Charms and Charming in Europe

by J. Roper (Editor)

Overview

Historical records of charms, the verbal element of vernacular magic, date back at least as far as the late middle ages, and charming has continued to be practiced until recently in most parts of Europe. And yet, the topic has received only scattered scholarly attention to date. By bringing together many of the leading authorities on charms and charming from Europe and North America, this book aims to rectify this neglect, and by presenting discussions covering a variety of periods and of locations - from Finland to France, and from Hungary to England - it forms an essential reader on the topic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403939258
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/12/2004
Edition description:	2004
Pages:	233
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

OWEN DAVIES Lecturer in History, University of Hertfordshire, UK DAVID ELTON GAY Lecturer in Folklore, School of Continuing Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA SANDA GOLOPENTIA Professor of French Studies, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA HENNI ILOMAKI Chief Librarian of the Finnish Literature Society, Finland LEA T. OLSAN Professor Emerita of English, University of Louisiana at Monroe, USA EVA POCS Associate Professor, Janus Pannonius University, Pécs, Hungary W. F. RYAN Former Librarian of the Warburg Institute, Professor of Russian Studies and author T. M. SMALLWOOD Researcher ULRIKA WOLF-KNUTS Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

Table of Contents

Introduction; J.Roper PART I: ISSUES IN CHARMS AND CHARMING The Transmission of Charms in English, Medieval and Modern; T.M.Smallwood On the Christianity of Incantations; D.E.Gay Typologising English and European Charms; J.Roper Towards a Pragmatic Typology of Love Charms; S.Golopentia The Self of a Charm; H.Ilomaki Charms in Medieval Memory; L.T.Olsan PART II: NATIONAL TRADITIONS French Healing Charms and Charmers from an English Perspective; O.Davies Eclecticism in the Russian Charm Tradition; W.F.Ryan Swedish Finn Incantations; U.Wolf-Knuts Evil Eye in Hungary: Belief, Ritual, Incantations; E.Pocs

Editorial Reviews

'[A] thought-provoking history of charms from the medieval period.' - Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature

'Anybody interested in traditional popular culture will welcome the fact that scholars from both Europe and North America are turning increasingly to the systematic analysis of verbal charms, including not merely their texts but their transmission, and the available evidence about the charmers who used them ... This book is an excellent and stimulating contribution to what will, hopefully, become a growing field of study." - Jacqueline Simpson, Folklore

'In a time when 'folklore' is almost as demeaning a word in Britain as it is in France, and when universities remand the study of situated social intercommunication to their psychologists and sociologists, Jonathan Roper acts as if the subject were as vital in his country as it is to American folklorists. ... Roper, nevertheless believing in the enduring interest of British folklore, has uncovered a new genre within it: charms. It's not a genre that's been absent from people's lives or beliefs, but it is new to folklorists. He has gathered philologists, literary and religious scholars, historians, ethnographers, even videographers into a new circle to study it.' - Lee Haring, Western Folklore

'This little collection offers the best and most accessible picture of the context of magical spells - whether in oral or textual transmission, whether to bind or to heal, whether Christian or hybrid. The authors are folklorists, historians, and manuscript specialists, and they show a pronounced sensitivity to the cultural and performative realities of spell-casting. At the same time, while rarely basing their theoretical positions explicitly in anthropological classics like Malinowski and Tambiah, the authors show a remarkable sophistication in handling the materials and social worlds of magic - perhaps because they focus on "charms and charming" rather than "magic and religion."' - David Frankfurter, Numen

From the Publisher