Drink Hail

We have just premièred my poem based on Phil's mead. Philip is a good and true Heathen friend that brews very fine mead indeed. I have drunk many a bottle and partaken of many a little sip on my little mead bench.

Drink Hail

Drink up Phil's fine mead, and wassail to thee,
Pass full horn around, merry let us be.
With horns we shall hail, here's to the best brew,
Let's toast raise the roof, with good mead and true.

Pass horn to the left, raise another toast,
Feel free to be bold, and make biggest boast.
Mead moves round with sun, drink hail and wassail,
A mouthful of mead, and tell a tall tale.

Mead cup bearing boys, bring it round again,
Take another small sip, send it to your brain.
Slurp Phil's spicy mead, that's fit for a thane,
Into the long night, and drink like a Dane.

Let's take the mead oath, to kith kind and true,
And swear allegiance, to friends old and new.
Partake one last horn, wassail me and you,
After five or six, you haven't a clue.

Up with pointy end, and wassail away,
Made from best honey, by Philip the fay.
The fairies' about, at this time of day,
One more little swig, is the Heathen way.

Fell free to share.....

Possible translation of Lacnunga P10.10

Lacnunga P10.10 

(from Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England Vol 3)

In case a man or a beast drink an insect

Let me begin by saying that I am not an expert but merely trying where others seem to have given up. I bring with me only a knowledge of Anglo-Saxon charms and some enthusiasm. If anyone wishes to feed in to this or finds fault then please message me.

Here is the entry:

Wið ðon þe mon oððe nyten wyrm gedrince gyf

hyt sy waepned cynnes sing ðis leoð in þaet swiðre

eare þe her aefter awriten ls gif hit sy wifcynnes

sing in þæt wynstre eare.

Gonomil orgomil marbumil

marbsai marbsai tofethtengo docuillo biran cuithaer

caefmiil fcuiht cuillo scuiht cuib duill marbsiramum

sing nygon siðan in þæt eare þis galdor ond pater nr

æne. þrs ylce galdor mæg mon singan wið smeogan

pyrme sing gelome on ða dolh ond mið ðinan spatle

wmyre ond genim grene curmeallan cnuca lege on þæt

dolh • ond beðe mid hattre cumicgan. wið ðon ðe mon

attor gedrince nim marubian sæd • mængc wið wine

syle drincan.

The first paragraph has already been translated:

In case a man or a beast drink an insect, if it be of male kind sing this lay in the right ear, which lay is hereinafter written; if it be of female kind, sing it in the left ear.

The third paragraph has also been translated:

This same charm a man may sing against a penetrating worm, sing it frequently upon the wound and smear with thy spittle, and take green Centaury, pound and lay it on the wound and bathe with hot cow urine. In case a man drinks venom, take seed of Marrubium, mingle it with wine, administer to be drunk.

The second paragraph is the charm or galdor.

The first line is already translated from Old Irish:

Gonomil = I wound the animal (gono mil)

Orgomil = I strike the animal (orgo mil)

Marbumil = I kill the animal (marbu mil)

Refer to: Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds, edited by Alex Mullen, Patrick James, P137, Reconstructing Languages and Cultures,  edited by Edgar C. Polomé, Werner Winte P406, And also Dictionary of Ancient Magic Words and Spells by Claude  Lecouteux

At this point others seem to have decided that the rest of the charm is gibberish and given up, however let’s take the second line and split the words up thus:

The second line

marb sai marb sai to feth tengo do cuillo biran cuith aer

Using Old Irish:

Marb = dead/stagnant/pertaining to the dead

Sal = brine/sea/heal

To (first-person singular present progressive conjunct of at-ta) = to swell

Feth = wind

Tengae = tongue (closest match)

Do = two

Cuillo biran = I destroy the thorn

Cuit = portion/property/love (closest match)

Aer = sky

Trying out these meanings in combination we can eventually arrive at:

Death brine, death brine swell wind tongue two I destroy the thorn property sky

Let’s now rework the line into sense while also thinking of stinging insects such as bees and wasps:

Brine of death, brine of death (with) wind (and) tongue I destroy the thorn property of the sky.

And working a little more on the end:

Brine of death, brine of death (with) wind (and) tongue I destroy the thorn from the sky.

Brine still used to treat wounds and also can be used to remove a leech, perhaps seen as a kind of worm. The ‘thorn from the sky’ clearly being a metaphor for bees and wasps.

Moving on to the third line and again splitting the words:

The third line

caef miil f cuiht cuillo    scuiht cuib duill    marb sir amum

Cael = narrow/slender/thin/fine (closest match)

Mil = honey best meaning

Cuit = portion/property/love (closest match)

Scoilt = split (closest match)

Cuig = five (closest match)

Cuin = when (closest match)

Duil = suck (closest match)

Duille = leaf (closest match)

Marb = dead/stagnant/pertaining to the dead

Sir = long

Amran = song/singing (closest match)

So this line is becoming difficult but perhaps we can arrive at:

Belonging to fine lovely honey, split five/parts/love/property suck/leaves, sing to kill the long (worm?).

