TheMerseburg charms,Merseburg spells, orMerseburg incantations (German:die Merseburger Zaubersprüche) are twomedieval magic spells, charms orincantations, written inOld High German. They are the only known examples ofGermanic pagan belief preserved in the language. They were discovered in 1841 byGeorg Waitz,[1] who found them in a theological manuscript fromFulda, written in the 9th century,[2] although there remains some speculation about the date of the charms themselves. The manuscript (Cod. 136 f. 85a) is stored in the library of thecathedral chapter ofMerseburg, hence the name. The Merseburg charms have been the subject of notable study since their discovery.
The Merseburg charms are the only known surviving relics of pre-Christian,pagan poetry inOld High German literature.[3]
The charms were recorded in the 10th century by a cleric, possibly in the abbey ofFulda, on a blank page of a liturgical book, which later passed to the library atMerseburg. The charms have thus been transmitted inCaroline minuscule on the flyleaf of a Latinsacramentary.
The spells became famous in modern times through the appreciation ofJacob Grimm, who wrote as follows:
- Lying betweenLeipzig,Halle andJena, the extensive library of the Cathedral Chapter of Merseburg has often been visited and made use of by scholars. All have passed over acodex which, if they chanced to take it up, appeared to offer only well-known church items, but which now, valued according to its entire content, offers a treasure such that the most famous libraries have nothing to compare with it...[4]
The spells were published later by Jacob Grimm inOn two newly-discovered poems from the German Heathen Period (1842).
The manuscript of the Merseburg charms was on display until November 2004 as part of the exhibition "Between Cathedral and World - 1000 years of the Chapter of Merseburg," at Merseburg cathedral. They were previously exhibited in 1939.[citation needed]
Each charm is divided into two parts: a preamble telling the story of a mythological event; and the actual spell in the form of a magic analogy (just as it was before... so shall it also be now...).In their verse form, the spells are of a transitional type; the lines show not only traditionalalliteration but also the end-rhymes introduced in theChristian verse of the 9th century.[5]
The first spell is a "Lösesegen" (blessing of release), describing how a number of "Idisen" freed from their shackles warriors caught during battle.[6] The last two lines contain the magic words "Leap forth from the fetters, escape from the foes" that are intended to release the warriors.
Eiris sazun idisi, | Once sat women, |
Phol is withWodan when Balder's horse dislocates its foot while he is riding through the forest (holza). Wodan intones the incantation: "Bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb, as if they were mended".
Figures that can be clearly identified withinContinental Germanic mythology are "Uuôdan" (Wodan) and "Frîia" (Frija). Depictions found onMigration Period Germanicbracteates are often viewed as Wodan (Odin) healing a horse.[10]
ComparingNorse mythology, Wodan is well-attested as the cognate ofOdin. Frija is the cognate ofFrigg.[11]Balder is NorseBaldr.Phol is possibly the masculine form ofUolla. According toJacob Grimm, the context would make it clear that it is another name for Balder.[12] The identification with Balder is not conclusive. Modern scholarship suggests thatFreyr might be meant.[13]Uolla is cognate with Old NorseFulla, a goddess there also associated with Frigg.[14] Sunna (the personified sun) is in Norse mythologySól.Sinthgunt is otherwise unattested.[15]
Phol ende uuodan | Phol and Wodan were riding to the woods, |
The First Merseburg Charm (loosening charm)'s similarity to the anecdote inBede'sHist. Eccles., IV, 22 (
"How a certain captive's chains fell off when masses were sung for him") has been noted byJacob Grimm.[18] In this Christianized example, it is the singing of the mass, rather than the chanting of the charm, that effects the release of a comrade (in this case a brother). The unshackled man is asked "whether he had any spells about him, as are spoken of in fabulous stories",[19] which curiously has been translated as "loosening rune (about him)" (Old English:álýsendlícan rune) in theAnglo-Saxon translation of Bede, as has been pointed out bySophus Bugge. Bugge makes this reference in his edition of theEddaic poemGrógaldr (1867), in an attempt to justify his emending the phrase "Leifnir's fire (?)" (Old Norse:leifnis elda) into "loosening charm" (Old Norse:leysigaldr) in the context of one of the magic charms thatGróa is teaching to her son.[20] But this is an aggressive emendation of the original text, and its validity as well as any suggestion to its ties to the Merseburg charm is subject to skepticism.[21][a]
Many analogous magic incantations to the Second Merseburg Charm (horse-healing spell) have been noted. Some paralleling is discernible in other Old German spells, but analogues are particularly abundant infolkloric spells from Scandinavian countries (often preserved in so-called "black books"). Similar charms have been noted in Gaelic, Lettish and Finnish[23] suggesting that the formula is of ancient Indo-European origin.[citation needed] Parallels have also been suggested with Hungarian texts.[24] Some commentators trace the connection back to writings inancient India.
