Djävulen

(Taken from Ekortu's publication "Þursakyngi, Volume 4, Svartkonst.")

(Source citations have been omitted in this online rendition.)

Names

Since people were deeply fearful of the Devil, they thought that only mentioning His name was connected to immediate danger and that it would invoke His Spirit. Children were told not to mention His name, for if they did, He would come and seize them. Thus, they came up with a large number of epithets for the Devil, in Swedish Djävulen (Djefvul): Hin Håle – from Old Norse «hinn harði», "the hard one", which derives from the general trait of invulnerability and toughness given to the gods, like Loke in Skáldskaparmál with iron skin which no knife could pierce. Hinn or Hin – "it". Hin Onde – "the evil one". Den Svarte – "the black one". Fan – "tempter". Horn-Per or Horn-Pelle – because of His jealousy of Saint Peter. Skam – "shame". Bose. Belsebub. Den Lede – "the wicked one". Den Dålige – "the bad one". Gamle Erik or Gammel Jerk or Gubben – "the old Erik/Jerk/Man", a name which might denote “the ruler of the underworldly beings”. Halän. Han Vand – "he the evil one". Jutul – "skillful". On – "evil". Perkel – probably from Finnish Perkele. Puke. Marobell – from Marbuel. Raggen – "ragged like a goat’s fur" or maybe "bad". Ramen – "the strong one". Skotter – "one who shoots (from opposite ranks)", probably from Old Norse «andskoti», "adversary". Sure – "the sour one". Svedder – "the burnt one". Tra or Trami – "evil spirit". Värrin – "the worst one". Översten – "the colonel".

Concerning the name Oden (Óðinn) in folk tales, when Christianity came to Scandinavia Loke’s name was soon left in the shadows of the old faith and replaced with the Christian rebel and challenger of morality, the Devil. But in the early stage of the Christianized Sweden, when the old belief still lingered in the houses of the common man, Oden was the first one to deputize for Loke’s role as the opposer, and hence take the shape of the Devil.

The horse was created by the Devil, and in Norse belief, Loke transformed into a mare and gave birth to Sleipner, taken over by Oden. The wolf and dog were symbols for death and the realm of the dead, hence being connected to the Devil, and Loke had a wolf son, while Oden had two wolves by his side.

This alone made it easy for the folklore in the high medieval Sweden to apply Oden’s name onto the Devil, while leaving Oden as the Old Norse demiurgic god in the past. Oden was now just another name for the Devil in Sweden, especially in the folk tales about the wild hunt, sometimes known as Odens jakt.

As early as in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar of Oddr Snorrason from the 12th century Oden was stigmatized; it is said that a devil had the same appearance as Oden, «Þat hygg ek, at sjá djöfull hafi verit með ásjónu Óðins.»

This defamation of Oden in Sweden has misled many to reason that Oden was connected to the Devil and His traits, when in fact the Oden in the folk tales was no longer the Eddic Oden.

The Devil, in harmony with Swedish folklore, is the bringer of all the underworldly entities, it is His fallen angels that fell onto earth for three days and was stationed in different areas with diverse traits, and most of them were categorized as rådare (rulers).

This, naturally, stems from the Bible (e.g. Revelation 12:7-9), but as well from the Old Norse belief where all the trolls descended from Loke and Gullveig (Völuspá in skamma). Loke is not equivalent to the Devil, but they have some similar mythological functions and traits, being bringers of the supernatural entities known as troll, or Lucifer’s angels, is one.

Gullveig is a thursian giantess who has mythological analogies with Lilith in being a mother of demons, a crone, and a maid, and it was the perfect harmony between Loke and Gullveig which gave the opportunity for the unparalleled race of the trolls to become.

Waldemar Liungman says that there are three sorts of evils in this world, the first one is ignorance. The second is the material evil such as the raw nature forces, e.g. flooding, cold, and earthquakes, which the giants came to represent by our forefathers. The third one is the moral evil or our forefathers’ Loke figure. The Norse fettered beast Loke with His serpent son was later in the Christianized Scandinavian folk traditions succeeded by the new fettered beast Satan in the shape of a serpent.

As with the Norse giant Loke, the Devil is fundamentally considered to be the root of all evil and lies, an individual spirit as powerful as god, as the creator himself can barely rule over Him. Yet, the Devil is more of a person than a spirit in Swedish folk tales. The idea that the spirits manifested themselves as persons was a common trait in Scandinavia. That is why it was so difficult to know if a stranger was actually human, a troll, or the Devil Himself. Only attributes like a tail, hoofed feet, or horns could give them away. Djävulen being the greatest shapeshifter of shadows.

