Some of the spells are protective, intended to work against problems such as trouble with childbearing, headache, insomnia, previous incantations, pestilence, suffering, and distress at sea.
Others are intended to cause fear, kill animals, find thieves, put someone to sleep, cause flatulence, or bewitch women.
The book was first published in 1921 by Natan Lindqvist in a diplomatic edition and with a Swedish translation.
An English translation was published in 1989 by Stephen Flowers, and a facsimile edition with detailed commentary by Matthías Viðar Sæmundsson [is] in 1992.
In 1995, Flowers produced a second retitled edition of his book and with the assistance of Sæmundsson corrected many translations and added many more notes and commentaries.