The Codex Gigas (or "Giant Book") has been given many names throughout its 800 years. The list includes "Codex Giganteus (the Giant Book), Gigas Librorum (the Giant of Books), Satan's Bible, Old Scratch's Bible and the Black Book" (Kungl Biblioteket, 2021). Perhaps the most famous is "The Devil's Bible."

The codex seemed to have remained at the Břevno Monastery until Emperor Rudolf II took it to his castle in Prague under the guise of a loan in 1594 (Kungl Biblioteket, 2021). It remained there until 1648 when it, along with the entire collection, was taken to the Stockholm palace library as war booty for the Swedish Queen Christine (Kungl Biblioteket, 2021).

Some scholars believe that this tale comes from medieval Bohemia and that it later made its way to Sweden where it was further developed (Boldan et al. 2007). Others believe that the legend originates from Sweden itself as a way to explain the presence of the Devil in such a holy book (Boldan et al. 2007).

He was not alone in experiencing weird phenomena within proximinity to the book. In 1870, August Strindberg, a librarian at the Royal Castle where the book was being held, claimed to hear strange voices coming from the Codex Gigas (Strong Sense of Place, 2020).