Anglo-saxon Charms and the language of magic

Anglo-Saxon charms witness the oldest Germanic literary tradition with some going back to the age-old Indo-European culture and others revealing nearer Greek and Latin sources The following paper is part of an ongoing literary and linguistic research on nine Anglo-Saxon poetic charms. Though dealing with magic practices that mirror the persistence of pagan culture, they all show signs of the Christian faith, which by then was permeating the Anglo-Saxon collective imagination. The chosen charms are similar in style and structure, alternating poetry and prose. The first part of these charms is usually in prose and gives the instructions to be followed in performing the ritual. The second is the magic formula poetry, which intrudes on reality in order to change it. The conclusion is often an auspicious formula taken from the Christian liturgy, as an absolute signal of the rite accomplishment. It can be in either poetic or prose form, and characterises the culturally compound aspect of magic practices