Nordic Magic Healing:
runes, charms, incantations, and galdr

Bibliography

The runic inscription reported here are classical and can be found in a score of various books. I found very useful

            W. Krause, Runen, Sammlung Göschen, 1970. Translated in French.

Since Krause is not translated into English, the standard reference is however

            Erik Moltke, Runes and their Origin, Denmark and Elsewhere, The National Museum of Denmark, 1985, ISBN 87-480-0578-9.

Nevertheless, I think that a deep understanding of the runic inscription demands some knowledge of the three books that provide a vocabulary and a grammar of the runic inscriptions:

            W. Krause, Die Sprache der urnordischen Runeninschriften, Heidelberg 1971.  rune8: p. 153.

            E. H. Antonsen, A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions, Niemeyer, 1975. Antonsen's reading of rune3 is p.85, the one of rune4 is on p. 87.

E. A. Makaev, The Language of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Stockholm 1996, isbn 91-7402-259-8, (Russian original published in 1965).

Another very classical reference book is:

R. Derolez, Runa Manuscripta, The English Tradition, Ed: De Tempel, Tempelhof 37, Brugge, 1954.

Two well-known books represent the English school of runology:

R. I. Page, An Introduction to English Runes, Methuen 1973

R. W. V. Elliott, Runes : An Introduction, Manchester University Press, 1959.

The French school is represented by

            L. Musset, Introduction à la runologie, Paris, Aubier 1965.

A very interesting application of runology to otherwise undecipherable inscrptions is found in

Richard A. V. Cox, The Language of the Ogam Inscriptions of Scotland, Univ. of Aberdeen, Scotland, 1999, isbn 0 9523911 3 9.

The reader of an inquisitive mind should be interested in the Hungarian rovas, and their possible links with Germanic runes. I have to recommend to consult my site at:

http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/rovas/rovas.htm

The Finnish tradition is illustrated in poems gathered by       

Lönnrot, in Kalevala and Kanteletar. I used them intensively in this volume since these poems can be looked at as a long galdr. A version similar to the citations given here can be found in The Kalevala, Oxford University Press (1989 and 1992).

My version is also inspired by

Kalevala, das finnische Epos published by Reclam (1985).

In French, early translations that are very close to the original text, have helped me a lot. The verse version of

John Louis Perret, Le Kalevala, Stock, Paris 1931 is very faithful. Nevertheless, I recommend, instead, the following work to those who can read French, and are able to find it in a library: Léouzon-le-Duc's ancient prose translation contains many explanations about the Finnish culture and society.

Besides the Kalevala itself, the only publication devoted to Finnish folk songs that I have been able to find is:

Matti Kuusi, Keith Bosley, Michael Branch, Finish Folk Poetry - Epic, Finnish Literature Society, 1977, ISBN: 951-717-087-4. This book contains a selection of Finnish folk songs that were collected by ethnologists and published in:     

Suonen Kansan Vanhat Runot (Ancient poems of the Finnish people), 1908-1948.

The theme and style of these folk songs are very close to that of the Kalevala. The differences among the several versions are of course very interesting to those researching Nordic pagan culture. The poems published in this work make up only a very small part of all the folk poems collected by ethnologists, but unfortunately most of them have not been translated. There is also an anthology coming from Karelia that I was not able to consult:

Karjalan Kansan Runot (Poems of the Karelian People, 1976).

The version of the Landnamabok (Book of Settlements) that I used, above others, is the German translation published by Thule, Band 23, Eugen Diederichs Verlag, under the title of

  Islands Besiedlung und älteste Geschichte, 1967.

A selection of texts translated into French can be found in

Landnamabok trans. R. Boyer, Mouton 1973, Card # Lib. Congress: 73 - 79395.

Unfortunately, this edition does not contain S198 which I used in the appendix to chapter 1. The original that I consulted is:

Landnamabok Islands, Einar Arnorsson, Helgafell Reykjavik 1948.

The English translation quoted here is: 

The Book of Settlements, translated by H. Palsson and P. Edwards, University of Manitoba Press, 1972, p. 91.