Again thinking of stinging insects ‘Belonging to fine lovely honey’ seems to fit and suck/sucking pertains to swallowing or sucking the wound. ‘Sing to kill the long (worm) is just what the medic (Leech in Anglo-Saxon) is doing.

Expanding the possible translation of the middle three words into combinations:

Split five suck = suck the split (or wound) five (times).   

Split five leaves = (take and) divide five leaves (worts or herbs).

Split parts suck = suck the split part (wound).

Split parts leaves = split the leaves (into) parts.

Split love suck  = split (or wound) (like) a love bite (resembles a reaction to an insect sting).

Split love leaves = divide the leaves of love.

Split property suck = ?   

Split property leaves = the split (or wound) belonging to the leaves.

Split when suck = suck when (if) split.

Rewriting lines 1, 3, 5 and 9 which seem to have the most potential:

Suck the wound five (times)/suck the wound/ wound (like) a love bite/ suck when (if) split.

All of which have some relevant meaning, however the number five in a healing charm would be unusual (three and nine being the norm) so perhaps we should reject this as a likely translation. The remaining possibilities are therefor, either an instruction to suck the wound or merely a description of the appearance of a bad reaction to an insect bite. Perhaps three or more are valid here and we have an example of layered meaning as in a palimpsest.

So the third line can be written as follows:

Belonging to fine lovely honey, suck the wound/ wound (like) a love bite/suck if (it be) split, sing to kill the long (worm?).

So the entire charm could read:

In case a man or a beast drink an insect, if it be of male kind sing this lay in the right ear, which lay is hereinafter written; if it be of female kind, sing it in the left ear.

I wound the animal, I strike the animal, I kill the animal.

Brine of death, brine of death (with) wind (and) tongue I destroy the thorn from the sky, belonging to fine lovely honey, suck the wound/ wound (like) a love bite/suck if (it be) split, sing to kill the long (worm).

This same charm a man may sing against a penetrating worm, sing it frequently upon the wound and smear with thy spittle, and take green Centaury, pound and lay it on the wound and bathe with hot cow urine. In case a man drinks venom, take seed of Marrubium, mingle it with wine, administer to be drunk.

Of course one could also arrive at alternative variations in the translation and perhaps this ambiguity is exactly what the charm intended to achieve, after all it is unlikely the Anglo-Saxons would have had any understanding of Old Irish. What would have been important was the distinct incantatory sound patterning resulting from the alliteration, rhyming and repetition.

Copyright Andrew Rea Dec 2015

An untranslated charm from the XI century

LEECHDOMS, WORTCUNNING AND STARCRAFT OF EARLY ENGLAND

Charms

Vol3 P294, A charm, xi. century

Here is another untranslated incantation from a healing charm in an Anglo-Saxon medical manuscript:

Ðis man sceal singan nigon syþon wiþ utsiht on an

hrerenbræden æg • þry dagas. + Ecce dol gola ne dit

dudum bethe cunba bræthe cunda • elecunda ele uahge

macte me eienum • ortha fuetha la ta uis leti unda

noeuis terræ dulgedoþ. Pater noster oþ ende; & cweþ

symle æt þam drore huic • ð if.

Translation of the first line and a half from Anglo-Saxon:

This man sceal singan nigon syþon wiþ utsiht on an

hrerenbræden æg • þry dagas

Translation

This you shall sing nine times against diarrhoea continually

(or) to move a forest egg (old stool) of three days.

That was easy! However the next section is not written in an actual language but in a way to resemble Latin and in part Old Irish. This was sometimes done to add extra power to a charm. Many of the words are clearly used for their tonal qualities. The intent was to evoke a sense of magic. This Anglo-Saxon charm, like many, contains both rhythm and alliteration. The charm was therefore written in a pseudo language without obvious meaning but played on relevant words of power and healing and was not intended to be translated, however we can find some hidden meaning:

+ Ecce dol gola ne dit dudum bethe cunba bræthe cunda •

 elecunda ele uahge macte me eienum • ortha fuetha

la ta uis leti unda noeuis terræ dulgedoth.

First compare with a similar charm in Lacnunga CV:

Ecce dolgula medit dudum beðegunda breðegunda

elecunda eleuacha mottem mee renum orþa fueþa

letaues noeues terre dolge drore uhic alleluia

Ignoring the spelling and breaks in the words the text is essentially the same, save for the addition of a cross at the start and the omission of alleluia at the end.

An accumulation of errors coming from many copying’s of the text have added to the difficulty of translation.

