Edited & Translated by K. A. Laity
The following verses come from an Anglo-Saxon manuscript (MS Cotton Caligula A vii) dating from the late tenth century England. They form part of an elaborate charm to return fruitfulness to a barren land. The name “Erce” does not occur anywhere else in the body of Anglo-Saxon poetry, so we know nothing more of this goddess.
A number of charms with similarly
pagan attributes appear in other medieval manuscripts, even though most
of the texts were recorded by monks. Unlike many modern Christians,
these monks did not seem to feel a need to deny their pagan past.
Sometimes pieces of the rituals are Christianized; for example, one may
be instructed to repeat the Pater Noster nine times before facing the east
and chanting the next pagan verse.
| Erce,
Erce, Erce,
eorþan modor. Geunne þe se alwalda, ece drihten æcera wexendra and wridendra, eacniendra and elniendra, sceafta hehra, scirra wæstma, and þæra bradan berewæstma, and þæra hwitan hwætewæstma, and ealra eorþan wæstma. Geunne him, ece drihten, (and his halige þe on heofonum synt), þæt hys yrþ si gefriþod wið ealra feonda gehwæne, and heo si geborgen wið ealra bealwa gehwylc, þara lyblaca geond land sawen. Nu ic bidde ðone waldend se ðe ðas woruld gesceop, þæt ne sy nan to þæs cwidol wif, ne to þæs cræftig man þæt awendan ne mæge word þus gecwedene. Hal wes þu, folde,
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Erce,
Erce, Erce,
Earthen Mother. May the all-powerful, eternal ruler grant thee acres fruitful and flourishing, increasing and strengthening, in high condition, in bright abundance, and the broad barleycrops, and the white corncrops, and all earthly abundance. Grant to him, eternal ruler (and his holy ones who in heaven are), that his ploughing be protected against any and all enemies and it be guarded against each and every evil, against those spells sown through the land. Now I bid the ruler who shaped this world, that neither the conjuring woman nor the cunning man should make any changes to the words thus spoken. Hale be you, earth,
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