¹ Die altgermanische Dichtung, Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft, ed. O. Wälzel (Berlin, 1923), p. 140.

² “The Song of Deor,” MP, ix (1911), 23.

³ Doctrine and Poetry, Augustine's Influence on Old English Poetry (New York, 1959), p. 236.

⁴ The Development of Germanic Verse Form (Austin, Texas, 1956), p. 26.

⁵ Die altenglische Elegie (Strassburg, 1915), p. 163.

⁶ Leonard Forster, in “Die Assoziation in Deors Klage,” Anglia, lxi (1937), 117–121, stresses the attempt of the speaker in the poem to surmount personal suffering through amalgamation with the sufferings of other, more notable, sufferers. E. E. Wardale (Chapters on Old English Literature, London, 1935, pp. 29–30) sees a “fatalistic acquiescence” in the poem. P. J. Frankis, in a very recent and interesting article, “Deor and Wulf and Eadwacer: Some Conjectures,” Medium Ævum, xxxi (1962), 171, takes a similar stoic interpretation of the poem. George Anderson (The Literature of the Anglo-Saxons, Princeton, 1949, p. 155) says the poem purports to be the utterance of a cast-off bard “who is consoling himself by comparing his misfortunes with the greater woes of legendary and historical heroes, heroines and nations.”

⁷ These stanzas of unequal length stimulated nineteenth-century “emenders” especially Müllenhoff to equalize ruthlessly the strophes. Needless to say, modern scholars eschew preconceived standards of this sort as justification for emendations or changes in the text and for branding lines as interpolations. It is furthermore true that the earliest preserved refrains do not divide poems into equal strophes at all. Catullus' poems #61 and 62 and the Pervigilium Veneris all have refrains occurring at irregular positions. (I owe these references and those in nn. 34 and 35 below to my colleagues Professors Zeph Stewart and J. P. Elder). The notion of stanzas of equal length divided by refrains is of the later Middle Ages. Some, like Professor Kemp Malone, favor a seven stanza division, with ll. 28–42 (the portion from the end of the second-to-last refrain to the end of the poem) divided into ll. 28–34 and 35–42. See his valuable edition of Deor, Methuen's Old English Library (London, 1933, later editions 1949 and 1961), p. 17.

⁸ The most notable is the OE charm “WiÐ færstice” where the refrain “ut, lytel spere, gif her inne sie!” is found. Ed. G. Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic (The Hague, 1948), pp. 140 ff. See below p. 540.

⁹ Most recently by A. C. Bouman, “Leodum is minum: Beadohild's Complaint,” reprinted from Neophilologus, xxxiii, in Patterns in Old English and Old Icelandic Literature, Leidse Germanistische en Anglistische Reeks i (Leiden, 1962), pp. 95–106, and by Frankis (see n. 6 above). See also Kenneth Sisam, “The Arrangement of the Exeter Book,” Studies in the History of Old English Literature (Oxford, 1953), p. 292. There are even occasional refrains—perhaps repetitions would be a better word—in ON poems.

¹⁰ The ties, of course, would be due to a common ancestry among Germanic poetic procedures or possibly due to a common but independent borrowing from Old Irish literature. Henry Sweet in his “Sketch of the History of Anglo-Saxon Poetry” in the 1871 edition of Thomas Warton's History of English Poetry ... edited by W. Carew Hazlitt, II, p. 8, pointed to Old Norse heroic lyrics as parallel in some regard to Deor. See also W. W. Lawrence, “The First Riddle of Cynewulf,” PMLA, xvii (1902), 254–255, and Sieper (n. 5 above), p. 162, and Frankis, op. cit., p. 165.

There have been some attempts to find parallels of content between some of these ON heroic lyrics and Deor (e.g., Bertha S. Phillpotts, Edda and Saga, The Home University Library, London, 1931, p. 66), but because of the universality of misfortune, these parallels are singularly unconvincing.

¹¹ Various Latin parallels with or even sources of Deor have been suggested. See Sieper (n. 5 above), p. 64 (“Commendationes animae” of liturgy), and Rudolf Imelmann, Forschungen sur altenglischen Poesie (Berlin, 1920), pp. 229 ff. (Ovid's Heroides, espec. xviii and xix [cf. Helga Reuschel, “Ovid und die Ags. Elegien,” PBB, lxii (1938), 132–142], Virgil's Eclogues viii and ix and Alcuin's elegy De cuculo, etc.). Most of the similarities come down to the use of parallel clause structures (which incidentally can also be found in the Psalms), or of comparisons or of the general topic of consolation for misfortune. Influence is most problematical.

¹² My debt to Lawrence's fine article (see n. 2 above) on Deor in the interpretation of the last stanza of the poem is great in spite of his calling the poem a consolatio philosophiæ of minstrelsy.

¹³ In the Glossary (p. 34) to his edition (see n. 7 above) Professor Malone (p. 1) translates the refrain as “that passed; this will pass too.”

¹⁴ I suppose “may” in the neutral sense of “introducing a hypothetical situation in future time” (Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie, Beowulf and Judith, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records IV, New York, 1953, p. lii) could be used to translate “mæg,” but this translation would be misleading unless the reader is expressly cautioned. Above all, it is not necessary to be so dangerously misleading when “can” is available.

¹⁵ Frankis, op. cit., p. 171, n. 29, suggests “þæs ofereode” could mean “a time has passed since then.”

