Charm Against a Wen1
(Indeterminate Saxon)
Wenne, wenne,
wenchichenne,
wen, wen, oh little wen
hēr ne scealt þū timbrien2,
here not shall you build
ne nēnne tūn3 habben,
no none residence have
ac þū scealt north eonene4
but you shall north yonder
tō þān nīhgan5 berhge,
to the near mountains
þēr þū hauest, ermig6,
ēnne brōþer.
for there have (you) you wretched thing, a brother
Hē þē sceal legge
He who shall lay
lēaf et hēafde.
leaf at (your) head
Under fōt wolues,
under foot of wolf
under ueþer7 earnes8,
under feather of eagle
under earnes clēa,
under eagles claw
ā þū geweornie.
ever you wane
Clinge9 þū
clump you
alswā col ōn heorþe,
just as coal on earth
scring10 þū
shrivel you
alswā scerne awāge11,
just as filth on a wall
an Old English term for a cyst or skin blemish
weak verb (i) timbran - build, wk. verb (ii) (ge)timbrian - build, construct. Survives in modern
English timber, German Zimmer
3
masc. a-stem
4
geond - yonder, thither, geon "yon"
5
nēah - near
6
earm - a poor, wretched, unhappy, miserable person
7
southern variant of "feather" < Gmc. *fethro: < *petra: (cf. Gk. pterón 'wing')
8
masc a-stem
9
weak verb (iii) - clingan - to stick together, shrink, wither
10
weak verb (iii) - scringan / scrincan - to whither away, dry up, shrivel
11
wāg - wall
1
2
and weorne12
alswā weter on anbre13.
and decline (evaporate) just as water in a pail / bucket / container
Swā litel þu gewurþe
As little you become
and miccli lēsse
and much less
alswā līnsētcorn,
just as linseed corn
alswā ānes handwurmes hupebān,
just as a hand-worm's hipbone
and alswā litel þū gewurþe þet þū nāwiht gewurþe.
and just as little you become that you nothing become
weornan / wiernan - withhold, be sparing of, deny, refuse, reject, decline; forbid, prevent from
form of amber/omber (-or), mod. "amber" (OED, latest attestation 1872). Grimm derived it
from ān- + ber- 'one/single-carry', i.e. a vessel with one handle (cf. Gk. amphoreus 'vessel with
handles on both sides' < amphi 'both' + pher-/phor- 'carry'). Although this is somewhat tempting,
Anna Feulner (Die griechischen Lehnwörter im Altenglischen (Peter Lang, 2000), p. 68ff.) takes
it as a loanword from Gk. via Lat. amphora, Vulg. Lat. ampora.
12
13