Other spells recorded in Old High German orOld Saxon noted for similarity, such as the group ofwurmsegen spells for casting out the "Nesso" worm causing the affliction.[18] There are several manuscript recensions of this spell, andJacob Grimm scrutinizes in particular the so-called "Contra vermes" variant, in Old Saxon[25] from theCod. Vindob. theol. 259[18] (nowÖNB Cod. 751[26]). The title is Latin:
Contra vermes (against worms[25])
Gang ût, nesso, mit nigun nessiklînon,
ût fana themo margę an that bên, fan themo bêne an that flêsg,
ût fana themo flêsgke an thia hûd, ût fan thera hûd an thesa strâla.
Drohtin, uuerthe so![27]
As Grimm explains, the spell tells thenesso worm and its nine young ones to begone, away from the marrow to bone, bone to flesh, flesh tohide (skin), and into thestrâla or arrow, which is the implement into which the pest or pathogen is to be coaxed.[18] It closes with the invocation: "Lord (Drohtin), let it be".[25] Grimm insists that this charm, like theDe hoc quod Spurihalz dicunt charm (MHG:spurhalz;German:lahm "lame") that immediately precedes it in the manuscript, is "about lame horses again" And the "transitions from marrow to bone (or sinews), to flesh and hide, resemble phrases in the sprain-spells", i.e. the Merseburg horse-charm types.
Jacob Grimm in hisDeutsche Mythologie, chapter 38, listed examples of what he saw as survivals of the Merseburg charm in popular traditions of his time: from Norway a prayer to Jesus for a horse's leg injury, and two spells from Sweden, one invoking Odin (for a horse suffering from afit orequine distemper[28][b]) and another invokingFrygg for a sheep's ailment.[18] He also quoted one Dutch charm for fixing a horse's foot, and a Scottish one for the treatment of human sprains that was still practiced in his time in the 19th century (See#Scotland below).
Grimm provided in his appendix another Norwegian horse spell,[18] which has been translated and examined as a parallel byThorpe.[28] Grimm had recopied the spell from a tome by Hans Hammond,Nordiska Missions-historie (Copenhagen 1787), pp. 119–120, the spell being transcribed byThomas von Westen c. 1714.[29] This appears to be the same spell in English as given as a parallel by a modern commentator, though he apparently misattributes it to the 19th century.[30] The texts and translations will be presented side-by-side below:
- LII. gegen knochenbruch[31]
- Jesus reed sig til Heede,
- der reed han syndt sit Folebeen.
- Jesus stigede af og lägte det;
- Jesus lagde Marv i Marv,
- Ben i Ben, Kjöd i Kjöd;
- Jesus lagde derpaa et Blad,
- At det skulde blive i samme stad.
- i tre navne etc.
- (Hans Hammond, "Nordiska Missions-historie",
- Kjøbenhavn 1787, pp.119, 120)[32]
- (= Bang's formula #6)[33]
- ---
- Jesus rode to the heath,
- There he rode the leg of his colt in two.
- Jesus dismounted and heal'd it;
- Jesus laid marrow to marrow,
- Bone to bone, flesh to flesh;
- Jesus laid thereon a leaf,
- That it might remain in the same place.
(Thorpe tr.)[28]
- For a Broken Bone
- Jesus himself rode to the heath,
- And as he rode, his horse's bone was broken.
- Jesus dismounted and healed that:
- Jesus laid marrow to marrow,
- Bone to bone, flesh to flesh.
- Jesus thereafter laid a leaf
- So that these should stay in their place.[30][c]
- (in the Three Names, etc.)
(Stone(?) tr.)
