Charms

The most remote linguistic usage invariably contains some form of word magic. Charms, spells, exorcisms, and runes represent in their different ways the ancient and primal belief in the power of words over physical objects and the invisible powers in nature. Being the opposite of spells and curses, charms seek to harness the energy of word magic and the hidden virtues of objects in a positive way, to prevent or cure various afflictions. In earlier times this belief system was termed “natural magic.” To this day idioms like “it worked like a charm” are relics of this belief. Curiously, charm is not an Anglo-Saxon word, being borrowed about 1300 from Old French charme , meaning a charm or enchantment, being ultimately related to Latin carmen , “a song.” The Anglo-Saxon term was galdor , derived from galan , “to sing,” which reinforces the important relationship with chant and enchantment . Instructions for ancient charms frequently specify that the form of words must be sung, usually many times and commonly with some ritual action.

These ancient fragments of folk memory preserved in oral tradition are to be found in great numbers in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts; some “are probably among the oldest lines in the English language” (Gordon 1954, 85). Even a pagan deity is invoked in a charm for infertile land: “Erce, Erce, Erce, mother of Earth,” although most of the piece is Christian in its references. Some, with quite complex and lengthy incantations, are directed against wens (harmless cysts of the skin), swarms of bees, convulsions, and even the theft of cattle. One, a charm for a safe journey, refers explicitly to word magic: “I chant a charm of victory, I bear a rod of victory / word-victory, work-victory” (Gordon 1954, 91).

The post-medieval growth of science and rational inquiry, allied with the authority of the Church, served largely to discredit charms or to stigmatize them by associating them with witchcraft or heretical practices. Today they are generally regarded as part of folklore or popular superstition.