Wið færstice

"Wið færstice" is an Old English medical text surviving in the collection known now as Lacnunga in the British Library. "Wið
færstice" means 'against a sudden/violent stabbing pain'; and according to Felix Grendon, whose collection of Anglo-Saxon
charms appeared in the Journal of American Folklore in 1908, “the charm is intended to cure a sudden twinge or stitch, possibly
rheumatism that can be due to being shot by witches, elves, and other spirits that fly through the air.” Scholars have often sought
to identify this as rheumatism, but other possibilities should not be excluded. The remedy describes how to make a salve, but its
main interest lies in the unique charm which follows. This describes how the færstice has been caused by the projectiles of
'mighty women' (ða mihtigan wif), whom the healer will combat. The charm also mentions elves, believed responsible for elfshot,
and provides the only attestation outside personal names of the Old English form of the name of the Old Norse gods, the Æsir.

As with many old Anglo-Saxon charms, it is presumed that physical gestures were intended to accompany the recitation of the
text. In this case, the "Wið færstice" is intended to be accompanied by boiling feverfew, red nettle grown in grain, and plantain,
then boiling it all in a bowl of butter. A knife is dipped into the potion and then rubbed against the source of pain. Despite the
popular use of the aforementioned herbs in forms of remedial healing, it is important to note that the usage of these plants may
have been more symbolic than practical. Many old Anglo-Saxon charms draw upon the symbolism of both pagan traditions as
well as ancient Christian traditions, and the usage of plants in the texts were likely related to these religious references.

Contents
Content
Date
Interpretation
Medical perspective
Supernatural elements
Parallels and analogues
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
Further reading

Content
The first seventeen lines of the "Wið færstice" have been referred to as its "epic introduction".[1] Howell D. Chickering Junior
expressed the view that there "probably is no epic or mythic narrative" behind this introductory section, instead arguing that it
should be seen as "a dramatic verbal performance".[2] As edited and translated by Alaric Hall, the text runs:

Hlūde wǣran hȳ lā hlūde ðā hȳ ofer
þone hlǣw ridan
wǣran ānmōde ðā hȳ ofer land ridan
scyld ðū ðē nū þū ðysne nīð
genesan mōte
ūt lȳtel spere gif hēr inne sīe
stōd under linde under lēohtum
They were loud, yes, loud, when they rode over the (burial)
mound;
they were fierce when they rode across the land.
Shield yourself now, you can survive this strife.
Out, little spear, if there is one here within.
It stood under/behind lime-wood (i.e. a shield), under a light-
coloured/light-weight shield,
 scylde where those mighty women marshalled their powers,
þǣr ðā mihtigan wīf hyra mægen and ?they sent shrieking spears.
berǣddon I will send another back,
⁊ hȳ gyllende gāras sændan a flying arrow ahead in opposition.
ic him ōðerne eft wille sændan Out, little spear, if it is here within.
flēogende flāne forane tōgēanes A craftsman sat, forged a knife/knives;
ūt lȳtel spere gif hit hēr inne sȳ · ?small as swords go, violent the wound.
sæt smið slōh seax Out, little spear, if it should be here within.
lȳtel īserna wund swīðe Six craftsmen sat, wrought slaughter-spears.
ūt lȳtel spere gif hēr inne sȳ Be out, spear, not in, spear.
syx smiðas sǣtan wælspera If there is here within a piece of iron/swords,
worhtan the work/deed of hægtessan, it must melt.
ūt spere næs in spere If you were shot/pained in the skin or were shot/pained in the
gif hēr inne sȳ īsenes dǣl flesh,
hægtessan geweorc hit sceal or were shot/pained in the blood,
gemyltan or were shot/pained in the limb (?joint), may your life never be
gif ðū wǣre on fell scoten oððe harmed.
wǣre on flǣsc scoten If it was the shot/pain of ēse or it was the shot/pain of ælfe
oððe wǣre on blōd scoten or it was the shot/pain of hægtessan, now I want to (?will) help
oððe wǣre on lið scoten nǣfre ne you.
sȳ ðīn līf ātǣsed This for you as a remedy for the shot/pain of ēse; this for you as
gif hit wǣre ēsa gescot oððe hit a remedy for the shot/pain of ælfe,
wǣre ylfa gescot this for you as a remedy for the shot/pain of hægtessan; I will
oððe hit wǣre hægtessan gescot nū help you.
ic wille ðīn helpan Fly around there on the mountain top.
þis ðē tō bōte ēsa gescotes ðis ðē tō Be healthy, may the Lord help you.
bōte ylfa gescotes Then take the knife; put it in (the) liquid.[3]
ðis ðē tō bōte hægtessan gescotes ic
ðīn wille helpan
flēo [?MS fled] þǣr on fyrgenhǣfde
hāl westū helpe ðīn drihten
nim þonne þæt seax ādō on wǣtan ·

