“ | Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch would document their work. | ” |
A Grimoire, lesser known as Spellbooks, is generally a book wherein a witch documents all of their spells or rituals, potions or herbal remedies, and any other forms of magical knowledge. Darker tomes can also be filled with information for hexes, curses, and other dark magics. Grimoires vary in content, depending on the witches who own them, making some more valuable than others given their unique and powerful spells. They can also vary in size and are generally aesthetically beautiful, bound in leather and contain pages of parchment; others seem only like old books with torn pages.
Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series[]
Emily Bennett's Grimoire[]
- "The Fell family believed it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book. But I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear."
- —Elena reading Giuseppe's account of Emily's grimoire in Children of the Damned
Emily Bennett was a powerful witch in 1864. After she was burned at the stake, her grimoire was taken by the Founding Families, and was later buried in Giuseppe Salvatore's grave. 145 years later, the location of the grimoire was finally discovered by Elena and Stefan, after reading Johnathan Gilbert's journals. After retrieving the book, Elena and Stefan were forced into giving it to Damon, after he threatened Elena's life. Soon after that, Bonnie and Sheila Bennett were convinced into using the grimoire to try and open the tomb that encased all of the vampires. After which, Bonnie inherited her book in which she continued to teach herself magic. It is unknown whether or not she continued to use this or created her own.
Jonas Martin's Grimoire Collection[]
- "Witches from all over the world have collected their spells in grimoires but, over the centuries, most of them get lost and my dad is obsessed finding them, making sure that our family's heritage stays intact."
- —'Luka about his father's collection in By the Light of the Moon
Jonas Martin had an obsession with collecting grimoires. One of the many grimoires contained the spell that gave the witch the knowledge and spell to harness the energy that's left behind when a witch died violently. In Know Thy Enemy, after Jonas and Luka died, Bonnie packed up their grimoires and kept them in order to kill Klaus. When Bonnie finally harnessed the power of her ancestors she nearly brought Klaus to the brink of death, but Klaus told Elijah Mikaelson if he rescued him he would show Elijah where he hid their family.
Greta Martin's Grimoire[]
- "He's searching for a way to undo the curse without the doppelgänger. He's forced generations of witches to help him for centuries."
- —Luka in Crying Wolf
Greta's grimoire is a medium-sized book with a black cover. Within it's pages, it contains the spell to undo the Hybrid Curse that was placed on Klaus. Luka believed that Klaus forced generations of witches to break the curse with the doppelgänger; however, with the modern-day doppelgänger found, Klaus had all the necessary components to undo the curse after Katherine transitioned into a vampire. In The Sun Also Rises, with the grimoire in hand, Greta broke Klaus' curse sacrificing the werewolf, Jules, the newly transitioned vampire, Jenna, and the doppelgänger, Elena. After Greta's death, presumably Bonnie kept it or it was disposed of with her body.
Gloria's Grimoire[]
Gloria's grimoire is much larger in both overall shape and volume of pages. Her grimoire likely contains a variety of herbal recipes and spells needed to slow down the speed of aging. When Klaus came to her in need of a witch, due to her age and experience, Gloria used her magic, her grimoire, and eventually Rebekah, to perform a locator spell to find the Original Witch's talisman in Disturbing Behavior. She also referenced the grimoire when she spelled Stefan and made a connection to him. Furthermore, it likely contains much of Gloria's other spell work, such as her paralysis spell, and magic that she refers to as "old-school voodoo". It is unknown what happened to the grimoire after her death.
Abby Bennett's Grimoire[]
- "It's the spell I used to seal Mikael in the tomb. I burned it and tried to get it out of my head. Didn't work though."
- —Abby about a spell in her Grimoire in Bringing Out The Dead
The grimoire of Abby Bennett is a tome of similar size to that of Gloria's. In Bringing Out The Dead it is revealed that Abby had more than one grimoire for reasons unknown, but this particular Grimoire, was particularly the only one that Abby truly needed. It is also interesting to note, that Bonnie, despite Abby's statement, had already previously seen most of the spells contained therein. The grimoire also once contained the desiccation spell Abby used on Mikael. Even though Abby burned the spell, the Dark Magic that was required to perform the spell remained with her. This eventually proved useful as Bonnie needed and performed the same spell on Niklaus Mikaelson. It also contains the Sealing spell that she used to entomb Mikael in Pickett Mausoleum as well as in intricate drawing of a blood knot, which lead her to figure out how to reverse the Sealing spell on the last coffin that eventually freed Esther Mikaelson. It's possible that this grimoire contains a plethora of spells or information about herblore and magic properties of herbs due to Abby Bennett's affinity with the connection with Nature and plants, such as her gardens.
