Æcerbot
The Æcerbot (
Overview
The charm consists of a partially
The significance of erce has been the subject of scholarly commentary and speculation. Grimm connected Old High German erchan "genuine, true".[3]
Kathleen Herbert observes that in the first mention of the Angli, Tacitus in his Germania, remarks that "the noteworthy characteristic of the English, to foreign eyes, was that they were goddess-worshippers; they looked on the earth as their mother." Herbert links Tacitus' mention of the Angli to the later English "Æcerbot". Herbert comments that while "Æcerbot" is referred to as a charm, it is in fact a "full-scale ritual" that would take an entire day to perform, plus additional time for collecting and preparing the materials necessary.[4]
See also
External links
- This charm is edited, annotated and linked to digital images of its manuscript pages, with translation, in the Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project: https://oepoetryfacsimile.org/
Notes
- ^ Grigsby (2005:96f, 246).
- ^ Gordon (1962:88-90).
- ^ Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie (1935), trans. Stallybrass (1888), chapter 13: Goddesses "Can there lie disguised in erce a proper name Erce gen. Ercan, connected with the OHG. adj. ërchan, simplex, genuinus, germanus? it would surely be more correct to write Eorce? ought it to suggest the lady Erche, Herkja, Herche, Helche renowned in our heroic legend?"
- ^ Herbert (2007:13).
References
- Grigsby, John (2005). Beowulf & Grendel: The Truth Behind England's Oldest Legend. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 1-84293-153-9
- Gordon, R. K.(1962). Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Everyman's Library #794. M. Dent & Sons, LTD.
- Herbert, Kathleen (2007). Looking for the Lost Gods of England. Anglo-Saxon Books. ISBN 1-898281-04-1
- Hill, Thomas D., “The Æcerbot Charm and its Christian User,” Anglo-Saxon England 6 (1977), 213-21
- Jolly, Karen, Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms in Context. University of North Carolina Press, 1996
- Niles, John D., “The Æcerbot Ritual in Context,” in Old English Literature in Context: Ten Essays, ed. John D. Niles (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1980), pp. 44-56
- Rosenberg, Bruce A., “The Meaning of Æcerbot,” Journal of American Folklore 79 (1966), 428-436
Further reading
- Duckert, Audrey R. (1972). "Erce and Other Possibly Keltic Elements In the Old English Charm for Unfruitful Land". In: Names (A Journal of Onomastics), 20:2, pp. 83-90. DOI: 10.1179/nam.1972.20.2.83