The Rumanian charms are published in

            S. FL. Marian, Descântece poporane române, Suceava, 1886.

The Lithuanian charms come from the Museum of the pharmacy of Kaunas and the following books cited by my Lithuanian informant, Neringa Jablonskyté. She owns

P. Dunduliené, Lietuvos etnologia,

and at the Town Library in the rare books section, she found:

J. Cicénas, Daugeliskiniai burtai,

            Y. Lvov, Zagorovie, oberegi i spasitelnie malitvi,

B. Meisteré, Perkuno funkcijos latviu folklore, and I was able to see photocopies. Each charm is given in the 'classical' ethnological format, with name of informant, place of gathering, and reference to first publication.

The Highland Scotland charms :

Mary Beith, Healing Threads, Polygon, Edinburgh, 1995. ISBN: 0-7486-6199-9.

Celtic charms :

  Lewis Spence, The History and origins of Druidism, Newcastle publishing 1995 (1st edition 1947),

The Tain translated by T. Kinsella, Oxford Univ. Press, 1969, celt3: p. 190.

Danish charms in:

            Léon Pineau, Chants populaires scandinaves, published in 1898. The 'official' reference for these chants is:

            Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser, collected by Svend Grundtvig. Part 1. Copenhague. Thieles Bogtrykkeri, 1853.

The Anglo-Saxon charms have been published many times. My best source of charms, and of understanding AS medicine is the richly commented and illustrated edition of Lacnunga by

            J. H. G. Grattan and C. Singer, Anglo-Saxon Magic and Medicine, Oxford University press, 1952.

I found also useful a more 'literary' edition, by

  Louis J. Rodrigues, Anglo-Saxon Verse Charms, Maxims & Heroic Legends, Anglo-Saxon Books, 1994, ISBN: 1-898281-01-07, and the following more technical book, whose author is a biologist, not a linguist:

M. L. Cameron, Anglo-Saxon Medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1993. The book by

  Karen Louise Jolly, Popular Religion in Late Saxon England, the University of North Carolina Press, 1996, also contains many charms that are discussed in a religious context rather than a medical context as with Cameron. This work and that of Cameron’s complement each other harmoniously.

The works of Hildegard of Bingen on medical knowledge are:

Hildegard of Bingen, Holistic Healing, The Liturgical Press 1994.

It contains descriptions of a great number of sicknesses and their remedies, as well as invocations. This has been translated into English from a German version.

I could not find the following two books in English, therefore I am giving you their French reference only. Notice that the French versions are directly translated from Latin, they do not use German as an intermediary language, and they are thus worth the German versions.

Hildegarde de Bingen, Le livre des oeuvres divines, Albin Michel, 1982. It contains the mystical visions of the saint. Some of these visions describe the organic construction of the human body and the interactions among humors.

Hildegarde de Bingen, Le livre des subtilités des créatures divines, Jérôme Million 1988. This one contains a description of the medical properties of plants and stones.

For those that can read German, they will find the same charms in

   Hildegard von Bingen, Heilkraft der Natur-'Physica', Herder, 1991.

I must say that I also consulted some works dedicated to charms and incantations coming from mystical literature but I didn’t find them very interesting. They would always describe somewhat fixed rituals, without giving their origin. Their approach is different from mine in the sense that I have carefully given the original version of the charm that I am citing (sometimes to the point of proposing an original translation of some words), and I show a possible adaptation, not an immutable and fixed truth.

The following book contains the most complete description of shamanic customs, and as well, it is easy to access for the non specialist (but not rigorous enough for the specialist, and somewhat outdated):

  Mircea Eliade, Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Arkana (Penguin), London 1989. Nevertheless, the basis of my thinking about shamanism is

  Schamanengeschichten aus Sibirien, collected by G. V. Ksenofontov, translated from the Russian by A. Friedriech and G. Buddruss, Clemens Zerling, 1987. It is quite incredible that such an important book be not translated into English, especially in view of the kind of fashion into which shamanism is presently held.

