History Main / SpellBook

OlderThanDirt, as most of the earliest civilizations thought writing was magic and used collections of written spells in various forms.

In RealLife, the SpellBook is called ''[[ReadTheFreakingManual The Manual]]'' and allows the user to cast "Tech Support" without use of reagents. (although like its fictional counterpart, beware the person who thinks they're a wizard just because they read the book and [[SorcerorsApprenticePlot are eager to try out the powerful incantations therein]].) In SciFi, the SpellBook may be called by a number of names, but reading TechnoBabble aloud from its sacred pages can produce limitless feats of [[MagicAIsMagicA technical wizardry]].

In RealLife, the SpellBook is called ''[[ReadTheFreakingManual The Manual]]'' and allows the user to cast "Tech Support" without use of reagents. In SciFi, the SpellBook may be called by a number of names, but reading TechnoBabble aloud from its sacred pages can produce limitless feats of [[MagicAIsMagicA technical wizardry]].

* In the Book of [[TheBible Acts]], much of the city of Ephesus (in modern-day western Turkey) was converted to Christianity all at once, and, "Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18,19 ESV) Making this OlderThanFeudalism.

* The Grimmerie in {{Wicked}} is a spell book, but if you don't have magical abilities PLUS the ability to actually read the book, it means nothing (Yes, it appears in the book too)

Related to, but distinct from [[GreatBigBookOfEverything The Book Of Shadows]], which is an infinite source of information. The TomeOfEldritchLore is also a spell book, but has added implications [[AC:[[ArtifactOfDoom of doom!]]]]. Some examples probably need to be moved over.

* Inevitably, ''TheOrderOfTheStick'' lampshades some of the [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0306.html counterintuitive oddities]] of D&D spellbooks.

[[AC: {{Anime}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC: Theater]]

[[AC: {{Videogames}}]]

[[AC: {{Webcomics}}]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* ''{{Gargoyles}}'', the Grimorum Arcanorum was very powerful and used several times by the mortal mages, including the recurring antagonist, Demona. The Archmage heavily sought it, and the Magus was rendered virtually powerless when he had to give it up to enter Avalon.

<<|MagicAndPowers|>>
<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>>
<<|FictionalMedia|>>

* ''CastleOfTheWinds'' uses a method effectively identical to the original ''Diablo'', except there are no levels for spells, though the cost of a spell can do down as one goes up in level.

[[caption-width:366:{{Barbie}}'s First Spellbook[[superscript:TM]]: Comes with its very own [[KnifeNut athame]]!]]

-->'''Reinforce Zwei:''' I'm the happiest magical tome in the world.\\

-->'''Reinforce Zwei:''' I'm the happies magical tome in the world.\\

* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' has the book of Melusedek which is said to be an AmplifierArtifact capable of making mages unstoppable and [[{{Muggle}} muggles]] smarter; magical text of the highest level. TheLibraryOfBabel that it's located in also has many ancient techniques and spells in the lower reaches.

* In the Book of [[TheBible Acts]], much of the city of Ephesus (in modern-day western Turkey) was converted to Chistianity all at once, and, "Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18,19 ESV) Making this OlderThanFeudalism.

** The third ''Fire Emblem'' explained the tome thing as "The basis of Sorcery relies on sealing nature’s hidden power into tomes and staves, and freely using those to harness great power." while the ninth and 10th involve short phrases (the only one given are "O light, gather. Open my path..." and "The light of life! Shine a ray upon my path and...strike my enemy!") in the ancient language.

* [[KingsQuest Alexander of Daventry]] definitely knows his way around these - and uses it in both his games.

** This Tropers finds nothing counterintuitive in the above scenario: you're not just scribing the one Power Word, but also how to pronounce it, in ''excruciatingly exacting and precise'' detail. And if there's one thing you never want to do, it's ''mispronounce'' a magic word.

* In [[ ScoobyDoo Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost, the villain is armed with a spell book.

* There was a ''ScoobyDoo'' movie where this warlock was armed with one.

* ''MageTheAwakening'' features grimoires, books of information on the structure and development of rotes. Unlike most spell books, however, grimoires act more like hard drives for magical knowledge; the mage literally writes all the information out of his mind and into the grimoire, where it can then be picked up by whoever reads it.

* Most''ElGoonishShive'' magic users, in spite of having power origins as widely varied as comic book superheroes, receive a spellbook that spontaneously adds pages to itself whenever they "level up" through a remarkably and regularly lampshadedly straight form of StatGrinding.

* Nanase of ''ElGoonishShive'' has a spellbook that spontaneously adds to itself whenever she, for lack of a better term, "levels up". Elliot and Ellen will be getting these, too, apparently.

* In PoulAnderson's ''The Midsummer's Tempest'', Prince Rupert uses magical books to win the English Civil War for the Royalists. However, since they are Prospero's books, he must first find where Prospero drowned them and then bring them up from the seabottom. (In this book, Shakespeare is the Great Historian.)

* ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' in CSLewis' ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Lucy goes inside a magician's house to find a Spell Book so she can make some invisible opponents visible. She's tempted to cast some of the spells for her own benefit (and does so once, to her regret).

* ''{{Charmed}}'' features a GreatBigBookOfEverything that works as a SpellBook.