Raudskinna | The terrifying book of Icelandic black magic

Although on previous occasions we have already talked about the Grimoires or spooky magic books , it is worth remembering that these are magic books that were persecuted by the church and the authorities for centuries. However, today in Supercurious We want to focus on one of them, which although it has disappeared for a long time, is still spoken of ... We refer to Raudskinna, the terrifying book of Icelandic black magic . Are you accompanying us to discover it?

Raudskinna: discover the terrifying book of Icelandic black magic

Raudskinna or Rauoskinna (also known as "The book of energy" or "The book of power") means in Icelandic "red skin", since that was the color of the covers of the cursed book. It is supposed to be the most terrifying book of black magic that has ever existed and its purpose is to achieve dominate the devil himself so that he puts himself at the service of the magician who possesses him .

The author of the book was Gottskalk Nikulausson, who ironically held the post of Bishop of Hólar. In it he collected rules and spells of black magic very contrary to what his office and religion implied. By now, you're probably wondering why he did it. Well, it is said that his intention was to defeat Satan, enslave him and thereby rule the world . But let's see how he got to this point.

Born in 1469 in Iceland, Gottskalk was appointed bishop in 1496, but his life did not follow the principles of Christianity at all. He had two official lovers; with the first of them he had two children and with the second one a girl. In addition, it is said that it was an ambitious, cruel and manipulative man, who He became interested in witchcraft and black magic spent making this interest a real obsession . The people of his region knew what he was up to, and when he died in 1520 he was buried along with his book: the Raudskinna.

The legend that hides behind Raudskinna

In Iceland it is said that, two centuries after the death of the bishop, a man named Loftur came to the Hólar cathedral looking to delve into black magic . He studied a book known as Graskinna (meaning "gray skin") but it was not enough: he wanted the knowledge of the Raudskinna. He knew he had been buried next to the bishop who wrote it, but he did not know what grave he was in.

One night he went to the cathedral with a student to invoke the spirits of the bishops buried there and get Gottskalk to hand over the Raudskinna. Loftur sang psalms of praise to the devil and other incantations until he got three bishops to rise from their graves. These departed from him with fear.

He continued to sing and finally another bishop appeared who wore no cross on his chest and carried in his hands a red book with gold letters. It was Gottskalk. He spoke to Loftur and told him he would never get the book. Loftur did not surrender, he sang psalms to the devil again and the church shuddered. The student who accompanied him thought he saw Gottskalk giving the book to Loftur, but fear invaded him. and began to ring the bells of the cathedral.

The spell broke and the scene vanished. Loftur died shortly after he was sailing in his boat, the legend says that the devil dragged him into the depths of the sea and drowned him . But for the Icelanders the mystery continues: some say that the Raudskinna was destroyed, but others believe that it is still there, buried somewhere next to the evil bishop.

Besides the Raudskinna, you may also be interested ...

If you have liked to know the history that revolves around the Raudskinna and want to delve into mysterious legends of the same style, let us suggest a selection of entries that may be of interest to you. Do not miss it!

• Are you a mystery lover? Then do not miss this one unparalleled selection of Best Mystery Books that no lover of the genre should be lost.
• And if you want to know other cases of grimoires, you can also delve into the Grimoire Picatrix , whose intention is to get the energy of the planets.

And, now: giving After our approach to the Raudskinna, we encourage you to leave us a comment telling us your impressions Did you already know the history of this book of black magic? Do you think that the legend has real foundations? Have you ever had the opportunity to visit Iceland? Do you know another legend as mysterious about which you would like us to investigate or would you like to include some other information about this book of black magic? Eat us! We would like very much to have your opinion.