aNGLO-sAXON POETIC CHARMS

Field Remedy - a Charm for Unfruitful Land

Here is the remedy, how you can improve your fields if they do not wish to grow well. At dawn, take up a
turf from each of the four sides of your land. Take then milk, honey, and a piece of every good herb that may
be growing upon that land. Anoint each turf and speak then these words:

Grow and multiply and fill this earth!

Afterwards bring these turves to where they once were before the setting of the sun. Turn to the east, bow
down nine times humbly and speak then these words:

Grant us your growing gift

Of lofty creation, shining blossoms,
Of the broad barley-crops,
Of the white wheaten-crops
And of all the fruits of the earth.

Be well, Earth, mother of men!

May the All-Wielder grant you
Growing and flourishing fields,
Full fields of food for the kindred of men,
Brightly blossoming, become blessed!

a Charm against a Dwarf

Against a dwarf, take yarrow, elder and wood betony, soak them in ale and water and speak over them
sacred words. Then soon you must sing the song, that will be spoken here after, first into the left ear, and
then again in the right ear, and then above the earth of men. And go then to a maiden and she will feed the
ale to him - he will be better at once.

A spider-dwarf came stalking in,

He held your hide in his hands, saying that you were his steed.
They began to sail from this strand, as soon as they left the land,
The frost and fire began to flare.

The sainted sister comes walking in,

She makes an ending and swears her oaths:
That this dwarf should never scathe the sick,
Nor him who might this song acquire,
Nor him who could this song intone.

a Charm against a Sudden Pain

Against the sudden pain take feverfew, red nettle, waybread and the wood betony that grows throughout a
sacred place. Blend into butter, anoint the pain and speak then these words:

They were loud, lo! Loud, when they rode over the hill,
Resolute they were when they rode over the land.
Shield yourself now, so you might escape this malice!
Out, little spear! If you may be within!
I stand under oak, my shield I lift,
When powerful spirits proclaim their power
And send their yelling spears;
I will send them back another
Flying arrows in their faces.
Out, little spear! If you may be within!
The smith sat, striking a blade,
Sore smitten with iron.
Out, little spear! If you may be within!
Six smiths sat, wrought war-spears.
Out, spear, not in, spear!
If within be aught of iron,
Shard of a spirit, it shall melt.

If you were shot into the skin, or into the flesh, or into the blood, never may your life be torn.

If it were shot of ghosts, or shot of elves, or shot of witches, now I will help you. Speak these words:

Flee, fly, into the mountain-head!

Be whole! My Lord help me!
Take this blade, cast it into the water!

a Charm for loss of Cattle

A man must speak this when his cattle have been stolen. He says this before he speaks any other word:

Garmund, the thane of God,

Find those cattle and fetch those cattle
And keep those cattle and hold those cattle
And bear those cattle home.

He who has done this, may it never avail him!

May he wither away, as the woods waste away,
As brittle as the thistle,
He who devises to drive off these cattle,
Or strives to steal anything of mine.

a Charm for the Water-elf Disease

If a man has the water-elf disease, then his skin will be scabbed and the eyes teary and he will wish to look
downwards. Do this for him as a remedy: take chamomile, fen-mint, wood betony and comfrey. Blend them
with butter, and then sing this charm over it three times:

I have composed the best battle-company for these wounds,

So the wounds shall not boil, nor burst,
Nor hasten, nor cleave, nor throb,
Nor the wound grow, nor deepen;
For him I hold a health-cup, yet he holds the hallows himself.
Let it not pain you any more than earth hurts earth.
Anoint his wounds with this poultice. Then sing this many times:

Earth that withers all of these, with all her might and power.

a Charm for a swarm of bees

Against a swarm of bees, take some earth, throw it down with your right hand under your right foot, and
speak:

I catch it under foot, I have found it.

Lo, this earth can avail against every creature,
Against hatred and against deceit
And against the great tongue of man.

Cast earth over them when they make a swarm, and speak:

Sit down, victorious lady, sink to the earth!

Never would you fly wild into the woods.
Be so mindful of my good,
As all men are of hearth and home.

a Journey Charm 11

Find for yourself a staff of oak or ash, inscribe a circle and speak these words:

I encircle myself with this staff and entrust myself to grace,

Against the sore stitch,
Against the sore bite,
Against the grim dread,
And against all evil that enters this land.

A victory song I sing, a victory staff I bear,

Word-victory, work-victory. May they avail me;
That no mere obstruct me, nor foe oppress me,
Nor my life turn to terror.
May they fend me against all fiends.

Forth I fare; I shall find friends,

All the glory of angels, the lore of the blessed.

Charm Against Swelling

Nine was the number of Noththe's sisters.

Then the nine turned into VIII
and the VIII were VII and the VII were VI
and the VI were V and the V were IIII
and the IIII were III and the III were II
and the II were I and the I disappeared.

This will cure you of swellings and scrofula and worms and all evils. Sing Benedicte nine times.

Charm Against a Wen

Wen, wen, wenlet little,
build not here nor find a home
but pass to the north to the next hill
and there discover your brother in pain.
He shall place a leaf on your face.
Under the wolf's foot, under the eagle's wing,
under the eagle's claw grow into nothingness.
Collapse like a coal burnt in a hearth;
shrink like plaster in a ruined wall;
evaporate away like standing water;
sink to the size of a linseed grain
and keep on shrinking ever smaller even smaller
than a thumb worm's hip bone and keep on shrinking
ever smaller ever smaller till you disappear

WES THu HAL