Anglo-Saxon Metrical Charms

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 writing a specific set of words on an object. These Anglo-Saxon charms tell a great deal about medieval medical theory and practice. Although most medical texts found from the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon period are translations of Classical texts in Latin, these charms were originally written in Old English. Through these metrical charms, we can more easily understand the religious beliefs and practices that pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon England had; we can also see how the people of that time saw and understood sickness and health.

Today, some non-mainstream medical professionals use herbal remedies, but these are often based on some sort of scientific reason. The medical procedures and herbal remedies in these Anglo-Saxon medical charms are not based on science, but on other "spiritual" qualities that they were believed to have at the time. While many of these charms do have pagan qualities, they are not entirely anti-Christian, with most of the charms including both pagan and Christian characteristics. For example, the Nine Herbs Charm mentions both the Germanic god Woden and Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity.

Twelve Metrical Charms survive in Old English, principally in the collection of medical texts known in modern scholarship as Lacnunga (10th to 11th century), but also in Bald's Leechbook (10th century) and as marginal additions in other manuscripts. They are:

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