There is an old legend that tells of an encounter between Martin Luther and the Devil. Martin Luther (11/10/1483 – 2/18/1546) was a German priest, monk, and theologian who sparked the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, and the Devil needs no introduction. As the story goes, Luther was plagued by evil spirits throughout much of his childhood. These were the Middle Ages, so such occurrences weren’t out of place, likely fostered by a strict upbringing rooted in religion. Luther was a god-fearing man and defended himself against such spirits with prayer and song. His views and religious zeal would see him branded an outlaw. While in hiding at Wartburg Castle over a period of 10 months, he took to translating the Bible. The Devil himself is said to have called upon him during this time, frequently trying to disturb his work. Different versions of the story relate these distractions taking several forms such as a fly incessantly buzzing around his head, or a large, black dog in his bed, or even by making enough noise to keep Luther awake, depriving him of much needed sleep. Awakened one night by Satan himself, Luther grabbed the ink well off of his desk and threw it, defending himself against the evil spirit. Legend says that the ink stain was visible on the wall long after the Devil had been banished from Luther’s presence and, to this day, Satan is said to avoid anyone with an ink well as much as holy water, having learned a hard lesson from Luther. Of course, this story is almost certainly a fabrication, a personification of Luther’s devout Christian views which painted life as a constant battle with the Devil. Luther couldn’t have been using Pelikan’s inks at the time but that didn’t stop Pelikan from trying to offer some symbolic protection to its patrons in the 1980s and 90s. Read on to discover how they accomplished this while also learning about some unique pieces of ephemera/jewelry, many made from silver or gold, that Pelikan once commissioned.