A Journey Charm

A Journey Charm is one of the 12 Anglo-Saxon metrical charms dating from around or before the 9th Century, the first written recording of it being recorded in Bald's Leechbook in the 9th Century. It was a spell written to summon protection from God and various other Christian figures from the hazards of the road. A later copy can be found in the Lacnunga, which dates from the around the early 11th century or the late 10th Century. It is of interest because it shows both a side of popular Anglo-Saxon religion and also the result of the merger of Anglo-Saxon religion and Medieval Catholicism.

Content

A Journey Charm was a Speech Act, or a performative incantation, chant or spell that was performed before a journey to ward off evil on the journey A Journey Charm mainly deals with a list of biblical characters, and invoking their blessing, including everyone from Adam to Christ to Peter and Paul. There is still a residual Anglo-Saxon imagery, mixed with the Christian imagery. Luke gives him a sword, Seraphim give him a "glorious spear of radiant good light." and he is well armed, with chain mail and shield too. It is also interesting to note the mixture of the two cultures- while the tone is overtly Christian, it is also explicitly stated to be a spell. The Charm gives us a unique insight into popular religious practices of Anglo-Saxon culture, and the particular rituals prescribed for journeys.

History

Earliest surviving manuscripts with this charm on it date to the 9th Century (through Bald's Leechbook) and in the late 10th or early 11th century (through the Lacnunga). This text is part of the movement from Oral Tradition to a Writing tradition, and so is marked as Transitional Literature- a type of go-between in which oral performances are copied, but some of the performance parts are lost, assumed to be inferred, or hinted at.