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The first charm introduces the Old German Idisi, most likely the Valkyries of Scandinavian mythology, who tend to the fortunes of war. In the second charm, Wodan cures Balder's horse of lameness, after four named goddesses fail in their efforts to do so.
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The Merseburg charms are the only known surviving relics of pre-Christian, pagan poetry in Old High German literature. The charms were recorded in the 10th century by a cleric, possibly in the abbey of Fulda, on a blank page of a liturgical book, which later passed to the library at Merseburg. The charms have thus been transmitted in Caroline minus...
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 traditional alliteration but also the end-rhymes introduced in the C...
The First Merseburg Charm (loosening charm)'s similarity to the anecdote in Bede's Hist. Eccles., IV, 22 has been noted by Jacob Grimm. 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 s...
translation based on L.C. Jane (1903); A. M. Sellar (1907) (wikisource version)Book: Bugge, Sophus. Sæmundar Edda hins Fróda: Norroen Fornkvaedi. P. T. Mallings. 1867. 340.Murdoch. Brian. But Did They Work? Interpreting the Old High German Merseburg Charms in their Medieval Context. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 89. 1988. 358–369., p.365, footnote. Quote: "The exist...Christiansen, Reidar. 1914. Die finnischen und nordischen Varianten des zweiten Merseburgerspruches. (Folklore Fellows’ Communications 18.) Hamina Academia Scientiarum Fennicum.People also ask
Is the Second Merseburg Charm a real spell?
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Apr 4, 2020 · While almost all the valuable written evidence for the pre-Christian gods of northern Europe comes from Old Norse sources, one of the most significant and interesting exceptions is the Second...
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Lothenon, the author of this Sindarin translation and Tengwar calligraphy writes: "T his is the second of the Old High German Merseburg Charms (see here). I transcribed it into Tolkien's Anglosaxon mode for Tengwar and hope I got the pronunciation correctly (since I didn't really study Old High German (so far)).
interpretation can never be wholly separated, and in the second Merseburg charm, the function of which is to heal a horse, the presence of Wodan (who seems to have been regularly associated with a horse in Norse mythology) is quite explicable.
Oct 13, 2023 · The first Merseburg Charm, called MZ I or the blessing of release, focuses on the concept of freedom and valkyrie-like beings called Idisi. The second Merseburg Charm, called MZ II or the horse-healing spell, focuses on six deities and the wonder of healing.
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 in folkloric spells from Scandinavian countries (often preserved in so-called " black books ".).
