Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

L.M.C. Weston. "The Language of Magic in Two Old English Metrical Charms." Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 86:176-86.

Discusses the interrelationship of the poetics of Wi Færstice and the Nine Herbs Charms and their magical purpose, addressing specifically their functional aesthetics which, through the use of rhythm, paradigmatic repetition, and fragmentation of action, combines ritual and poetry in such a manner as to alter the consciousness of the participants to produce a type of magical thought which "triggers changes in the healer, who with increased force of will causes changes in the physical world by non-physical means" (186).
Area: OE