find and read the Black Book, thus summoning the devil, while the owner, often a clergyman, is away. The only way to save oneself is to give the devil a task that he cannot solve: to empty a fjord, to untie all knots in a fishing net, to twist a rope of sand, to row against the wind with a boat filled with empty buckets, etc.. The devil is then kept busy until the expert or the owner of the book returns and exorcises the devil away. It is given an ML (Migratory Legend) number of 3020 and is related to Aarne-Thompson type 325, "Apprentice and Ghost" and type 565, "The Magic Mill". See also Galdrabók The Great Book of Saint Cyprian Hoodoo Merseburg charms Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses Tycho Brahe days References textual sources Scandinavian folklore Scandinavian history Magic (supernatural) Occult texts da:Cyprianus