Fragments from The Sorcery of Old is a scholarly work and transcription by an Author Unknown.
Background[]
The paper contains transcriptions of the readable spells of The Sorcery of Old, and notes concerning their history. Alexander of Daventry (Gwydion of Llewdor) included a transcription of the Fragments inside of his own treatise, A Magical Primer.
While this work is said to be by Author Unknown, some of the notes or comments may be edited by Alexander. Alexander mentions his own treatise that he had included transcriptions of the spells he found in The Sorcery of Old, to be published in the court chronicles and general knowledge of all who inhabit Daventry. In the sleep spell the author mentions having used the spell only once, and not sticking around long enough discover the duration of the spell on his former capters (which may be a reference to Alexander casting the spell in the pirates).
Sections[]
- The first note concerns safety issues surrounding spell casting.
- Page XXV: Transforming Another into a Cat and notes.
- Page VII: Teleportation at Random and notes.
- Page II: Understanding the Language of Creatures and notes.
- Page IV: Flying Like an Eagle or a Fly and notes.
- Page CLXIX: Becoming Invisible and notes.
- Page XIV: Causing a Deep Sleep and notes.
- Page LXXXIV: Brewing a Storm and notes.
Behind the scenes[]
There is a small possibility that the context was meant to define, that the author of The Sorcery of Old is Author Unknown, in which case it could mean that Alexander would be the transcriber/author of the Fragments, but the way it is worded it instead suggests that the Fragments author is unknown. That the Author Unknown was the original transcriber of the spells and the author of the notes.
A couple of points that may suggest that Alexander has edited at least some of the notes, includes the reference to history of Manannan's pet cat (suggesting whoever wrote it had to be knowledgeable about Manannan). More directly, there is a reference to the editor not knowing how long the Deep Sleep spell lasted, as he he only cast it once, and he didn't stay around long enough to see his former captors recover from the narcosis. This appears to be similar to the situation Alexander was in with the Pirates.