Date
The age of "Wið færstice" has been hard to judge.[4] Considering all of the available evidence, Medieval literature specialist
Alaric Hall deemed it probable that the charm was a "cultural artefact" from the late tenth century.[5]

Interpretation
Early examinations of the Anglo-Saxon poetic charms
were largely focused on determining which elements
within them derived from the pre-Christian belief systems
of the Anglo-Saxons.[7] Accordingly, attention was paid
to "Wið færstice", which was deemed to be "one of the
three or four charms apparently richest in pagan
references."[7] With the exception of the closing
"Scholars have debated issues of interpretation for
decades, usually proceeding from the assumption that the
charm rehearses one or more themes from mythology. Is
the smith Weland? Are the mighty women valkyries or
witches? Are the loud riders valkyries or the Wild Hunt?"
— Stephen Pollington, 2000.[6]
benediction, the charm lacks any obvious Christian
references,[8] with Jolly accordingly believing that from modern understandings of Christianity, it would seem "overwhelmingly
not Christian".[8] She however cautioned against viewing it as either non-Christian on the one hand, or as pagan on the other.[9]
She highlighted that the presumed pagan elements within it all reflected "areligious folklore, transferable from one religious
tradition to another", while it was produced by people living in Late Anglo-Saxon England who would have considered
themselves to be Christian and who felt no need to highly Christianise it.[9]

Medical perspective
It is not known what medical symptom the Old English term færstice refers to in this charm.[10] Several scholars to have studied
the charm, such as Godfrid Storms and Howell D. Chickering Jr., expressed the view that it referred to rheumatism.[11] Although
noting that prior interpretations of the charm had suggested that the færstice referred to rheumatism or lumbago, the Anglo-
Saxonist Stephen Pollington opined that there were "no compelling reasons" to accept either explanation, instead expressing the
view that it should be regarded as a reference to "any sharp, unexpected pain".[6]

Supernatural elements
Hall was of the view that "Wið færstice" "constructs a strong distinction between in-group (the patient and healer) and harmful
out-group (the supernatural beings)."[12]

Hall expressed the view that the poem "provides a key to interpreting the cultural significance of ælfe in medieval texts".[13]
Given his argument that in "earlier Anglo-Saxon beliefs", ælfe were "probably primarily or only male", he considered it
interesting that in this charm they are cited alongside the female hægtessan.[13]

Parallels and analogues

Hall identified an earlier parallel in Aldhelm's poetic Carmen de virginitate, specifically the passage in lines 2635–42 in which he
describes Allecto, one of the Furiae of Classical mythology.[14] In this passage, Allecto is described as bringing "iron-tipped
spears to battle, which would cause jagged wounds to holy souls".[14] Hall noted that this use of iron-tipped spears could not have
been adopted straight from Classical sources, where Allecto and the Furies cause harm using snakes rather than spears.[14]
Rather, he compared the use of the Furies' spears to the spears of the hægtesse in "Wið færstice", bolstering this connection by
noting that in the eighth century Third Cleopatra Glossary, the Latin word furiarum is given the Old English gloss of
hægtessa.[15]