Bonnie Bennett's Grimoire[]
- "It's a talisman, since Bonnie can't be here, her grimoire will have to do."
- —Qetsiyah explains that Bonnie's grimoire can be used as a talismans in Death and the Maiden
Bonnie's grimoire was passed down from generation to generation and Bonnie uses her ancestor's Grimoire to learn her craft. Damon placed the grimoire on her grave during Bonnie Bennett's Funeral. In Death and the Maiden, Qetsiyah did a spell to make Bonnie the Anchor to The Other Side by using her Grimoire through the process of the spell, the book was magically set on fire to finish the spell but it's unknown if Bonnie's grimoire is destroyed.
Sheila Bennett's Grimoire[]
- "Listen, there was a time when I couldn't practice magic. This grimoire taught me a lot, maybe I can reteach myself."
- —Bonnie finds her Grams' Grimoire in Yellow Ledbetter
Sheila Bennett's grimoire is a large, pale grimoire with an ornate cover. When Bonnie first began practicing magic, she was taught from this grimoire and where a lot of her knowledge about magic originated ("Yellow Ledbetter", "Black Hole Sun"). While trapped in the 1994 Prison World, she found a copy of the original in Shelia's home and used it to re-teach herself magic during the time she had trouble practicing. Within its pages, it contains the spell needed to escape a Prison World. It is unknown whether the original grimoire still exists on the mortal plane or whether or not it was transported along with Bonnie like with Ms. Cuddles.
Olivia Parker's Grimoire[]
Olivia's Grimoire is a book with a beige cover of medium size, similar to Emily Bennett's Grimoire, which was used by Bonnie Bennett. It is likely to contain many of the teachings of the Gemini Coven, as such as their cloaking spells. Olivia used a spell from her grimoire that could with the help of the Ascendant and the sun, transport Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert to Kai's Prison World until sundown, but Olivia chose to end her spell early as her brother Kai was on his way.
Throughout The Originals Series[]
Esther Mikaelson's Grimoire[]
- Main article: Esther's Grimoires
This grimoire belonged to the powerful 10th-century witch Esther Mikaelson, best known for creating the vampire race. Due to Esther's reputation for being an exceptionally powerful witch, this grimoire is very sought after by witches everywhere. It may also be one of the oldest still existing grimoires in the world.
One spell from the grimoire was the Blood-Knot Unsealing Spell, which used Representational Magic to untie a knot in a rope and thereby break the link between Sophie Deveraux and Hayley Marshall-Kenner. It also contains a spell which can return people who have taken possession of another body to their original body once they try to jump into another body again and a spell which can be used to bring people back from the dead without needing their original body. It is also possible, though not yet confirmed, that spells such as the spell that created the originals, the spell which creates daylight rings, the spell which creates moonlight rings and Esther's body jumping spells are contained within. It is presumed that the originals have kept their mother's grimoire with them over the centuries as in the 21st century Elijah used the grimoire to broker a deal with Davina Claire where she would aid him in return for pages from the grimoire. One spell from it was used in Le Grand Guignol by Monique to return Celeste to her original body. It was later also used by Genevieve in the episode The Battle of New Orleans to create the moonlight rings which Klaus wanted to use to build his werewolf army. Davina used it in From a Cradle to a Grave to resurrect Mikael. Currently, the great majority of the book is in the possession of the Mikaelsons, presumably Freya.
Davina Claire's Grimoire[]
The grimoire that belongs to the former Harvest Witch Davina Claire is an elegant diary with a leather cover and pages that contain spells and translations of Esther's Grimoire, as shown in Alive and Kicking, while she copied some diagrams from the old book to hers. It may also have some spells learned from Kol's lessons on the practice of Kemiya and Dark Magic.
Kol Mikaelson's Grimoire Collection[]
In I Love You, Goodbye, Rebekah (in her new body) and Davina are shown doing research in a dozen grimoires piled on a table, looking for a spell to break Finn's hex on Kol. It is unknown if these books are still kept in the Playhouse or have been stolen from the Lycée, and thus belong to the French Quarter Coven, or both.
In addition to the handwritten grimoires, even esoteric publications and Witchcraft handbooks that Kol has probably collected over the centuries are stored within the Playhouse.
Vincent Griffith's Grimoire[]
Vincent Griffith's grimoire is also bound in leather and with yellowed handwritten pages. Vincent's grimoire has several drawings and diagrams which don't differ much from those of Esther's.
It is possible that this grimoire contains traditions and rituals specific of the Tremé Coven, as well as the wild magic practiced by Vincent and Eva described by the former Regent, Josephine LaRue.
