GaldRAstafir:

Historical Icelandic Magic Symbols

Kári Pálsson & Giorgia Sottotetti

Introduced by Alessia Bauer & Illustrated by Leodrune

Image of photo of a church and the Icelandic countryside by Giorgia Sottotetti

“Draw blood from above your left middle finger nail and with it write this stave on a piece of paper”

In the 1800s and early 1900s, the tradition of Icelandic magical symbols (galdrastafir), once forbidden upon penalty of death, was in decline. At the same time, the topic saw increased interest from the scholarly communities of Iceland and beyond. One such scholar was Icelander Jónas Jónasson, a priest, folklore collector, and antiquarian who collected and compiled historical Icelandic magic symbols from a variety of sources before his death in 1918. The result of his labors is an incredible manuscript he simply titled Galdrastafir.

Now, for the first time, this lush and beautiful edition by scholars Kári Pálsson and Giorgia Sottotetti (National Museum of Iceland) presents this material in full alongside numerous supplementary items, including an introduction from scholar Alessia Bauer (École pratique des hautes études, France), photographs by Giorgia Sottotetti, and illustrations by artist duo Leodrune.

A must-have for anyone interested in topics like Icelandic folklore, runology, and the occult.

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