The number of Norwegian analogues is quite large, though many are just variations on the theme. A similar spell is known to being used byLisbet Nypan, who was burned as a witch in 1670. BishopAnton Christian Bang compiled a volume culled from Norwegianblack books of charms and other sources, and classified the horse-mending spells under the opening chapter "Odin og Folebenet", strongly suggesting a relationship with the second Merseburg incantation.[34] Bang here gives a group of 34 spells, mostly recorded in the 18th–19th century though two are assigned to the 17th (c. 1668 and 1670),[29] and 31 of the charms[35] are for treating horses with an injured leg. The name for the horse's trauma, which occurs in the titles, isNorwegian:vred in most of the rhymes, with smatterings ofraina andbridge (sic.), but they all are essentially synonymous withbrigde, glossed as the "dislocation of the limb"[d] inAasen's dictionary.[35][36]
From Bishop Bang's collection, the following is a list of specific formulas discussed as parallels in scholarly literature:
It might be pointed out that none of the charms in Bang's chapter "Odin og Folebenet" actually invokesOdin.[f] The idea that the charms have been Christianized and that the presence ofBaldur has been substituted by "The Lord" or Jesus is expressed by Bang in another treatise,[42] crediting communications withBugge and the work of Grimm in the matter. Jacob Grimm had already pointed out the Christ-Balder identification in interpreting the Merseburg charm; Grimm seized on the idea that in the Norse language, "White Christ (hvíta Kristr)" was a common epithet, just as Balder was known as the "whiteÆsir-god"[43]
Another strikingly similar "horse cure" incantation is a 20th-century sample that hails the name of the ancient 11th-century Norwegian kingOlaf II of Norway. The specimen was collected inMøre, Norway, where it was presented as for use in healing a bone fracture:
- Les denne bøna:
- Sankt-Olav reid i den
- grøne skog,
- fekk skade på sin
- eigen hestefot.
- Bein i bein,
- kjøt i kjøt,
- hud i hud.
- Alt med Guds ord og amen[44]
- To Heal a Bone Fracture
- Saint Olav rode in
- green wood;
- broke his little
- horse's foot.
- Bone to bone,
- flesh to flesh,
- skin to skin.
- In the name of God,
- amen.[45]
This example too has been commented as corresponding to the second Merseburg Charm, with Othin being replaced bySaint Olav.[45]
Several Swedish analogues were given bySophus Bugge and byViktor Rydberg in writings published around the same time (1889). The following 17th-century spell was noted as a parallel to the Merseburg horse charm by both of them:[46][47]
- "Mot vred"
- (Sörbygdens dombok, 1672)
- Vår herre Jesus Kristus och S. Peder de gingo eller rede öfver Brattebro. S. Peders häst fick vre eller skre. Vår herre steg af sin häst med, signa S. Peders häst vre eller skre: blod vid blod, led vid led. Så fick S. Peders häst bot i 3 name o.s.v.
—Bugge and Rydberg, after Arcadius (1883)[48]
- "Against dislocations"
- (court proceeding records forSörbygdenhundred, 1672)
- Our Lord Jesus Christ and St. Peter went or rode over Brattebro. St. Peter's horse got (a dislocation or sprain). Our Lord dismounted from His horse, blessed St. Peter's horse (with the dislocation or sprain): blood to blood, (joint to joint). So received St. Peter's horse healing in three names etc. etc.
—adapted from Eng. tr. in:Nicolson 1892,Myth and Religion, p.120- and Brenner's German tr. of Bugge (1889)[g]
Another example (from Kungelf's Dombok, 1629) was originally printed by Arcadius:[49][50]
Vår herre red ad hallen ned. Hans foles fod vrednede ved, han stig aff, lagde leed ved leed, blod ved blod, kiöd ved kiöd, ben ved ben, som vor herre signet folen sin, leedt ind igjen, i naffn, o.s.v.
Rydberg, after Arcadius, (1883) ?[50]Our Lord rode down to the hall. His foal's foot became sprained, he dismounted, laid joint with joint, blood with blood, sinew with sinew, bone with bone, as our Lord blessed his foal, led in again, in the name of, etc.
A spell beginning "S(anc)te Pär och wår Herre de wandrade på en wäg (fromSunnerbo hundred,Småland 1746) was given originally byJohan Nordlander.[51]
A very salient example, though contemporary to Bugge's time, is one that invokes Odin's name:[52]
- ASign of the Cross incantation (Danish:signeformularer)
- (from Jellundtofte socken,Västbohundred inSmåland, 19th century)
Oden rider öfver sten och bärg
han rider sin häst ur vred och i led,
ur olag och i lag, ben till ben, led till led,
som det bäst var, när det helt var.Odin rides over rock and hill;
he rides his horse out of dislocation and into realignment
out of disorder and into order, bone to bone, joint to joint,
as it was best, when it was whole.
