- This article is about the Grimmerie from the musical. You may be looking for the book of the same name from the novel series, or the companion book titled "Wicked: The Grimmerie".
The Grimmerie, also known as the Ancient Book of Thaumaturgy and Enchantments, is a tome containing a collection of spells written in an Ozian language that has been lost to time. Only those with magical talent are able to read the Grimmerie, but the effects of the book's spells are unknowable until they have been cast, which might lead to unintentional consequences. It is impossible to reverse a spell cast from the Grimmerie, but a loophole to this is using another spell from the Grimmerie to counteract the original spell.
The Grimmerie is currently in the possession of Glinda the Good, who received it from Elphaba in order to continue her mission of liberating the Animals of Oz. It is a large book bound with a hard, brown cover.
Historiography[]
Madame Morrible was in possession of the Grimmerie when Elphaba and Glinda arrived in the Emerald City to see the Wizard. At the Wizard's Palace, Madame Morrible presented the Grimmerie for Elphaba to read from, which she was able to do successfully despite the language being ancient and undecipherable for anyone else. To test Elphaba's power, the Wizard and Madame Morrible instructed her to cast a spell from the Grimmerie that will enable the Wizard's pet Monkey Chistery to fly. Elphaba recited the spell, but it had the unintentional effect of painfully causing Chistery to grow wings to give him the ability of flight. At that point, Elphaba discovered that the Wizard had tricked her into enchanting all his Monkey servants with wings, with the intention of using them as spies across the Land of Oz. With the revelation that the Wizard was the one behind the systematic oppression of Animals, Elphaba renounced his cause and fled with the Grimmerie in her possession.
With Glinda in tow, Elphaba barricaded herself in a room of the Wizard's Palace to hide from the guards in pursuit of her. Despite Glinda's protests, Elphaba attempted to cast the levitation spell again to avoid capture. Instead of growing wings, however, Elphaba was able to enchant a nearby broom to fly. With Glinda deciding to part ways with her, Elphaba escaped from the Emerald City on the flying broom with the Grimmerie.
Now a public enemy labelled the "Wicked Witch of the West", Elphaba later returned to Munchkinland in order to seek the help of her younger sister Nessarose, who became the governor after their father's death. Elphaba used a spell from the Grimmerie to enchant Nessarose's slippers, which initially caused a burning sensation in her sister's feet before granting her the ability to walk. Boq, a Munchkin man that Nessarose was infatuated with, saw this as an opportunity to finally leave her now that she could be more independent without his help. Boq planned on confessing his love for Glinda before she was to be wed to Fiyero Tiggular. In a jealous rage, Nessarose seized the Grimmerie from Elphaba and attempted to cast a spell to ensure that Boq's heart belonged to her only. Unable to properly read the book, Nessarose instead cast a spell that caused Boq's heart to shrink. With Boq on the verge of dying, Nessarose begged Elphaba to save his life. Using another spell from the Grimmerie, Elphaba was able to keep Boq alive, but at the cost of transforming him into a man made entirely of tin.
Elphaba later used the Grimmerie again in a desperate attempt at saving the life of her lover Fiyero after he was captured by the Wizard's guards and tortured. Though she believed the spell to be unsuccessful, it transformed Fiyero into a scarecrow. As the Scarecrow, Fiyero wrote a letter to Elphaba and had a Flying Monkey deliver it to her. Elphaba received the letter at Kiamo Ko, where she had captured Dorothy Gale for being in possession of Nessarose's slippers after the "Wicked Witch of the East" was killed in a plot orchestrated by Madame Morrible and the Wizard. Fiyero's letter convinced Elphaba to forgive Glinda for all that had transpired in their lives. Knowing that she would never be able to fulfill her cause while being viewed as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba entrusted Glinda with the Grimmerie and convinced her friend to continue her life's work of liberating the Animals from subjugation.
After Elphaba faked her death and left a bottle of Green Elixir and her pointed black hat behind in her wake, Glinda recognized it as belonging to the Wizard. It was at that moment they realized that the Wizard was in fact Elphaba's biological father, who used the Green Elixir to seduce Elphaba's mother many years ago when he first arrived in Oz. Madame Morrible concluded that Elphaba's ability to read the Grimmerie was a result of being born to parents from two worlds.
Spells[]
Winged Monkey Spell[]
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
Broom Levitation Spell[]
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
Motion Spell[]
Used by Elphaba on the silver slippers to allow Nessarose to walk. It changes them from silver to red, enchanting them.
Ambulahn Dare Pahto Pahpoot Ambulahn Dasca Caldapess Lahfenahto Lahfenahtum Pede Pede Caldapess (repeated)
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-
Tin Man Transformation Spell[]
Used by Elphaba to allow Boq to live without a heart.
Vivahlos Vivahlos Meno Non Cordo Meno Vivahlos Vivahlos Meno Non Cordo
Scarecrow Transformation Spell[]
Used by Elphaba to save Fiyero, unwittingly transforming him into a Scarecrow in "No Good Deed".
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
Notes[]
- According to the Ozian Glossararium in Wicked: The Grimmerie, the word "Grimmerie" is of Ancient Ozian Dialect.