Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees
Die Autoren untersuchen die Runen-Inschriften auf Amuletten und
anderen Objekten, Übersetzen die Texte soweit möglich und versuchen
zu deuten, ob die Inschriften „magischen“ oder profanen Charakters
sind.
The runic alphabet, in use for well over a thousand years, was
employed by various Germanic groups in a variety of ways,
including, inevitably, for superstitious and magical rites.
Formulaic runic words were inscribed onto small items that could be
carried for good luck; runic charms were carved on metal or wooden
amulets to ensure peace or prosperity. There are invocations and
allusions to pagan and Christian gods and heroes, to spirits of
disease, and even to potential lovers. Few such texts are
completely unique to Germanic society, and in fact, most of the
runic amulets considered in this book show wide-ranging parallels
from a variety of European cultures.
The question ofwhether runes were magical or not has divided
scholarship in the area. Early criticism embraced fantastic notions
of runic magic - leading not just to a healthy scepticism, but in
some cases to a complete denial of any magical element whatsoever
in the runic inscriptions. This book seeks to re-evaulate the whole
question of runic sorcery, attested to not only in the medieval
Norse literature dealing with runes but primarily in the
fascinating magical texts of the runic inscriptions
themselves.
16x24 cm, geb., 288 Seiten, einige Zeichnungen., englischer
Text
Best.-Nr. Bb029
