Against a Wen This charm is supposed to rid a person of a wen, which is the Old English word for a cyst or skin blemish. Against a Dwarf The express purpose of this charm has yet to be decided upon by scholars, but some believe that the dwarf is some sort of disease (perhaps one that involves a fever). Æcerbot This charm, also known as "For Unfruitful Land," is a charm meant to "heal" lands that have yielded poorly. Twelve Metrical Charms survive in Old English, principally in the collection of medical texts known in modern scholarship as Lacnunga (10th to 11th century), but also in Bald's Leechbook (10th century) and as marginal additions in other manuscripts. For example, the Nine Herbs Charm mentions both the Germanic god Woden and Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. While many of these charms do have pagan qualities, Christian influences are regularly observed, with most of the charms including both pagan and Christian characteristics. The medical procedures and herbal remedies in these Anglo-Saxon medical charms are not based on science, but on spiritual qualities. Today, some alternative medical practicioners continue to use herbal remedies, but these are often based on some sort of scientific reasoning. Although most medical texts found from the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon period are translations of Classical texts in Latin, these charms were originally written in Old English. These Anglo-Saxon charms tell a great deal about medieval medical theory and practice. Usually, these charms involve some sort of physical action, including making a medical potion, repeating a certain set of words, or writing a specific set of words on an object. Anglo-Saxon metrical charms were sets of instructions generally written to magically resolve a situation or disease.
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