Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic
Bill Griffiths
Magic is something special, something unauthorised; an alternative perhaps;
even a deliberate cultivation of dark, evil powers. But for the Anglo-Saxon
age, the neat division between mainstream and occult, rational and superstitious,
Christian and pagan is not always easy to discern.
To maintain its authority (or its monopoly?) the Church drew a formal line and outlawed a range of dubious practices (like divination, spells, folk healing) while at the same time conducting very similar rituals itself, and may even have adapted legends of elves to serve in a Christian explanation of disease as a battle between good and evil, between Church and demons; in other cases powerful ancestors came to serve as saints.
In pursuit of a better understanding of Anglo-Saxon magic, a wide range of topics and texts are examined in this book, challenging (constructively, it is hoped) our stereotyped images of the past and its beliefs. Texts are printed in their original language (e.g. Old English, Icelandic, Latin) with New English translations. Contents include:- twenty charms; the English, Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems; texts on dreams, weather signs, unlucky days, the solar system; and much more.
£16·95 hardback 256 pages
Leechcraft - Early English Charms,
Plantlore and Healing
Stephen Pollington
An unequaled examination of every aspect of early English healing, including
the use of plants, amulets, charms, and prayer. Other topics include:
Anglo-Saxon witchcraft, shaminism, tree-lore, omens, dreams, runes, gods,
elves, dwarfs, and theories of magic.
The author has brought together a wide range of evidence for the English
healing tradition, and presented it in a clear and readable manner.
The three key Old English texts are reproduced in full, accompanied by
new translations.
- Bald's Third Leechbook
- Old English Herbarium
- Lacnunga
28 illustrations
£25·00
544 pages
Rudiments of Runelore
Stephen Pollington
The purpose of this
book is to provide both a comprehensive introduction for those coming
to the subject for the first time, and a handy and inexpensive reference
work for those with some knowledge of the subject.
The Abecedarium Nordmannicum and the English, Norwegian and Icelandic
rune poems are included as are two rune riddles, extracts from the Cynewulf
poems and new work on the three Brandon runic inscriptions and the Norfolk
'Tiw' runes.
Headings include: The Origin of the Runes; Runes among the Germans; The
Germanic Rune Row and the Common Germanic Language; The English Runic
Tradition; The Scandinavian Runic Tradition; Runes and Pseudo-runes; The
Use of Runes; Bind Runes and Runic Cryptography.
£5·95 96pages
Anglo-Saxon Runes
John. M. Kemble
Kemble's essay On
Anglo-Saxon Runes first appeared in the journal Archaeologia for 1840;
it draws on the work of Wilhelm Grimm, but breaks new ground for Anglo-Saxon
studies in his survey of the Ruthwell Cross and the Cynewulf poems. It
is an expression both of his own indomitable spirit and of the fascination
and mystery of the Runes themselves, making it an attractive introductions
to the topic.
For this edition new notes have been supplied, which include translations
of Latin and Old English material quoted in the text, to make this key
work in the study of runes more accessible to the general reader.
£5·95 80pages