Raggen, the Devil, can transform himself into any other shape, e.g. to an animal, a human, or even a dead object, depending on the circumstance. A black dog with a mouth and eyes of fiery embers is a traditional theriomorphic appearance of the Devil in Swedish folk tales, it can be perceived in its uncanny movement, much like the description of Fenrir in Norse belief. He is also described to manifest Himself as a black cat big as a dog, a fox, a big black bird (or almost any sort of bird), and a fiery red mouse. This is why cats, dogs, and birds, in general, are associated with the Devil.

There are a lot of stories where hunters seem to not be able to shoot birds as if their bullets just bounce off them. This is explained to be the Devil in the shape of a bird. Only certain sorcerous methods will kill it, e.g. silver scrapings in the shotgun shells or three hairs wrapped around the bullet. The bear is an old forgotten symbol for the Devil as well in Scandinavia, the bear symbolizes wrath and strength.

Within the Swedish folk tales, the Devil is envisioned to be scrawny and terribly atrociously looking, and the demiurgic creator turned His former angel wings into two horns on His head, hence why the Devil often wears a hat of some kind when He approaches people in folk tales, in that way it is hard for the common man to identify Him. He is even told to have horns on His knees.

Some say that the Devil received feet of a goat or horse when he kicked at god’s messenger Gabriel. He also has a tale that is supposed to be the tale of a serpent as a reminiscence of the Devil’s preferred shape of the serpent. He has sparkling eyes, and long claws as hands. Other sources describe Him having a dog head, cow ears, crooked thighs, long black hair on his entire body, and oddly enough one foot of a goose and another of a horse. He is also reported to be as tall as the highest ceiling but can vanish through the smallest crack.

The Devil is sometimes narrated to favor red clothes and he has a red beard, hence why all men with red beards were viewed as belonging to the Devil. This is connected to the Swedish folk belief where Lucia and Lilith are believed to be the same. She is told to have red hair and brown eyes and all redheaded people come from her. Analogous to Djävulen, who is also called Lucifer in Swedish folk belief, Lucia, also known as Lösse, is the source of all the trolls and chthonic entities who are sometimes called "Lucia’s kind" or "Lucifer’s kind", Lucias/Lucifers släkte. Hence, Lucia is also known to be the wife of Kain. Old Swedish proverbs say:

   Alla som rött skägg hava skola till helvetet fara.

   Everybody with a red beard shall go to hell.

   Ditt röda skägg det vittne bär, att du en tusandjävel är.

   Your red beard bear witness of that you are a damned devil.

He is told to show himself riding on a wagon behind either black horses or black dogs with flaming mouths and eyes. Or on a big black horse’s back during the wild hunt in company with two black dogs. In the folk tales about the wild hunt the Devil sometimes have the name Oden, but more frequent Djävulen, Horn-Per, Skam, Hin Onde, etc.

Gammel Jerk, the Devil, is believed to have His dwelling known as Helvetet (Hell), within the earth, according to folk belief, and it is explained to be prepared to hold countless human spirits. This Hell has many descriptions by folk, but it is most often explained to be unbearably hot, some say like a sauna, others like a cast-iron stove. Some say His underworldly palace is stunningly decorated, it is also commonly imagined having a large copper cauldron where the unblessed are boiled, and if they try to climb out by grabbing the cauldron’s rim devils hit their fingers with sticks. Hence the Devil is known as the ruler of all the underworldly beings and spirits.

Despite the fact that the Devil has a world inside the earth, He is often explained to dwell in old farms’ stables to make trouble, in cemeteries, mountains, or even inside rocks. It is here where the Devil in the folk belief often is regarded as a being very close to the people, rather than an entity on a flaming throne in another world. It is said that He is closer to you than your own skin.

Common folk tales narrate the Devil as a normal man who walks around and talks to people, visits them to play cards, and as the Devil is being very rich, he doesn’t mind losing card games, or He visits for example a priest’s daughters to help them sew, seemingly without any agenda, but rather a reminder that the Devil is always among us.

It is a common belief that you can encounter the Devil at midnight by a crossroad where four roads meet up. He might appear as a big cat with four eyes. The connection between the Devil, crossroads and its liminal point is known in folklore worldwide.

Similar to the trolls, if you sit on the roof of a house which has been moved three times, at midnight, a certain day, you will see the Devil as a black dog, big as a bear. Or if you carry a piece of firewood in your hand at Easter and walk seven laps around the oldest drying house, ria, in town without looking back, and by the last lap hit the firewood on the door of the drying house, you will hear a thunderous plangent sound and see the fire-spitting Devil appears in front of you. Nevertheless, on the Easter night, if you walk three laps around the church and at each lap yell out into the keyhole in the church door, you will see the Devil himself. To yell or blow into the keyhole of the church door is a way to get rid of all the Christian knowledge one has received, it is a way to de-bless oneself.

