Grimmerie

The Grimmerie (a variation on the words 'Grimoire' and 'gramarye') is a fictional book of spells in Gregory Maguire's novel "", as well as its sequel "Son of a Witch". The book also appears in the musical "Wicked" (based on Maguire's original novel). In both the original novels and the stage adaptaion, the Grimmerie is written in a language that the people of Oz cannot read; in the novels, this is because the book originated on Earth, whereas in the musical, it is said to be written in the "lost language of spells". "The Grimmerie" is also the title of a behind-the-scenes book about the musical, published in the year 2005 (ISBN 1401308201).

The Novel

In the novel "Wicked", the Grimmerie is described as "an encyclopedia of things numinous. Magic; and of the spirit world; and of things seen and unseen; and of things once and future." It is large and leather-bound in appearance, with pages of a strange purple parchment; the writing on the pages is inscribed in a silvery ink that seems to shimmer and move about the page on its own. The Grimmerie was created on Earth, but a sorcerer took it to Oz some time before the events of the story to prevent its magical knowledge from being used for evil. He brought it to Kiamo Ko, where it was placed in an attic wardrobe, and this is where Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) finds it several years later. It is revealed toward the end of the story that the dwarf who owns the Clock of the Time Dragon was sent to Oz by an unknown force to prevent the Grimmerie returning to Earth. Elphaba refers to the tome as being "'a" Grimmerie', suggesting that the term is in fact the Ozian equivalent of the word 'Grimoire', and not the book's actual title; the dwarf later confirms that it has another name.

Since the Grimmerie is written in an Earthly language, it is illegible to Ozians, but not to the Wizard of Oz (who came from Earth) or Elphaba (who was actually the illegitimate daughter of the Wizard, and as such half Ozian, half Earthling). Elphaba tries to read the strange text with a lot of trouble, though at times she can randomly recognize words. Using the information she deciphers, she begins to experiment with magic, often in combination with scientific methodology. She later removes from the book the page "On the Administration of Dragons" with the intent of showing it to her father, but it ends up in the hands of the Wizard of Oz. When he discovers that Elphaba has the Grimmerie in her possession, the Wizard is extremely keen on obtaining it from her, as it was his search for the book that brought him to Oz in the first place. However, Elphaba succeeds in keeping it from him, and he leaves Oz without ever laying eyes on the book itself.

The Grimmerie is mentioned several times in "Son of a Witch", the sequel to "Wicked". Though the book itself does not actually appear, the spell for controlling dragons is revealed to have been found by Shell Thropp, Elphaba's half brother and now Emperor of Oz. On Shell's orders, a soldier named Trism Bon Cavalish uses this spell to train dragons to kill travellers, so as to create social unrest.

The Musical

In the musical, the Grimmerie is described by Madame Morrible as "The Ancient Book of Thaumaturgy and Enchantments," or as more simply put by the Wizard, "a recipe book for change." It is initially given to Elphaba by The Wizard in order to "prove herself" by making the monkey Chistery fly, and although the book is written in "the lost language of spells," Elphaba starts reciting its chants as if it were second nature. Elphaba soon realizes that the Wizard is powerless and cannot read the book himself, and that was the real reason he needed her help. She steals the Grimmerie and uses it to fly in the showstopping musical number "Defying Gravity". The Grimmerie is also responsible for helping Elphaba to enchant the silver slippers of her sister Nessarose into the ruby slippers (the ones seen in the film) to help her to walk, and to transform Boq into the Tin Woodman, as well as Fiyero into the Scarecrow. In the song "For Good", Elphaba seems to surrender her cause, and gives the Grimmerie to Glinda in hopes that she will use it to continue what Elphaba has already done.

Contents of The Grimmerie

Novel

In the novel, the Grimmerie contains information on various supernatural creatures, including angels and an entire section on "Evil Particulars" (i.e. demons), methods of poisoning water and breeding a docile population, as well as diagrams of instruments of torture and weapons which Elphaba considers "too vile to use". It also contains:

*A recipe entitled "Of apples with black skin and white flesh: to fill the stomach with greed unto Death".
*A recipe to overthrow a regime, which suggests spells for various methods of sabotage and assassination.
*Spells to 'unleash the hidden energies of matter'.
*Spells to tamper with time.
*"A spell for the Administration of Dragons".
*Spells to encourage flight in originally earth-bound animals
*Various 'marginalia on how to keep awake', which Elphaba combines with home remedies to produce a powerful insomnia potion

Musical

In the musical, the Grimmerie is a pivotal instrument in Elphaba's magical powers. It contains a variety of incantations, written in a strange language, that allow her to perform various spells throughout the musical; the contents are considerably less gruesome as those of its novel counterpart. Below is a list of spells used in the musical along with their incantations:

The Levitation Spell I

"Used by Elphaba to unwittingly give wings to the Wizard's monkey servants."

"Ahben Tahkay Ahben Tahkay Ahben Atum Ahben Takayah Entayah Ah Entayah Tifentah Ahben Tahkay Ah"

"In the San Francisco tryouts, this was followed by more chanting which was deleted for the Broadway show."

"Et Antay Daytum Entayah Tahkay Bayah Ben"

The Levitation Spell II

"Used by Elphaba to enchant the broom and fly."

"Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah (repeated)"

"According to MusicalSchwartz.com, however, this spell is as follows."

"Ah May Ah Tay Ah Tum Ditum"

To Enchant the Ruby Slippers

"Used by Elphaba on the silver slippers to allow Nessarose to walk. It changes them from silver to red."

"Ambulahn Dare Pahto Pahpoot Ambulahn Dasca Caldapess Lahfenahto Lahfenahtum Pede Pede Caldapess (repeated)"

The Love Spell

"The incomplete spell used by Nessarose in an attempt to make Boq "lose his heart" to her."

"Ah Tum Core Tum Ah Tum Tah Tayk"

The Tin-Man Transformation

"Used by Elphaba to allow Boq to live without a heart."

"Vivahlos Vivahlos Meno Non Cordo Meno Vivahlos Vivahlos Meno Non Cordo"

The Scarecrow Transformation

"Used by Elphaba to save Fiyero, unwittingly turning him into a Scarecrow."

"Eleka Nahmen Nahmen Ah Tum Ah Tum Eleka Nahmen (repeated)"

"The original chant Schwartz was planning to use was as follows."

"Ad Nay Prae Tum Ister Fah Tum Antay Dayculum"

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