The Æcerbot (;

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for "Field-Remedy") is an Anglo-Saxon metrical charm recorded in the 11th century, intended to remedy fields that yielded poorly.Grigsby (2005:96f, 246).

Overview

The charm consists of a partially

Christianized Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

and a day-long ritual that began at night with four sods taken from the field, to the root-mats of which a

poultice A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts. 'Poultice ...

was applied in the form of yeast, honey, oil and milk mixed with parts of all the good herbs that grew, save

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as ''Fagopy ...

and woody plants. In Christian times the sods were taken to mass and returned to the field before nightfall, each with a small cross planted in it. This was the extent to which the ritual was Christianized. Once more in the field, the healer faced the east, where the sun would rise, turning three times clockwise and calling upon the "holy guardian of the heavenly kingdom" to "fill the earth", that the crops would grow. A plough was then anointed with a " hallowed" mix of oil, paste, frankincense, salt and

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

, of which the imported frankincense lent a Christian element; a chant was then sung, beginning '', erce, erce eorþan modor'' ( earth's mother)".Gordon (1962:88-90). The field was then ploughed with a chant hailing "Erce, eorthan modor." The significance of ''erce'' has been the subject of scholarly commentary and speculation. Grimm connected Old High German ''erchan'' "genuine, true".Grimm, ''

Deutsche Mythologie ''Deutsche Mythologie'' (, ''Teutonic Mythology'') is a treatise on Germanic mythology by Jacob Grimm. First published in Germany in 1835, the work is an exhaustive treatment of the subject, tracing the mythology and beliefs of the ancient Germani ...

'' (1935), trans. Stallybrass (1888), chapter 13
Goddesses
"Can there lie disguised in ''erce'' a proper name ''Erce'' gen. ''Ercan'', connected with the OHG. adj. ''ërchan'', ''simplex, genuinus, germanus''? it would surely be more correct to write ''Eorce''? ought it to suggest the lady ''Erche, Herkja, Herche, Helche'' renowned in our heroic legend?"

Kathleen Herbert Kathleen may refer to: People * Kathleen (given name) * Kathleen (singer), Canadian pop singer Places * Kathleen, Alberta, Canada * Kathleen, Georgia, United States * Kathleen, Florida, United States * Kathleen High School (Lakeland, Florida) ...

observes that in the first mention of the Angli,

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

in his '' Germania'', remarks that "the noteworthy characteristic of the English, to foreign eyes, was that they were goddess-worshippers; they looked on the earth as their mother." Herbert links Tacitus' mention of the Angli to the later English "Æcerbot". Herbert comments that while "Æcerbot" is referred to as a charm, it is in fact a "full-scale ritual" that would take an entire day to perform, plus additional time for collecting and preparing the materials necessary.Herbert (2007:13).

External links

Text
* This charm is edited, annotated and linked to digital images of its manuscript pages, with translation, in the ''Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project'': https://oepoetryfacsimile.org/

Notes

References

*Grigsby, John (2005). ''Beowulf & Grendel: The Truth Behind England's Oldest Legend''. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. * Gordon, R. K. (1962). ''Anglo-Saxon Poetry''. Everyman's Library #794. M. Dent & Sons, LTD. *Herbert, Kathleen (2007). ''Looking for the Lost Gods of England''. Anglo-Saxon Books. *Hill, Thomas D., “The Æcerbot Charm and its Christian User,” ''Anglo-Saxon England'' 6 (1977), 213-21 *Jolly, Karen, ''Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms in Context''. University of North Carolina Press, 1996 *Niles, John D., “The Æcerbot Ritual in Context,” in ''Old English Literature in Context: Ten Essays'', ed. John D. Niles (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1980), pp. 44-56 *Rosenberg, Bruce A., “The Meaning of Æcerbot,” ''Journal of American Folklore'' 79 (1966), 428-436

Overview

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Further reading