Three

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 ...

s "Against a dwarf" ( ang, Ƿið dƿeorh) are contained within in the

Lacnunga The ''Lacnunga'' ('Remedies') is a collection of miscellaneous Anglo-Saxon medical texts and prayers, written mainly in Old English and Latin. The title ''Lacnunga'', an Old English word meaning 'remedies', is not in the manuscript: it was given t ...

, which seek to heal an afflicted person by ridding them of a

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

Charms

Remedies LXXXVIIc and LXXXVIIIc

The remedies LXXXVIIc and LXXXVIIIc consist of writing Christian symbols, such as crosses and both

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Greek letters The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as we ...

, along the arms of the sick person. This is then followed by mixing grated celandine with ale and invoking the names of saints, including the Welsh Saint Macutus.

Remedy XCIIIb

Remedy XCIIIb is the most detailed of the charms, consisting of writing the names of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus on Communion wafers before reciting a : It has been noted that several components of this charm suggest that it was old at the time of its recording, such as the use of the word "", which would have had no clear meaning at the time of writing, and a lack of an alliterating vowel where expected in line 5 of the galdor.

Interpretation and discussion

It has been argued that the charms form part of a wider

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

Germanic tradition that links dwarfs to the onset of sickness, also attested in the 8th century CE Ribe skull fragment and a lead plaque found near Fakenham in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

dating to the 8th-11th century CE. In this cultural context, it has been argued that attempting to discriminate between the dwarf and the disease it is causing is not necessarily helpful, given that the banishing or killing of the harmful dwarf also is believed to lead to recovery from the sickness. It has been proposed that the sickness in question is related to sleeping because of the inclusion of the

Seven Sleepers In the Islamic and Christian traditions, the Seven Sleepers, otherwise known as the Sleepers of Ephesus and Companions of the Cave, is a medieval legend about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day S ...

in the charm. According to one source, "The names of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus occur in various charms of the Middle Ages. They are usually, as might be expected, to secure sleep, but in some cases are to be employed against fever". The conception of the dwarf in remedy XCIIIb has been proposed to link to the concept of a

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

, a harmful being in Germanic folklore that is the root of the word " nightmare" and has been equated with the phenomenon of

sleep paralysis Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which one is conscious but is completely paralyzed. During an episode, one may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), which often results in fear. Episod ...

. According to this theory, the dwarf in this charm is a manifestation of a night monster, as dwarfs were linked to the idea of harmful spirits and thought to be capable of causing physical harm. Similarity between the dwarf in XCIIIb and mares in medieval and later

Germanic folklore Proto-Germanic folklore is the folklore of the speakers of Proto-Germanic and includes topics such as the Germanic mythology, legendry, and folk beliefs of early Germanic culture. By way of the comparative method, Germanic philologists, a variety ...

is further seen in the conception of both beings riding their victims, causing symptoms such as injury, hallucinations and fevers.

References

Bibliography

Secondary

* * * * * {{Old English poetry Sleep in mythology and folklore Anglo-Saxon metrical charms