Grimorum Arcanorum

A magic book of spells that curses the gargoyles and later awakens them.

The Grimorum Arcanorum is a magic book of spells that appears in the 1995 American animated urban fantasy superhero film Gargoyles the Movie: The Heroes Awaken, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. In the film, the book is first seen in 994 A.D. when the Viking leader Hakon taunts the court wizard Magus by passively burning pages from it. Later, after the gargoyles arrive to free the captives, an enraged Magus uses the book to cast a curse on the gargoyles. Because the pages needed to break the spell were burned, the gargoyle clan remains cursed in stone sleep until "the castle rises above the clouds." A thousand years later, in 1994, billionaire David Xanatos recovers and translates the Grimorum Arcanorum, following its instructions to awaken the gargoyles.

Lore & Background

The Grimorum Arcanorum is first introduced in the film's medieval setting. In 994 A.D., after the Viking Hakon attacks Castle Wyvern, he captures Princess Katherine, Magus, and the townspeople. At the Viking camp, Hakon taunts Magus by passively burning pages from the Grimorum Arcanorum. When the surviving gargoyles arrive to free the people and defeat the Vikings, Hakon and the Captain flee with Princess Katherine. Believing the gargoyles' arrival may have caused Katherine's death, an enraged Magus casts a curse on the gargoyles using the book. Because the pages from the Grimorum Arcanorum needed to break the spell were burned, the gargoyle clan remains cursed in stone sleep until "the castle rises above the clouds." A thousand years later, in 1994, David Xanatos recovers and translates the Grimorum Arcanorum, following its instructions to awaken the gargoyles.