The works of James Frazer form an incredibly rich source of information on tales, folk customs, and shamanic traditions. The simplest to read is :

James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, abridged edition, Penguin, 1996.

The book of

  Max Bartels, Medizin der Naturvölker, Urgeschichte der Medizin, Leipzig 1893, Reprint-Verlag Leipzig, ISBN : 3-8262-0204-X, is a unique source of knowledge about primitive medicine from all over the world, except Europe. Once again, I am very surprised that there is no English translation of this important book.

For more particular points, I have also used:

Knud Rasmussen,  Du Groenland au Pacifique, published by Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1994 (ISBN 2 - 0285-6).

Ake Hultkrantz, Native Religions of North America, Harper Collins, 1987.

Jacobo Grinberg-Zylberbaum, Rencontre avec des chamans du Mexique, Le Mail 1994. Translated from the Spanish series of books Los Chamanes de México, Mexico University, 1987-1990.

Ruth Beebe Hill, Hanta Yo, Doubleday, 1979

Lewis Spence, North American Indians, Harrap, 1914.

For modern shamanism, I recommend both of Sandra Ingerman’s books:

Soul Retrieval : Mending the Fragmented Self, Harper San Francisco, 1991.

Welcome Home, Following your Soul's Journey Home, Harper San Francisco, 1993.

Anne Ross’ article, "The Divine Hag of the Pagan Celts" and H. R. Ellis Davidson’s, "Hostile Magic in the Icelandic Sagas," are published in

The Witch in History Venetia Newall (Ed.) Barnes & Noble, NY 1996. ISBN 0-7607-0123-7.

I have the privilege of owning a beautiful edition of De Lancre's famous book which is entitled,

Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais anges et démons, par Pierre de Lancre à Paris chez Nicolas Buon, 1613.

Early witnessing of the Finnish and Lapp civilizations are

            Voyage de Laponie by Jean-François Regnard (1681) Republished in 1992 by Edition du Griot. Quite often, this author uses an earlier witness in order to describe regions he could not himself observe. Unfortunately, I was unable to put a hand on a translation of this very first witness. Its initial publishing reference is:

  Johann G. Scheffer, Lapponia, id est religionis Lapponum et gentis nova et verissima descriptio, Frankfurt, 1673. A bit more than one century later, but still very interesting and more detailed is:

  Voyage au Cap-Nord, par la Suède, la Finlande et la Laponie, by Joseph Acerbi, Paris, 1804. I could not find the (existing) English version. It contains many details of a pagan way of life that was preserved in these remote countries, in spite of all the efforts of the local clergy, as Acerbi witnesses. I cannot emphasize enough the need of consulting these books for these interested in our pagan Nordic past.

Here are the sagas that I have been consulting. References are given to the place in the English translations that report the same facts than those reported in the present book.

Egil's Saga, Penguin Classics, 1976.

Eirik the Red and other Icelandic Sagas, World Classics, Oxford Univ. press, 1981. This edition contains The Vapnfjord men, The saga of the king Hrolf and his, Gunnlaug Wormtongue.

            Eyrbyggja saga, Penguin Classics, 1972.

            Heimskringla or the Lives of the Norse Kings, Snorre Sturlason, Dover publications, 1990. It contains The History of Saint Olav. Ynglinga saga,

            Hrafnkel's Saga, Penguin Classics, 1971

            The saga of the Jómsvíkings, translation by L. M. Hollander, University of Texas Press, 1955.

            King Harald's Saga, Snorri Sturluson, Penguin Classics, 1966

            Laxdaela  Saga, Penguin Classics, 1969

            Njal's Saga, Penguin Classics, 1960.

            Orkneyinga Saga, Penguin Classics, 1978.

            Seven Viking Romances, Penguin Classics, 1985. It includes The saga of Bosi and Herraud where Busla's curses are to be found. I used also Boyer's version of this poem, as given in his Edda, and Genzmer's. It includes King Gautrek and Egil and Asmund.

            The saga of the Volsungs, translation by J. L. Byock, University of California Press, 1990.

