"For a Swarm of Bees" is an
Anglo-Saxon metrical charm
Anglo-Saxon metrical charms were sets of instructions generally written to magically resolve a situation or disease. Usually, these charms involve some sort of physical action, including making a medical potion, repeating a certain set of words, or ...
that was intended for use in keeping
honey bee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current co ...
s from
swarming. The text was discovered by
John Mitchell Kemble
John Mitchell Kemble (2 April 1807 – 26 March 1857), English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor and Maria Theresa Kemble. He is known for his major contribution to the history of the Anglo-Saxons and philology ...
in the 19th century. The charm is named for its opening words, "'", meaning "against (or towards) a swarm of bees".
In the most often studied portion, towards the end of the text where the charm itself is located, the bees are referred to as ', "victory-women". The word has been associated by Kemble,
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...
, and other scholars with the notion of
valkyries
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:3 ...
(Old English '), and "
shield maidens", hosts of female beings attested in
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
and, to a lesser extent, Old English sources, similar to or identical with the
Idise of the
Merseburg Incantations
The Merseburg charms or Merseburg incantations (german: die Merseburger Zaubersprüche) are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic pagan belief preserved in the ...
. Some scholars have theorized the compound to be a simple metaphor for the "victorious sword" (the stinging) of the bees.
In 1909, the scholar Felix Grendon recorded what he saw as similarities between the charm and the
Lorsch Bee Blessing
The Lorsch Bee Blessing (German: ''Lorscher Bienensegen'') is a bee-keeping prayer intended to bring home honey bees in good health to their hives. It is believed to have been written in the 9th century, and was discovered in a manuscript (on fol ...
, a manuscript portion of the
Lorsch Codex
The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwritten in Carol ...
, from the monastery in
Lorsch
Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Geography
Location
Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...
, Germany. Grendon suggested that the two could possibly have a common origin in pre-Christian Germanic culture.
Charm text
Settle down, victory-women, sink to earth,
never be wild and fly to the woods.
Be as mindful of my welfare,
as is each man of border and of home.
Notes
References
Editions
* Foys, Martin ''et al.'
''Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project''(Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019-); digital facsimile edition and Modern English translation
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:For A Swarm Of Bees
Anglo-Saxon metrical charms
Beekeeping
Occult texts