Freya Mikaelson's Grimoire[]
Freya Mikaelson's grimoire is a light leather-bound book with yellowed pages. Since Freya doubted that Davina Claire was able to understand her magic, it's possible that her grimoire contains specific information of Freya's magic, including Connective Magic and Kenning she learned from her aunt and captor Dahlia. Spells of Possession and magic related to death, such as the Death-Memory Conjuration Spell, are contained therein.
In addition to her own grimoire, which she also used for practicing in making seals to weaken Lucien Castle in The Devil Comes Here and Sighs, Freya has at her disposal Esther's grimoires, and perhaps even those that belonged to her brother Kol. This was shown in Out of the Easy, when she tried to magically locate her sister Rebekah, and an assortment of grimoires was placed on her working table at St. Louis Cathedral's attic.
Hope Mikaelson's Grimoire[]
Hope Mikaelson's grimoire is a notebook with a cover decorated with glitter and colored stickers. A yellow scrap of cardboard glued to the front-cover bears the title of the book, "Hope's Grimoire," written in block capitals with letters of different colors. The pages contain disparate notions on witchcraft and instructions on how to perform spells and rituals, such as astral projecting. The texts are written with pencils and markers of different colors in a clear and childish calligraphy and are decorated with drawings and illustrations.
Throughout Legacies Series[]
Lizzie Saltzman's Grimoire[]
In Yup, It's a Leprechaun, All Right, Lizzie mentions to Kaleb that she has her own grimoire. Within its pages, she has some old, Salem-era spells for dispersing angry mobs. She had hoped to try and figure out if she could reverse one of them to draw people to the Salvatore School so help with their Fundraiser day to save the school from being taken by the bank because of a property tax lien.
The Necromancer's Grimoire[]
- "I know you two have history, and this grimoire of his is full of... Black magic spells."
- —Alaric and Josie about The Necromancer's grimoire in I Was Made To Love You
The Necromancer's Grimoire is a dark tome filled with dark and powerful black magic spells. In Facing Darkness is Kinda My Thing, the Necromancer proposed to work with Alaric in order to rid him of Josie and gain the dark magic that rebounded to her after she broke the Mora Miserium. In Hold on Tight, while the Necromancer prepared his sacrifices and consecrated Mystic Falls High School, Alyssa Chang used the Necromancer's grimoire to recreate the original Triad spell that spawned Malivore. In I Was Made To Love You, however, the amnesiac Necromancer was given back his grimoire by Josie and Alaric, hoping to raise Leonardo DaVinci. The more dark arts he performed, the more he remembered and could read the grimoire. However, he sacrificed himself performing a spell that could dispel other spells for Alaric.
Other Grimoires[]
Though not stated officially as "Grimoires", two additional tomes exist to provide knowledge and spell-work for various magic.
The Tome of the Everlastings[]
In I Would for You, the tome of the Everlasting was introduced. Within its pages, it contained the intricate spell work of the Shamans that created the Huntress, as well as the the Phoenix Sword and Stone. Given the partial destruction of the Armory in I Was Feeling Epic, it is unknown if this book or the spells contained within its pages survived.
The Sacrificial Magic Instruction Manual[]
In No Quarter, the journal was seen for the first time and was later elaborated upon in Haunter of Ruins; it was an instruction manual for Sacrificial Magic. Within its pages, it details a unique form of Sacrificial Magic not common to New Orleans witches. Marcel assumed the sacrifices were made to the sacrificing witch's ancestors, though Vincent claims it is to something different, something older than the Ancestors. Vincent also states that "the book never gave it a name" to what he and Eva made sacrifices too. Though written in the former's hand, he has no recollection of writing it. In Voodoo Child, Vincent claims that it contains the secrets to the Hollow's magic and is an extension of the Hollow itself, imbued with her magic, which can be used in powerful spells, making it an eternal object. However, possessing the young witch, Hope Mikaelson, the Hollow destroyed the book herself, likely being the only entity that could, as Vincent also attempted and failed once before.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The word "grimoire" came from the old French "grammaire" meaning "a handbook". In the Medieval Age, grimoires were ceremonial magic handbooks.
- In The Originals: The Rise, Elijah says that Esther's Grimoires were concealed by false legends to prevent witches' attempts to take possession of them.
- The largest collection of grimoires had belonged to Jonas Martin. Upon his death, Bonnie took possession of them.
- Many witches appear to be endowed with artistic skills, given the detailed illustrations shown in the various grimoires.
- In Voodoo Child, Klaus states he has a whole library of Grimoires.
- In I'll Tell You a Story, there is a continuity error with the grimoire that Lizzie reads from. It is Esther's grimoires, the same one that Davina stole a page from in Alone with Everybody and that Freya used in One Wrong Turn On Bourbon. The error is continued in That's Nothing I Had to Remember when Josie visits Freya in New Orleans to ask for Freya's help to reverse engineer and learn a spell