The 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 this language. They were discovered in 1841 by Georg Waitz,[1] who found them in a theological manuscript from Fulda, written in the 9th or 10th century,[2] although there remains some speculation about the date of the charms themselves. The manuscript (Cod. 136 f. 85a) was stored in the library of the cathedral chapter of Merseburg, hence the name.
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The Merseburg Incantations are the only surviving instance of ostensibly pre-Christian, pagan, Old High German literature.[3][4]
The incantations were recorded in the 10th century by a literate cleric, possibly in the abbey of Fulda, on a blank page of a liturgical book, which later passed to the library at Merseburg. The incantations have thus been transmitted in Caroline minuscule on the flyleaf of a Latin sacramentary.
The spells became famous in modern times through the appreciation of the Grimm brothers, who wrote as follows:
- Lying between Leipzig, Halle and Jena, the extensive library of the Cathedral Chapter of Merseburg has often been visited and made use of by scholars. All have passed over a codex 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...
The spells were published later by the Brothers Grimm in On two newly-discovered poems from the German Heroic Period (1842).
The manuscript of the Merseburg Incantations 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.
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 Christian verse of the 9th century.
The first spell is a "Lösesegen" (blessing of release), describing how a number of "Idisen"[2] free from their shackles warriors caught during battle. 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
sazun hera duoder.
suma hapt heptidun,
suma heri lezidun,
suma clubodun
umbi cuoniouuidi:
insprinc haptbandun,
inuar uigandun.Once sat women,
They sat here, then there.
Some fastened bonds,
Some impeded an army,
Some unraveled fetters:
Escape the bonds,
flee the enemy![1]
Phol is with Wodan when Baldur's horse dislocates its foot while riding through the forest (holza). Wodan is saying as a result: "Bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb, as if they were glued".
Figures that can be clearly identified within Continental Germanic mythology are "Uuôdan" (Wodan) and "Frîia" (Frija). Depictions found on Migration Period Germanic bracteates are often viewed as Wodan (Odin) healing a horse.[5]
Comparing Norse mythology, Wodan is well-attested as the cognate of Odin. Frija the cognate of Frigg,[5] also identified with Freyja.[6] Balder is apparently Norse Baldr. Phol is apparently the masculine form of Uolla, but the context makes clear that it is another name of Balder.[2] Uolla has been linked to Fulla, a minor goddess and a handmaid of Frigg.[5] Sunna (the Sun) in Norse mythology is Sól, though her sister Sinthgunt is otherwise unattested.[7]
Phol ende uuodan uuorun zi holza.
du uuart demo balderes uolon sin uuoz birenkit.
thu biguol en sinthgunt, sunna era suister;
thu biguol en friia, uolla era suister;
thu biguol en uuodan, so he uuola conda:sose benrenki, sose bluotrenki,
sose lidirenki:
ben zi bena, bluot zi bluoda,
lid zi geliden, sose gelimida sin.Phol and Wodan were riding to the woods,
and the foot of Balder's foal was sprained
So Sinthgunt, Sunna's sister, conjured it.
and Frija, Volla's sister, conjured it.
and Wodan conjured it, as well he could:Like bone-sprain, so blood-sprain,
so joint-sprain:
Bone to bone, blood to blood,
joints to joints, so may they be glued.[8]
Two "horse cure" incantations strikingly similar to the Merseburg incantation are recorded in 19th and 20th century Norway. In the 19th century charm, the invocation is to Jesus, whereas the 20th century charm invokes the 11th century Norwegian king Olaf II of Norway. The 20th century spell was collected in Møre, Norway, where it was presented as for use in healing a bone fracture. The charms read:
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19th century charm:
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20th century charm:
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