"For a Swarm of Bees" is an

Anglo-Saxon metrical charm Anglo-Saxon metrical charms were sets of instructions generally written to magically resolve a situation or disease. Usually, these charms involve some sort of physical action, including making a medical potion, repeating a certain set of words, or ...

that was intended for use in keeping

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

s from swarming. The text was discovered by

John Mitchell Kemble John Mitchell Kemble (2 April 1807 – 26 March 1857), English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor and Maria Theresa Kemble. He is known for his major contribution to the history of the Anglo-Saxons and philolog ...

in the 19th century. The charm is named for its opening words, "'", meaning "against (or towards) a swarm of bees". In the most often studied portion, towards the end of the text where the charm itself is located, the bees are referred to as ', "victory-women". The word has been associated by Kemble, Jacob Grimm, and other scholars with the notion of

valkyries In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:3 ...

(Old English '), and " shield maidens", hosts of female beings attested in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

and, to a lesser extent, Old English sources, similar to or identical with the Idise of the

Merseburg Incantations The Merseburg charms or Merseburg incantations (german: die Merseburger Zaubersprüche) are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic pagan belief preserved in the ...

. Some scholars have theorized the compound to be a simple metaphor for the "victorious sword" (the stinging) of the bees.

In 1909, the scholar Felix Grendon recorded what he saw as similarities between the charm and the

Lorsch Bee Blessing The Lorsch Bee Blessing (German: ''Lorscher Bienensegen'') is a bee-keeping prayer intended to bring home honey bees in good health to their hives. It is believed to have been written in the 9th century, and was discovered in a manuscript (on fol ...

, a manuscript portion of the

Lorsch Codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwritten in Carol ...

, from the monastery in

Lorsch Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Geography Location Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...

, Germany. Grendon suggested that the two could possibly have a common origin in pre-Christian Germanic culture.

Charm text

Settle down, victory-women, sink to earth,
never be wild and fly to the woods.
Be as mindful of my welfare,
as is each man of border and of home.

Notes

References

Editions

* Foys, Martin ''et al.'
''Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project''
(Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019-); digital facsimile edition and Modern English translation

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:For A Swarm Of Bees Anglo-Saxon metrical charms Beekeeping Occult texts