A Danish parallel noted byA. Kuhn[53] is the following:
Imod Forvridning
(Jylland)
Jesus op ad Bierget red;
der vred han sin Fod af Led.
Saa satte han sig ned at signe.
Saa sagde han:
Jeg signer Sener i Sener,
Aarer i Aarer,
Kiød i Kiød,
Og Blod i Blod!
Saa satte han Haanden til Jorden ned,
Saa lægedes hans Fodeled!
I Navnet o.s.v.Thiele's #530[54]against dislocations
(fromJutland)
Jesus up the mountain did ride;
sprained his foot in the joint.
He sat down for a blessing,
and so said he:
I bless tendon to tendon
vein to vein,
flesh to flesh,
and blood to blood!
So he set his hand down on the ground below,
and bonded were his joints together!
In the Name, etc.[h]
Grimm also exemplified a Scottish charm (for people, not horses) as a salient remnant of the Merseburg type of charm.[18] This healing spell for humans was practiced inShetland[55][56] (which has strong Scandinavian ties and where theNorn language used to be spoken). The practice involved tying a "wresting thread" of black wool with nine knots around the sprained leg of a person, and in an inaudible voice pronouncing the following:
Alexander Macbain (who also supplies a presumably reconstructed Gaelic "Chaidh Criosd a mach/Air maduinn mhoich" to the first couplet of "The Lord rade" charm above[57]) also records a version of a horse spell which was chanted while "at the same time tying a worsted thread on the injured limb".[58]
Christ went forth
In the early morn
And found the horses' legs
Broken across.
He put bone to bone.
Sinew to sinew,
Flesh to flesh.
And skin to skin;
And as He healed that,
May I heal this.(Macbain tr.)[60]
Macbain goes on to quote another Gaelic horse spell, one beginning "Chaidh Brìde mach.." fromCuairtear nan Gleann (July 1842) that invokesSt. Bride as a "he" rather than "she", plus additional examples suffering from corrupted text.
There have been repeated suggestions that healing formula of the Second Merseburg Charm may well have deep Indo-European roots. A parallel has been drawn between this charm and an example inVedic literature, an incantation from the 2nd millennium BCE found in theAtharvaveda, hymn IV, 12:[61][62][63][64]
1. róhaṇy asi róhany asthṇaç chinnásya róhaṇî
róháye 'dám arundhati
2. yát te rishṭáṃ yát te dyuttám ásti péshṭraṃ te âtmáni
dhâtấ tád bhadráyâ púnaḥ sáṃ dadhat párushâ páruḥ
3. sáṃ te majjấ majjñấ bhavatu sámu te párushâ páruḥ
sáṃ te mâmsásya vísrastaṃ sáṃ ásthy ápi rohatu
4. majjấ majjñấ sáṃ dhîyatâṃ cármaṇâ cárma rohatu
ásṛk te ásthi rohatu ṃâṇsáṃ mâṇséna rohatu
5. lóma lómnâ sáṃ kalpayâ tvacấ sáṃ kalpayâ tvácam
ásṛk te ásthi rohatu chinnáṃ sáṃ dhehy oshadhe[61]1. Grower (Rohani)[i] art thou, grower, grower of severed bone; make this grow. Oarundhatī[j]
2. What of thee is torn, what of thee is inflamed (?), what of thee is crushed (?) in thyself
may Dhātar[k] excellently put that together again, joint with joint.
3. Let thy marrow come together with marrow, and thy joint together with joint;
together let what of your flesh has fallen apart, together let thy bone grow over.
4. Let marrow be put together with marrow; let skin grow with skin;
let thy blood, bone grow; let flesh grow with flesh.
5. Fit thou together hair with hair; fit together skin with skin;
let thy blood, bone grow; put together what is severed, O herb..., etc.[65]
This parallelism was first observed byAdalbert Kuhn, who attributed it to a common Indo-European origin. This idea of an origin from a common prototype is accepted by most scholars,[66] although some have argued that these similarities are accidental.[67]
The Rohani (RōhaṇīSanskrit:रोहणी) here apparently does not signify a deity, but rather a healing herb;[68] in fact, just an alternative name for the herb arundathi mentioned in the same strain.[69]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help). "Hymn IV, 12" inWhitney tr.,Atharva-Veda Samhita. – viaWikisource.){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) (discusses Rydberg and Bugge's commentary){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Old German spells | |||||||||
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