One can imagine a læce (healer) or galdre (wizard) chanting this galdor (charm/spell) rhythmically nine times over the sick to induce a healing state and increase the effect of any medication being given.

We notice again the use of the number nine which was to the Anglo-Saxon’s the most sacred number.

Fortunately I had some assistance with the previous charm last year and managed a translation which we can now build on, so:

Translation

Make the sign of the cross, See (here)! Banish (this) little injury, eats? salve abounding, abounding, healing-abounding, mote of my kidneys, formulate a charm,

against the harmful wave of death and violence, let sorrowful suffering fail.

The last line:

Pater noster oþ ende; & cweþ symle æt þam drore huic • ð if.

Translates mainly from Anglo-Saxon:

(Say) the lords prayer to the end; and sing the little sin to those (who need ?) this • ð if

These last characters seem to be an abbreviation but as of yet I am still unsure. The ð at the end of a charm has been used to represent oð meaning ’to’ but would be followed by ende meaning end so ‘to the end’ the ‘if’ I cannot offer any translation for yet.

The whole translation

This you (shall) sing nine times against diarrhoea continually

(or) to move a forest egg (old stool) for/of? three days.

Make the sign of the cross, See (here)! Banish (this) little injury, eats? salve abounding, abounding, healing-abounding, mote of my kidneys, formulate a charm,

against the harmful wave of death and violence, let sorrowful suffering fail.

(Say) the lords prayer to the end; and sing ‘the little sin’ to those (who need ?) this (to the end?)

Notes

Ecce . . . Alleluia: note the charm is flanked by correct Latin, as if to imply everything contained inside is fully valid too.
dolg: injury; dol gola seems to be semi-Latinised, 'little injury'
ne dit (pseudo-Latin) suggests 'get rid of' i.e. the poison or whatever
beðe: fomentation, salve
bred: either 'deceit' or 'broad', probably play on both
ele- is first element of elemosyne, 'alms', i.e. mercy, i.e. healing
-cunda is more like a Latin ending, meaning 'abounding in' something.
mot: a mote, a speck (something causing the problem, reduce the problem into something so small it is harmless); or 'word' (late Latin)
ortha (Irish) charm; ortha fueþa, perhaps 'formulate a charm'
uis leti unda: the wave of death and violence

terrae: maybe 'teore', fail
drore: . dreorig 'sorrowful', so 'let sorrowful suffering fail' or the like might perhaps come to mind.

Symle: little sin

Copyright Andrew Rea Nov 2015

The First of May, AD 762

Introduction and notes

The date of the 1st May 762 has been taken from Chinese records: ‘on 3^rd April in Chinese lunar year 762, i.e., 1st May AD762, at night red lights appeared in north-west, the flame-like light covered the sky and penetrated the north pole, then moved

to the east and covered north-east with the bright lights which illuminated as far as more than several tens of miles and long time later the lights were ceased.’

This was recorded as a major aurora being seen at very southerly latitudes. Although the Anglo Saxon Chronicle fails to record the event, there is however mention of what may be the same event but recorded out of time by some 12 years in 774: ‘This year also appeared in the heavens a red crucifix, after sunset… and wonderful serpents were seen (in the sky) in the land of the South-Saxons (Sussex) and elsewhere…. to the astonishment of all. ‘

In Norse mythology some attributed the aurora to reflections from the shields of the Valkyries (OE Wælcyrige or Haegtesse).

‘The helmet beings, came down from the sky’ has been taken from the Edda: Helgakviea Hundingsbana I - Stanza 54 ‘From the sky there came down the helmet beings….’

A thirteenth-century Middle Dutch poem known as De natuurkunde van het geheelal., connects the Hægtesse with fires in the sky.

Hægtesse = a female version of the wild hunt sometimes to be summoned in battle to scare the enemy, also a scan for Wælcyrige (Valkyries).

Tha mihtigen wif  (OE) = the mighty women.

The First of May, AD 762

Walpurgis was wild, earth powers were high,

Upon the morrow, doom hung in the sky.

Witches were about, healing herbs to hunt,

Folk kept their distance, they dare not confront.

From fiery embers, doth smoke still ascend,

Fun and merriment, laughter without end.

Young maids run about, with fellers unseen,

With flowers in hair, they look like a queen.

As sun goes down, over merry May Day,

Bizarre beasts conjure, in high heavens fay.

Serpents and dragons, appear to the eye,

Dancing and leaping, like flames in the sky.

Little by little, we all turn to north,

In distant dark skies, Hægtesse rides forth.

A nervous stillness, spreads over the throng,

People fall silent, I hear no more song.

Strange flickering light, flashing northern sky,

Hægtesse ride out, is the end now nigh?

Tha mihtigen wif, on nocturnal flights,

From silent armour, forms the northern lights.

