E 5. FOR THE STUBBORNEST FEVERS

Take the same herb, [smerewort], and dry it; then smoke the patient with it. It will drive away not only the fever but also demoniacal possession.

E 6. AGAINST A DWARF

Against a dwarf write this along the arms:+t+w A

and crumble celandine into ale. St. Macutus, St. Victoricus. Against a dwarf write this along the arms:

--

+t+p+t+N+w+t+m+M+w+A

and crumble celandine into ale. St. Macutus, St. Victoricus.

E 7. FOR NOSE-BLEED

For a hemorrhage at the nose: inscribe [the following] crosswise on the sufferer's forehead:

Make a salve against the elfin race and against nocturnal demons and against the women whom the fiend cohabits with. Take the female hop-plant, wormwood, bishopswort, lupine, vervain, henbane, harewort, viper's bugloss, whortleberry plants, crow-leek, garlic, hairif grains, cockle, fennel. Put the herbs into a vessel, place them under the altar, sing nine masses over them, boil them in butter and in sheep's grease, add plenty of consecrated salt, strain through a cloth; throw the herbs into running water. If any wicked temptation come to a man, or an elf or a nocturnal demon [assail him], smear his forehead with this salve, and put some on his eyes and some where his body is sore; and perfume him with incense, and repeatedly sign him with the sign of the cross. His condition will soon be better.

E 9. WIÐ NÆDRAN BITE

Sume an word wið nædran bite læra to cwepenne, pæt is: 43a "faul." Ne mæg him derian. Wið nædran slite, gif he beget and yt rinde são pe cyms of neorxnawonge, ne deres him nān ätter.

E 10. WIÐ WYRT-FORBORE

Gif mon sie wyrtum forboren, sele springwyrt þæt he ete, 43b and hāligwæter sūpe. Wip þon þe mon sie forboren, gif hē hæfp on him scyttisc weax, pa smalan ättorlaðan, oððe on awyldum ealað drince, ne mæg hine wyrtum forberan.

E 11. WIÐ DWEORG

Dweorg on weg tō donne: hwītes hundes post gecnucadne 46a tō dūste and gemenged wið meluwe and tō cicle abacen; syle etan þām untruman men, ær þære tide hys tōcymes, swā on dæge swa on nihte swæper hyt sỹ. His tōgān bið dearle strang; 5 and æfter þām he lytla and on weg gewitep.

E 12. WIÐ WIFGEMÆDLAN

Geberge on neahtnestig rædices moran. Þý dæge ne mæg þē 122b sẽ gemædla sceppan.

E 13. WIÐ WENNUM

Gif wænnas eglian mæn æt þære heortan, gange mædenman 189a to wylle pe rihte east yrne, and gehlade ane cuppan fulle forð mid dām strēame, and singe päron Crēdan and Paternoster; and geote ponne on ōþer fæt, and hlade eft ōþre, and singe eft 5 Credan and Paternoster, and dō swā, þæt þú hæbbe preo. Do swa nygon dagas; sōna him bið sēl.

E 14. WIÐ ELFE AND WIÐ SIDSAN

Wið alfe and wip uncupum sidsan, gnid myrran on win and 107b hwites rēcelses emmicel, and sceaf gagātes dæl þæs stānes on þæt win. Drince III morgenas | neahtnestig, opþe VIIII oppe 108a XII.

E. 11. MSS. V., B., O. Ed. = C.
=
V. gemengen. V., C. meolowe.
B. swa hwper.

-1. C. dreorg. B. gecnocodne.-2. B. gemænged; 3. V. pær; B. pare. 4. V. wswa on for swa on.

E 9. AGAINST SNAKE-BITE

Against snake-bite, some advise us to pronounce one word, that is, "Faul;" [then] it will not be able to damage him. For a bite made by a snake, if the sufferer procure and eat the rind which comes from Paradise, no poison will injure him.