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The Devil in the Swedish folklore acquired much of the Christian Satan’s mythology and traits, but it is important to understand that this Devil of the woods and the crossroads known in Sweden as Djävulen, Hin Håle, Fan, etc., is not the same as the acosmic Satan, nor is he equal to the thurs Loke.

The Black Art of Calling for the Devil

There have always been people who are terrified of the unknown and people who have been drawn to it. The Devil and His reservoir of wisdom have been looked upon as the unknown, and the ones drawn to it are called the wise, in the past trollkarlar and trollkäringar, and by the law of similarity: the wise attract the wise. These are the people who have abandoned a tyrannical and cruel lord to serve his antagonist, Satan. The trollkarl either had in his possession a book of black art or he was trained by another wiser trollkarl or he was in some way in league with the Devil.

Djävulen was the old and wise god that one would evoke during special rites to get access to occult and hidden mundane knowledge, or svartkonst. He was even given the epithet The Wizard, Trollkarlen, because of His extraordinary wisdom in the black arts. The Devil was normally evoked to teach the inquisitive how to call for other devils and spirits,  to get good harvest, how to heal and cure, how to conjure the dead, how to get taught about necromancy, how to find thieves, how to protect oneself from illness and harmful magic, lycanthropy, invisibility and shape-shifting, how to acquire wealth, luck, and success in gambling, even borrow money from the Devil with a short-term contract or a promise, etc.

Crossroads, cemeteries, saunas, churches, rivers, windmills and watermills (witches’ tributes to the Devil were said to be given in mills), remote forests, green meadows, and by crude pines (råtall) were common places to call for and encounter the Devil, known as Mörkrets Furste. On three Thursday nights in a row between midnight and 01:00, or in the very early morning before the sunrise, preferably at Yule, Easter, or midsummer, (but at any other time would work too.) On the third Thursday night, He would show.

It was also known to boil a living black cat and drink (or use in other ways) the broth to gain diabolical wisdom, and the one who would stay through the horrible screams from the cat would have earned to meet the Black One. The cat, especially the black cat, is viewed as a demonic animal. Many times, you were brought to the Devil at Blåkulla, "the black mound", an old Swedish name for the Devil’s home. There trollkäringarna (the witches) gave sheep’s wool as offerings to Hin Håle.

To be taught in sorcery, att trolla, you had to make an alliance with the Devil. During the fasting on Easter, you go three Thursday nights in a row at midnight to a cemetery, where you walk backward and withershins three laps around the church. On the third night, the Devil will show and offer a drink from a chalice, you jump feet together over the church door’s threshold and at the altar inside the church the Devil will teach you all the dark arts.

An old rather strange praxis was also on a midsummer’s night to sit on a rock in the middle of a river where the water is whirling around the rock with a fishing pole and having a living mouse as bait. (The mouse is connected to the underworld in Swedish tradition.) Three times you throw out your bait in the river while each time saying: I namn Fadrens o.s.v. The third time the Devil will come from the river and you can write a contract with him to get whatever you want. The contract needs to be, in line with tradition, signed in your blood drawn from your left-handed index finger. This old calling for Hin Onde probably derives from the Old Norse myth where Tor is fishing for his adversary Jörmungand.

In Sweden, Thursday was, as mentioned previously, the day for trollskap, magic, superstition, and pacts with Djävulen. You would open the evocation with something similar to:

   Jag manar den allsmäktige och högste Djävul! Regerande Mörkrets Furste och Monark!

You would light candles, sometimes made from human tallow; give Sulphur incense and a rooster or a pitch-black hen bought in the name of the Devil as offerings, your blood; write sigils and formulas in your blood, deer, bat, owl blood, or sometimes the blood from a pregnant woman; move counterclockwise; and beseech the Devil to come to you and teach you in His black arts:

   Jag manar dig, mäktiga Djävul, att i gengäld för mina offergåvor skall du lära mig din svarta konst, din mäktiga visdom och magi, så att jag blir upplyst och kunnig i dessa konster! Amen!

Connected to the rites of the Devil, it was a tradition to walk backward around a church on a Thursday at midnight and blow into the church door’s keyhole to abjure Christianity and reject god or read the Lord’s Prayer backwards and rip apart and burn a bible for the same reason. Likewise, collect ore chafed off from a church bell, silver from a chasuble, wood from the church’s doors, fabric from the altar cloth, or any other useful material to employ in the ritual workings.

During the diabolical rite, a pact with the Devil was most often written, pactum cum Diabolo. It was favored if the pact was written in your blood or animal blood from deer, bat, or owl. But the pact needed at least be signed in your blood for the pact to be fully sealed. According to Swedish folk belief, the contract needed to be signed with the blood drawn from your left-handed index finger or the right-handed little finger. You could also sign the contract with your bomärke, which is an old Scandinavian mark or rune representing your house and yard.

