Text over time : the written word in English charm before 1350
After the Norman Conquest, many of the charms that had circulated in Anglo-Saxon England disappeared from the written record, while new charming tech-niques emerged. Among the most striking changes was a sudden increase in the proportion of charms using written words. This paper explores this post-C...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.folklore.ee/incantatio https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143613 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | After the Norman Conquest, many of the charms that had circulated in Anglo-Saxon England disappeared from the written record, while new charming tech-niques emerged. Among the most striking changes was a sudden increase in the proportion of charms using written words. This paper explores this post-Conquest change in the use of charms by examining examples preserved in manuscripts written or owned in England from the Anglo-Saxon period to 1350. It begins by arguing that in Anglo-Saxon England different types of words were used to treat different kinds of illness or injury. Turning to the post-Conquest period, it identifies not only an increase in the proportionate use of written charms, but also emerging interest in the idea of textuality. |
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