E 10. FOR SEXUAL CONSTRICTION

If a man is sexually restrained by herbs, give him the caper-plant to eat and let him drink holy water. Should a man be restrained: if he have Scotch wax [and] the slender betony on his person — or let him drink [them] in boiled ale - he cannot be restrained by herbs.

E 11. AGAINST A DWARF

To drive away a dwarf: the dung of a white dog pounded to a dust and mixed with flour and baked to a cake; give it the afflicted person to eat before the time of the dwarf's arrival, either in the daytime or at night, whichever it may be. His attack will [at first] be exceedingly severe, but after that it will abate and completely pass away.

After fasting for a night, eat the root of a radish. On that day the spell will not have power to harm you.

If tumors near the heart afflict a man, let a virgin go to a spring which runs due east, and draw a cupful, moving [the cup] with the current, and sing upon it the Creed and a Paternoster; and then pour it into another vessel, and thereafter draw some more, and again sing the Creed and a Paternoster, and do this until you have three [cups full]. Do this so for nine days: he will soon be well.

E 14. AGAINST AN ELF AND AGAINST CHARM-MAGIC

Against an elf and against strange charm-magic: into wine crumble myrrh and an equal portion of white frankincense, and shave a part of the stone, jet, into the wine. After fasting at night, drink this for three or for nine or for twelve mornings.

NOTES

A I

MS. Harley 585, p. 175 a.

Editions.-Wr. ii, 237; G. ii, 1039; K. i, 403; E. 302; B. i, lxxxv; R. 142; C. iii, 52; S. 122; WA. 33; W. i, 317.

Translations.-English: C. iii, 53; Stallybrass, iii, 1244; Brooke, 159; Gum. 372; Cook and Tinker, 168.-German: G. ii, 1040; B. i, lxxxvii; Kögel, i, 93.

Criticisms.-G. ii, 1039; K. i, 403; B. i, 88; Ten Brink, i, 66; Brooke, 159; Kögel, i, 93 ff.

Analysis. The spell is intended to cure a sudden twinge or stitch, possibly rheumatism, supposedly due (see lines 3, 8, 19, 23, and 24) to shots sent by witches, elves, and other spirits flying through the air. The charm falls naturally into five divisions: I (lines 1-2), A recipe for a magic herbal concoction; 2 (lines 2-5), The epic introduction; 3 (lines 6-17), The attack of the flying demons and the exorcist's three retaliatory measures, flying dart, knife forged by the smith, and spears wrought by six smiths; 4 (lines 18-28), The principal incantation; 5 (line 29), A final direction to the exorcist.

A similar charm is found among the Finns (see Comparetti, 273 ff.), but the epic elements are missing. Spears and arrows have been hurled by a malignant sorcerer, while the healing exorcist threatens to attack the evil one with magic pincers made by the great smith Ilmarinen. Another Finnish charm against stitch is in Aber. i, 345. Cf. also the remedy in EE 15 for "hwæt-hwega þæs pe fram scottum come."

Wið Færstice.

"Gegen Hexenstich" is the German title for such charms. Other charms for shots are DD 12, EE 2, and EE 27.

3. Cf. the myth of the "furious host," or "wild hunt," a hideous rout of spirits led by Woden in the capacity of god of the winds and the tempest (see Grimm, ii, 765; and Mogk in Grdr. 1002). An Icelandic charm against witches riding through the air is in Hovamol, 154.

of

6.- Ūt, lỹtel spere, etc.- - This formula occurs four times in Part 3, which it forms the keynote. It is stated at the beginning, and repeated after the mention of each counter-measure. At its fourth appearance it reads, "Out spear, not in, spear." Cf. the formula "In dock, out nettle,” common in the north of England as a spell for nettle-sting (Henderson, 17), and used to express inconstancy in Chaucer's Troil. and Cris. iv, 461: " Netle in, dokke out, now this, now that Pandare." Cf. also "Gang ut, nesso," a formula in the OHG. charm against worms (Denkm. i, 17); and "Out fire, in frost," common in England (F. L. S., passim).