Some sorcerers, svartkonstnärer, wrote down what they have learned from the Devil in a book, or many times it is said that the book was written by the Devil Himself, and this infamous book was known as a svartkonstbok, a book of black art. You could bring a sheet of empty paper only signed by you in your blood to the places mentioned above and bury or hide it together with offerings, then you would pray for the Devil to bless you with His Trollmakt, and the Devil would fill the sheet with His black art.

These books would normally comprise magical texts together with crude cures and medical treatments, and supernatural luck in hunting and fishing, etc. The one owning a svartkonstbok was in an alliance with the Devil, the one who got one as a gift had to become in an alliance with the Devil, otherwise, the texts would have no power. You normally signed the inherited book with the blood from your left index finger to link its magical contents to you.

Contract with the Devil

There are many folk tales about people who choose to write a contract with the Devil to receive wealth and power, and most often they promise the Devil an eternity in damnation in exchange, this was known as att städsla Fan. Numerous short explanations on how to do this can be found in folk tales or in the so-called black art books, but to actually find a genuine contract is rare. Below is a translation of one of those rare authentic contracts with the Devil. The translation is made by the author and it is the first time it has been translated into English.

As specified by the source, it was found in the stairs of the pulpit in a church by a verger in 1838:

Between the signed and the Devil for a period of 48 years, the year is counted as our Swedish calendar that every year has three hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes, and fifty-seven seconds. And equally long shall all the years be as long as this contract is valid.

1. Satan shall serve me as a farmhand (dräng) during the prescribed years, to complete what I command, and as an invisible spirit be my assistant as soon as I call for any aid.

2. Satan shall acquire to me on Sunday morning one thousand Rixdaler, Banco Swedish coin, not the sort of money which disappear when you hand them over, but the ones that are made after the 1830’s standard of currency, and as much money on the following Thursday, and no inconveniences of the obtaining of the money, without further, the points below, which you must comply with.

3. Satan shall serve me so that I always win in whatever gambling I take part in, preferably in Hamburska Banken and Kungliga Numer Låtteriet and in other games.

4. Satan shall make me known to all people, both noble and humble, also make me known by name in all of Europe and put in order for me to be a member of the parliament Bondeståndet, and likewise acknowledge me honorably at the actual Royal Majesty.

5. Satan shall serve me so that no prelate can win me over in any of my deeds for the good of the country and give me such strength in writing and reading that there will be no equal in my time, and such drive in all of my endeavors for the good of the country that the whole Swedish nation will respect me.

6. Satan shall teach me how to write, read, and understand Latin, and intelligibly comment in text, and expand my memory.

7. (Satan) Shall let me (once the contract is void) live like a Christian human being, go to church, listen to the words of God, and join my fellow human beings at official worship, and unhindered by you go to the Eucharist like a Christian person, and undisturbed by you attend to worship like other Christian people.

8. Satan shall let me live if I am alive when this contract is void as long as the Divine Providence, Försynen, allows me that I can die like a Christian, and unhindered by you live as long as the Divine Providence lets me, it is a breach of contract if you have any quarrel in this.

9. Satan shall aid me in that I will be enlightened if any hidden treasure lays in the ground concealed, like e.g. prehistoric silver. As well as ores like preserved prehistoric copper and iron.

10. Satan shall also protect me from any corporal misfortunes, along with diseases that I can encounter during this time.

11. Satan shall serve me so that I am fortunate in demeanor and all of my earthly ventures of any kind.

12. Satan shall make me mannerly that both the noble and the humble will respect me.

13. You shall not assist me in that way that anyone will notice, instead, you will complete your obligation as an invisible spirit that I do not become disturbed either by noise or other inconvenience.

14. If you fulfill all these items in this contract then I promise that I will belong to you eternally and bind myself to you, and to reject God and his holy Gospel, and renounce all the pledges I have sworn my Savior when baptized as well as curse my baptismal alliance in your keeping. Nevertheless, if you refuse to abide by any of the prescribed items, then you are liable to all of them and this contract becomes invalid. This I have written by my own hand and for your assurance validated with my own blood. To be befallen 30th Mars 1838. Signed.

It is told that the author of this letter was a married 28-year-old farmer, who according to his behavior was well-mannered. He also attended diligently at church service, Bible reading, and even worship at home. Since he had put his name on the contract the reverend sent for him and he had confessed and said that he had for a time been troubled with thoughts of becoming rich and prominent. This vanity had grown stronger and since he had heard in his youth that one could have a contract with Satan, he by himself had come to this decision to compose and leave the letter in the church, where he also believed he could collect an answer. He had had horrible imaginations about the consequences, but he always had hope that God would give him mercy, that Satan, in the end, would not get any power over his soul, even if Satan fulfilled his sinful wishes.

The author of the contract was judged by the court of law to a fine, but since he did not have any means to pay, he was sentenced to jail for 14 days.