The Black Book of the Clergy
The black book (svartbok), a manual of black magic that Swedish tradition placed in the hands of a priest or 'klok' man who had studied 'the black art'. Actual svartkonstböcker, filled with conjurations, signs, and instructions, survive in Swedish archives from the 17th-19th centuries, and they mix prayers, biblical names, and runic-looking signs in the same hand that kept the parish register. Legend said the priest's black book could be passed on only on his deathbed, since the book had been given him by the powers of the dark and would burn or vanish if it fell to an unworthy hand. The book