Hall also argued that there was a "remarkable parallel" between "Wið færstice" and the accounts of magical practices provided by
Isobel Gowdie, a Scottish woman accused of witchcraft in 1662, during her confessions.[16] Gowdie claimed that she rode
through the air on straw with her fellow witches, firing "elf-arrows" at her victims; these had been acquired from the Devil, who
had been aided in their creation by "Elf-boyes". Hall stated that this exhibited a general similarity to the account provided in "Wið
færstice".[16] He also thought there were parallels between the two accounts in terms of their use of smiths; in both, one smith
(the Devil in Gowdie's account) is part of a wider group of smiths.[16] While acknowledging "the great gap of time" – lasting
around seven centuries – between the two accounts, Hall noted that "charm-texts and related traditions" could be transmitted
across this gap of time, citing the example of the Second Merseburg Charm as an example.[16]

References

Footnotes
1. Chickering Jr. 1971, p. 85. 2. Chickering Jr. 1971, pp. 86–87.
 3. Hall 2007, 2–3. 10. Hall 2007, p. 110.
4. Hall 2007, p. 109. 11. Storms 1948, p. 145; Chickering Jr. 1971, p. 83.
5. Hall 2007, pp. 109–110. 12. Hall 2007, p. 116.
6. Pollington 2000, p. 474. 13. Hall 2007, p. 108.
7. Chickering Jr. 1971, p. 83. 14. Hall 2007, p. 111.
8. Jolly 1996, p. 139. 15. Hall 2007, pp. 111–112.
9. Jolly 1996, p. 140. 16. Hall 2007, p. 114.

Bibliography
Bredehoft, Thomas A. (2004). "Ælfric and Late Old English Verse". Anglo-Saxon England. 33:
77–107.

Chickering Jr., Howell D. (1971). "The Literary Magic of Wið Færstice". Viator. 2: 83–104.
doi:10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.301685 (https://doi.org/10.1484%2FJ.VIATOR.2.301685).

Doskow, Minna (1976). "Poetic Structure and the Problem of the Smiths in Wið Færstice".
Papers on Language and Literature. 12: 321–326.

Hall, Alaric (2007). Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and
Identity (http://libgen.io/book/index.php?md5=E70B0348D29416DC89B8FD0704948EB
A). Anglo-Saxon Studies, 8. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-509-7.

Hauer, Stanley R. (1977–78). "Structure and Unity in the Old English Charm Wið Færstice".
English Language Notes. 15: 250–257.

Jolly, Karen Louise (1996). Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms in Context.
Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4565-5.

Pollington, Stephen (2000). Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plantlore and Healing. Anglo-
Saxon Books. ISBN 978-1-898281-47-4.

Richardson, John (2001). "Hlude woeran hy: Syncretic Christianity in the Old English charm
Wio Foerstice". Mankind Quarterly. 42: 21–45.

Storms, Godfrid (1948). Anglo-Saxon Magic. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.

Further reading
Hall, Alaric, 'The Meanings of Elf and Elves in Medieval England' (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Glasgow,
2004), pp. 10–12
Pettit, E. (2001). Anglo-Saxon Remedies, Charms, and Prayers from British Library MS Harley 585: The
‘Lacnunga’, 2 vols., Lewiston and Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press.
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2009. 40-42. Print
Cameron, M. L. “Anglo-Saxon Medicine and Magic.” Anglo-Saxon England. 1988. 191-215.
Cameron, M.L. "Anglo-Saxon Medicine." Cambridge University Press. 1993.
McGillivray, Murray. “Metrical Charm 4: To Stop a Stabbing Pain (“For a Sudden Stitch”).” Online Corpus of Old
English Poetry. 12/12/07.

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