The Ye Olde Spell Booke (aka Ye Useful Booke of Magick Spells or simply Spell Book) was a magic book that once belonged to Haroun alRaschid in the Land of the Green Isles. Ali had it on display in his store and he gave it to Alexander in return for a rare book. The book was also known as the "Ye Useful Booke of Magic Spells" having both titles on the cover.
Spells[]
Background[]
It is an antique, leather-bound book. On the elaborate cover ist he title, "Ye Useful Booke of Magick Spells". It is an old book, covered in a strange fine-grained scarlet leather, and boudn with clasps of gold-washed brass. It has a sweet musty scent of ancient vellum. The book was written in a bold sweeping calligraphy that belonged to Haroun alRaschid himself. The first page was handsomely ornamented in scarlet and gold--a title page, and a warning, those unversed in higher Iconomancy to leave the spells alone.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- In the KQ6 hintbook this is known as the Spell Book.
- In the Freddy Pharkas demo Smithie claims that this book once belonged to him implying he was the wizard who once owned it.
- "Ye Olde Spell Booke" is a classic example of pseudo-archaic spelling, in which everyday words are rewritten in fourteenth century spellings (particularly the use of "ye" and ending nouns with E when they normally do not). In the 14th century, Es at the end of words would be pronounced. By colonial times, this fell out of use, and Americans dropped the Es from several words (Britain has preserved the Es to distinguish their English from American). The word "ye" in this sense actually reflects the Anglicized version of "Þe", where "Þ" (thorn) represents the TH sound. The Anglicans adopted the letter Y because it resembled thorn the most, and pronounced it identically. Because "ye" was also used as a form of the second person, the word was altered to its current form to distinguish.[citation needed]
References[]
- ↑ KQC3E, 265