"Chanting away eye blisters...": Treatment as ritualized knowledge in black magic books

My current PhD project with the working title Chanting away eye blisters: Treatment as ritualized knowledge in black books aims to increase knowledge on sickness and treatment of ailments in Norway in the 17th, 18th and 19th century. The main sources are Norwegian texts from the so-called black books from 1750 to 1900 which include medical advice and treatment instructions intended for humans and animals, and were taken down by folk medicine specialists. The black book material is considered in conjunctio n with witch trial records from the 17th and 18th century describing their use and who owned such books and traditional writings from the 19th and 20th century. The traditional material is examined using ritual theories and theories of speech action. The black book material is, moreover, considered in the light of the European tradition of books of magic, grimoires. This point out the characteristic features of the Norwegian material in a comparative European perspective and place the study within Europea n cultural history research. The main research objective during my stay at Harvard University will be to gain a greater understanding of the relation between the content of Norwegian black books, especially with relation to magic and witchcraft and the European tradition of magic beliefs from the Medieval Age and onwards. This objective will be achieved by regular discussions with my co-supervisor Professor Stephen Mitchell who works at Harvard University, by making use of the extensive and excellent co llections of literature in the Harvard libraries relevant for my project and by meeting Research Fellows from related fields for creative and instructive discussions.