8.-Mihtigan wij. A conciliatory, flattering expression like sigewij in A 4.

13.-Sat smið. Wayland possibly. Cf. Ilmarinen, above.

14.-Iserna wund. A half-line appears to be missing. Rieger expands into Iserna vráðost vundrum sviðe. Kögel changes to Isern awund swide. Ãwund is formed like awōh (=mid wōge, etc.), and means valde vulnerans (=stark im verwunden). The translation would be "A smith sat, he wrought a little knife, a sharp cutting-iron."

16. Meyer (160) declares that the smiths were undoubtedly elves.

20.

The concatenation in lines 20-22 resembles that in lines 6-8 of the Merseburg dislocation spell (Denkm. i, 16).

21. - The second half-line was first inserted by Grimm; other Edd. followed. 23. The degradation of the gods, who are mentioned in one breath with elves and witches, is due to Christian influence. With esa gescot cf. Indra shots in AV. iv, 37; with ylja gescot cf. German Alpschoss (Meyer, 155), Swed. aeliqvarn, Eng. elfstone, Norw. alfpil, Scotch elf-flint, elf-arrow, elj-bolt. In Scotland, elf-bolts were long believed to be actual missiles such as those referred to in the charm. Sick cattle in Norway are still called aeliskudt (=“ elfshot"). Later superstition spoke of shots sent by the Devil. See spell Contra sagittam diaboli (Grimm, ii, 1032). Cf., further, på deoflu feohlende scuton heora fyrenan flan ongéan då säwle (Ælf., Hom. ii, 142). Shots of fiends arouse unholy desires in men (see Beowulf, 1743-47).

27. Fleoh, etc. A command formula (cf. charac. 4, p. 115). Witches and spirits generally, were, in later folk-lore, believed to live in hills, rocks, wildernesses, etc. (see Grimm, ii, 795 ff). The same formula is found in a Syriac charm (see Journ. Am. Orient. Soc. xv, 284). — C. translates the line "Fled Thor to the mountain. Hallows he had two." K.'s reading agrees with C.'s; so that W., in footnote to (his) line 27, erroneously quotes K.-G. first inserted the second half-line; W. omits it.

29.-Seax. The knife is apparently to be used on some dummy representing the evil spirits (cf. charac. 9, p. 119 [association of ideas]).

Editions.-C. iii, 42; W. i, 326; Sch. (in Angl. xxx, 257) prints the verse

only.

Translations.-C. iii, 42; Brooke, 473; Sch. in Angl. 258.
Criticism. Brooke, 473.

Analysis. The charm falls into two main divisions: A (lines 1-8), comprising directions for a superstitious ceremonial; B (lines 9-21), including the incantatory portion. In part A, lines 1-3 form a Christian preface to the superstitious ritual of lines 4-8. Part B is a characteristic Heathen spell with an epic passage (lines 9–16) and an "Amen fiat" tacked on at the end to save appearances.

Wülker (i, 326, note to line 12) concludes from line 16 that the charm is for a tumor on the neck. The inference is open to question. From E 11, also against a dwarf, one would conclude that some paroxysmal disease was meant. Cf. Cockayne, i, 364, and iii, 38. I take hit, line 7, to refer to the spider-wiht of line 9. The spider cure is a common one in folk-lore (see Black, 59 ff.; and Suffolk, 21). Spiders were hung around the neck, the arm, etc., irrespective of the seat of the disease. The incantatory passage is full of obscurities, but the general meaning can be puzzled out. pu (line 11) refers to the plaguing dwarf responsible for the attack; and the sense is that the spider wight is to ride off, using the dwarf-demon as his horse (cf. demons riding men [Grimm, i, 384]). As soon as they have ridden away, the wounds begin to cool. - From line 17, it would appear that the spell was first pronounced by some woman famed for her charm-lore (cf. the spells of Groa [see Grógaldr in Svipdagsmol]). For the importance of women as exorcists in early Germanic times, see Meyer, 306 ff., and Gum. 389).