Merseburg Incantations

E17593

The Merseburg Incantations are a pair of early medieval Germanic pagan charms preserved in a 10th-century manuscript, notable as the only known examples of pre-Christian Old High German magical poetry.

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Observed surface forms (2)


Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Old High German poem
charm
healing charm
literary work
medieval charm
pagan incantation
associatedWith Germanic mythology GENERATED
Old High German literature GENERATED
contains First Merseburg Incantation GENERATED
Second Merseburg Incantation GENERATED
countryOfOrigin Germany GENERATED
culturalContext Germanic GENERATED
dateOfComposition before Christianization of Germanic peoples GENERATED
dateOfManuscript 10th century GENERATED
discoveredBy Georg Waitz GENERATED
discoveryYear 1841 GENERATED
form short poetic text GENERATED
foundIn Merseburg Cathedral library GENERATED
function healing of a horse’s sprained limb GENERATED
release of prisoners GENERATED
genre magical poetry GENERATED
hasTranslation multiple English translations GENERATED
multiple modern German translations GENERATED
influenced modern reconstructions of Germanic pagan practice GENERATED
language Old High German GENERATED
manuscriptLocation Merseburg Cathedral Chapter Library GENERATED
manuscriptShelfmark Codex 136, folio 85r GENERATED
mentionsDeity Balder GENERATED
Frija GENERATED
Phol GENERATED
Sinthgunt GENERATED
Sunna GENERATED
Volla GENERATED
Wodan GENERATED
meter alliterative verse GENERATED
notableAs only known examples of pre-Christian Old High German magical poetry GENERATED
numberOfParts 2 GENERATED
preservedIn 10th-century manuscript GENERATED
region East Francia GENERATED
religiousContext Germanic paganism GENERATED
scholarlyField Germanic philology GENERATED
medieval studies GENERATED
script Carolingian minuscule GENERATED
studiedBy Jacob Grimm GENERATED
theme magical liberation GENERATED
veterinary magic GENERATED
timePeriod early Middle Ages GENERATED
typeOfMagic verbal charm GENERATED
writingSystem Latin alphabet GENERATED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Old High German notableText Merseburg Incantations