As a minor genre of folklore, verbal charms have often been forgotten in scholarship.
However, during the last decade both oral and written charms have become a lively field
of interdisciplinary studies. The present volume can be considered as the third one in
the series, started by Jonathan Roper, who has edited both
The common core of many European charms is clearly demonstrated by Edina Bozóky in her
article on medieval narrative charms. Two essays in the book discuss the early history
of scholarship, when national folklore studies were established in many countries. In
Norway a monumental edition of verbal magic was published in 1901-1902 by Christian
Bang, whose work is discussed in an article by Arne Bugge Amundsen. In Scotland a set of
six volumes of Gaelic charms was published during the period 1900-1971, prepared by
Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912), whose collecting and editorial practices (often
including “improvements” of recorded texts) have been studied by Domhnall Uilleam
Stiùbhart. Several essays in the book address multiple functions of charms in different
ethnic traditions. Thus, Maarit Viljakainen has studied the image of the Virgin Mary in
Finnish and Karelian birth incantations. Francesco Vaz da Silva has analyzed Portuguese
moon charms to protect small children and the roots of these charms in pre-Christian
magic. Emanuela Timotin has discussed Romanian charms against headache, supposedly
caused by a demon (
A whole set of articles discusses the role of Christianity and clerical traditions in
practices of verbal magic. Thus, Vilmos Voigt, who has studied the historical
development of Hungarian charms and charm terminology in Hungarian, has shown that their
roots are in European and Christian benedictions and maledictions. Éva Pócs has explored
the Christianization of the practices of Hungarian village healers and magicians as they
have made use of priestly rituals, benedictions, and exorcisms. Dániel Bárth in his
article has studied the role of Franciscan, Jesuit, and Benedictine orders in
eighteenth-century Hungary in spreading ecclesiastic benedictions among the people. Lea
Olsan has offered an extensive and many-sided overview of charms in English manuscripts
from the tenth to the sixteenth century. She has studied the relationship of charms to
other expressive forms, such as prayers, medical recipes, and
Most authors in this volume rely on historical, comparative, and philological methods, and illustrate their articles with rich sets of examples. The book is focused on verbal charms but shows that they cannot be understood as isolated phenomena because of their close relationships with benedictions, prayers, religious legends, recipes, and other genres. Charms are also embedded in their historical and cultural contexts, dominant belief systems, and the social needs of the people who carry them. Many articles offer insights into connections between literary and oral traditions and the mutual interdependence of vernacular and institutional forms of Christianity. Charms in their regional diversity appear as an integral part of the common cultural heritage of Europe. The book also shows the historical continuity of magic in Europe from Hellenism and pre-Christian traditions through the Middle Ages to the early modern and contemporary period. As a substantial contribution to the scholarship on verbal charms, the book could be of great interest to folklorists, ethnologists, anthropologists, medievalists, historians of religion, scholars of cultural history, and anybody who would like to gain new knowledge about magic in Europe.
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[Review length: 773 words • Review posted on March 5, 2014]