Emblazoned helmets, flashing shining shields,

Who summoned them forth, above our cornfields.

The helmet beings, come down from the sky,

Where will they appear, could it be nearby?

Copyright Andrew Rea August 2015

I am called Mask

Introduction

The title ‘I am called Mask’ has been borrowed from Old Icelandic ‘Heto mek Grímr’  (Grímnismál when Odin introduces himself in strophe 46)

In this poem we set the mood of a runic consecration by the masked lord based on the Sutton Hoo Helmet (An Eye for Odin? Divine Role-Playing in

the Age of Sutton Hoo - European Journal of Archaeology 17 (3) 2014, 517–538) and also from an idea expanded from a contemporary inscription: ‘One with a gleaming eye consecrates the runes’ (Looijenga, 2003: 211–12; McKinnell et al., 2004).

It has been argued that in certain circumstances and locations, such as the firelit interior of the mead hall that the wearer of the Sutton Hoo Helmet was seen as both war leader and war god, a literal personification of Odin.

This was reinforced by the addition of wafer-thin foils of gold behind the garnets, which were stamped with a cross-hatched pattern, over the right eye causing this eyebrow to sparkle, thus placing emphasis on one eye.

The heavily patterned plates of tinned bronze would also have caught the flickering flames of the fire and appeared to sparkle and move.

‘On the spear side’ means within the realm of men, compare ‘on the spindle side’ within  the realm of women.

I am called Mask

Warriors retainers, fill the mead hall,

Glittering Lord on, carved seat set so tall.

On warrior’s sword, at height of full moon,

The gleaming eyed one, consecrates the rune.

The shifting flames light, the glimmering mask,

Mead cup bearing boys, break open the cask.

Horn of mead passes, from bench to bench,

Boasting of valor, and longing to quench.

The right eye garnets, glitter and glimmer,

Stiff bronze dragon shank, sparkle and shimmer.

Dark hollow eyeholes, in soft shadows deep,

Warriors move round, flames flicker and leap.

The bird soars skyward, and dragon descends,

Bronze boar heads to wings, strong shielding defends.

Figurers of silver, on mask of giver,

Forming in firelight, they shudder and shiver.

Thick billowing smoke, upwards ever drift,

Flickering fire light, faint images shift.

Torn long tunic bard, he weaves riddle craft,

While on the spear side, they down the best draught.

Amid the chatter, and immodest song,

Wæs hæil loudly called, amongst heathen throng.

While slacking the thirst, with ample mead strong,

Much wassailing in, the small hours long.

Copyright Andrew Rea July 2015

The mead halls and the masked ones

Introduction

The Sutton Hoo helmet formed a glittering mask that would have been worn in the mead halls.

The land was divided into a number of kingdoms each with a pyramidal structure of king, earls and thanes. You would have been likely to swear allegiance to one of these lords perhaps in exchange for a gift. Each lord would have provided entertainment within their mead hall. From Beowulf we know that much boasting took place in the halls but this did not always bear true in the field of battle.

This poem explores and laments some of the pitfalls of any such power structure and could also be applied to certain contemporary institutions. The reader is invited to form their own overlay.

The mead halls and the masked ones

Wherefore art my maid, with her linden shield?

Before an aloof lord, she hast now kneeled,

Shield maiden hast gone, to have her oath sealed,

Before the glittering Lord.

Believe the bond of, the sacred mead oath,

Bound in loyalty, love and trust he quoth,

She solemnly said, that melomel troth,

She swore upon her sword.

Oath of love to pass through, that oaken door,

Such magical sights, in mead hall she saw,

Glittering eyed one, that makes all thine law,

Much mead in horn was poured.

Allegiance is as, to darkly enthrall,

We must meet without, of merry mead hall,

As this Lord didst not, me to circle call,

We bow to his accord.

Her fine linden shield, still serves me quite well,

But he who wouldst cast, such a magic spell,

Will not a mead hall, conflict stop or quell,

He will not draw his sword.

But these melomel oaths, do soon wear quite thin,

As mead spell wear off, attack kith and kin,

But still some do not, think this is a sin,

Hast anyone here deplored?

There are those with a need, to take other's power,

Oft with false faces, looking so dour,

Hidden within their, distant tall tower,

Guarding their stolen hoard.

Oaths of love seem bland, in light of morrow,

Other's trust promise, slowly wanes hollow,

A knife in the back, brings many sorrow,

Are we bound by the same accord?

Mead halls together, they serve a great part,

Yet some usurpers, will rip out thy heart,

We see kith and kin, cleave and split apart,

That sly Auld Scrat has scored.

Alas all power, that is so unjust,

Alas the broken oath, of love and trust,

Alas for good work, that withers to dust,

Is this our perfect accord?

Copyright Andrew Rea Midsummer 2015