilliant book on Trolldom. A treasure-trove of lore and craft on the real life of Cunning Folk of Scandinavia. So be aware this is not a book on Heathenry. The book contains Folk magic and folklore influenced by the worldview of Christianity with aspects of Heathenry from that perspective. One word of note, on page 37, the author mentions in the chapter on Utnesittning that this technique is found in the Sagas particularly in the awakening of the Volva as found in Havamal. However this is surely found in Voluspa. Also the Runes are regarded as any written spell. However despite that, a good book if you are looking for Scandinavian 'Witchcraft/Cunning Arts'.

Really great insights and information for the nordic cunning traditions of the past by someone who still practices it. contains old charms in their original languages and translation. with the authors notes on context the reader should know