The Vinlands Sagas, Penguin Classics, 1965.

            Gautreks saga, translation Robert Nedoma, Kümmerle Verlag, Göppingen 1990.

            Die saga vom Grettir Asmundarson, translation R. Simek, Verlag K. M. Halosar, 1981.

            La saga des alliés, translation by A. Marez, Editions du Porte-Glaive, 1989.

            Sagas islandaises, translated and edited by R. Boyer, La Pléiade, 1987. Among 13 other sagas, it contains, among others, Gisla saga Surssonar, Vatnsdoela saga, Viga-Glúms Saga, Grettis Saga Ásmundarsonar.

            La saga des Féroïens, translation by J. Renaud, Aubier Montaigne 1983.

            La saga d'Óláf Tryggvason, translation by R. Boyer, Imprimerie Nationale 1992.

  La saga des Ynglingar (Ynglinga saga), de Snorri Sturluson, translation by I. Cavalié, Éditions du Porte-Glaive, 1990.

The name Edda covers two very different things.

  One is a set of three works by Snorri Sturluson, usually called Prose Edda. It is made of Gylfaginning, describing the major Nordic myths, the Skaldskaparmal, (Language of the scalds) which explains the principles and main features of skaldic poetry, and Hattatal (List of verse forms) which gives scores of examples of skaldic verse forms. The French translation by F.-X. Dillmann (Gallimard, 1991) is very precise and wonderfully annotated; the German one, by A. Häny (Manesse Verlag, 1991) is also an excellent reference source. Both however cannot be compared to the English version by A. Faulkes, (Everyman, 1995) because they are not complete, while Faulkes' is. Häny's misses Skaldskaparmal and Hattatal, while Dillmann shows only the most significant legends contained in Skaldskaparmal. The full work shows a score of names for the Gods, of equivalence between long expressions and a word (the so-called kennings), that allow to understand the word for word versions of Skaldic and Eddic poetry. In spite of all, I found Dillmann's translation so good, it is both precise and simply worded, that I strongly recommend it to any French reading person. It is a shame that the French and German publishers did not allow the translators to complete their job.

            The second one, called the Poetic Edda is composed of a set of poems. I consulted again mainly three versions: a French version, by R. Boyer (Fayard, 1992), a German version, by F. Genzmer, (Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1992), and an English one, Norse Poems by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor (Faber and Faber, 1983). A relatively new English version, due to C. Larrington, Oxford University press, 1996 is more like the French and German editions that provide explanations to their readers.

More scholarly information on Nordic life and beliefs is available in the journal alvíssmál which is published online at: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~alvismal/

Particularly relevant to this book, I found the papers:

by Alison Finlay, on medieval Icelandic insults,

by Anatoly Liberman who discusses the etymology of ten Scandinavian and North English words, including the word Edda,

by Carolyne Larrington who provides a feminist view of  the poem Skírnismál.

The ancient texts I used are:

Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, Penguin Classics, 1970.

            Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Penguin Classics, 1990.

            Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum (published around 1215), translation by J.-P. Troadec, Gallimard 1995. There exists an English translation available on the web, it is provided by The Project Gutenberg. Compare my version to theirs. For instance, in its book 6, it says: "So the peasant's son approached, replaced the parts of his belly that had been torn away, and bound up with a plait of withies the mass of intestines that had fallen out." In this translation, it is also noticeable that all the names given by Saxo have been 'germanized'. For instance, Saxo's Starcatherus becomes Starkad etc.  

Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, translation by Charles C. Mierow is available on line at www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html.

I did not use the Galdrabok, book of Icelandic magical charms, because it hardly deals with healing, but nevertheless this work is very interesting :

S. Flowers, The Galdrabok , An Icelandic Grimmoire, Samuel Weiser, 1989.

A bit aside from this book, and for those who are interested in the recent history of the political movements dealing with the runes, two books contain all the objective knowledge available, they are:

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism, NY University Press, 1992.

Jeffrey Kaplan, Radical Religion in America, Syracuse University Press, 1997.