Lawrence later does translate the line “That passed over; this likewise may,” avoiding personal subjects but using “may.” Wardale (see n. 6 above), p. 33, translates the refrain as “The sorrow of that passed; so may the sorrow of this.” M. G. Clarke, Sidelights on Teutonic History During the Migration Period Being Studied from Beowulf and other Old English Poems (Cambridge, Eng., 1911), p. 7, translates the refrain as “That came to an end, this may likewise.” Bruce Dickins (Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge, Eng., 1915) offers “That was surmounted; so can this.” “Surmounted” suggests an effort of the individual will. All these and many others are what Professor Malone calls “a formula of consolation” (“On Deor 14–17,” MP, xl, 1942, 2). Theodor Grienberger (“Deor,” Anglia, xlv, 1921, 397–399) will, however, have none of these translations, but assuming an elliptical ic secgan in the second part of the refrain, translates the line as “I can give information about that which has happened” and removes the whole poem from the category of consolations (or even of charms) by merely assuming the poet is referring to his command of his art. This suggestion has met with no favorable response and requires an unusual ellipsis in view of the fact that the first person does not appear in the poem until the last stanza.

¹⁶ This passage is a notorious crux. MæÐhild and Geat were probably a well-known pair of lovers, and their story may be preserved in some modern Scandinavian ballads as Professor Malone has argued (in ELH, iii, 1936, 253–256, English Studies, xix, 1937, 193–199, and MP, xl, 1942, 1–18). This thesis has been attacked by F. Norman in MLR, xxxii (1937), 374–381, and London Mediæval Studies, i (1937–39), 165–178. See also L. Whitbread, “The Third Section of Deor,” MP, xxxviii (1941), 371–384, for a history of some of the speculations on these lines.

¹⁷ What exactly this alludes to is not yet clear. Theodoric may be the Goth (Dietrich von Bern) or the Frankish king of that name. The city of the Mærings is a crux; if Theodoric is the Goth it may well be Ravenna, although why it should bear this name is not known. The question also is what misfortune is being alluded to, although the general picture of Theodoric among the Anglo-Saxons was that of a tyrant. The implication, at least, is that his reign was a misfortune to his subjects, notably Boethius. For a recent argument, see Frankis (see n. 6 above), pp. 162 ff. Professor Malone argues for Theodoric the Frank. See his edition (1949), pp. 9–13; “The Theodoric of the Rök Inscription,” Acta Philologica Scandinavica, ix (1934), 76–84, and “Widsith, Beowulf and Brávellir,” Festgabe für L. L. Hammerich, aus Anlass seines siebzigsten Geburtstags, Naturmetodens Sproginstitut (Copenhagen, 1962), pp. 161–167.

¹⁸ Frankis, op. cit., argues that the misfortune is cryptically contained in the five misfortunes and refers to the elopement of Deor with the daughter of his lord, a story which appears in somewhat different form in ON and MHG versions concerning Hjarrandi, HeÐinn, and Hild daughter of Hogni (to give the characters their ON names). This may be the case (my own argument does not depend in any way on the exact nature of Deor's misfortune), although this theory assumes a great deal of exact knowledge in the audience, an extremely allusive method of OE poetic composition (unparalleled in its complexity), and an ignoring of the fact that Deor complains only of his loss of “landright” because of the superior poetic ability of a rival. Frankis also seems to forget that the misfortune has passed.

¹⁹ Professor J. B. Bessinger (to whom I am indebted for some suggestions incorporated into this paper) has suggested that the ME “Love in Spring” from MS. Harley 2253 (printed most recently in Bruce Dickins and R. M. Wilson, Early Middle English Texts, New York, 1951, p. 123) may also have been influenced by the charm form and that the last line “On wham þat hit ys on ylong” may be a refrain with at least a relative pronoun “demanding a reference.” Inasmuch as this line does not recur in the poem, I cannot regard it as a refrain in the commonly accepted meaning of the term. Emily Doris Grubl claims that the last refrain of Deor is meaningless and that the poet used it mechanically at the end. See her Studien zu den angelsächsischen Elegien (Marburg, 1948), p. 116.

²⁰ See n. 2 above. This interpretation has also been supported by Heusler (n. 1 above), p. 140, and Malone in his edition of the poem, p. 17.

²¹ The word charm is also used loosely to indicate any piece of literature which has a practical purpose of any sort and which rests upon a pseudo-scientific, magical, or religious base. A medical prescription or an address to plants to remind them of their powers (as in the famous OE Nigon wyrta galdor, ed. G. Storms [see next note], pp. 186 ff.) are often called charms. Certain types of prayer may also be called charms.

²² The literature on charms is extensive. There is much similarity in their form in all countries of the world. For a recent general treatment of the subject (with emphasis on Germanic charms), see Irmgard Hampp, Beschwörung, Segen, Gebet, Untersuchungen zum Zauberspruch aus dem Bereich der Volksheilkunde, Veröffentlichungen des Staatl. Amtes für Denkmalpflege Stuttgart, Reihe C: Volkskunde 1 (Stuttgart, 1961). See also Oskar Ebermann, Blut und Wundsegen in ihrer Entwickelung dargestellt, Palaestra xxiv (Berlin, 1903); Friedrich Hälsig, Der Zauberspruch bei den Germanen bis um die Mitte des XVI. Jahrhunderts, Inaugural-Dissertation der Universität Leipzig (Leipzig, 1910); A. Kuhn, “Indische und germanische Segensprüche,” Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, xiii (1864), 49–74, 113–157; John Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern and Western with the Magic Songs of the West Finns, The Grimm Library, ix and x, 2 vols. (London, 1898), espec. Vol. ii; Reidar Th. Christiansen, Die finnischen und nordischen Varianten des zweiten Merseburgerspruches, Eine vergleichende Studie, FF Communications 18 (Hamina, 1914); W. H. Vogt, “Zum Problem der Merseburger Zaubersprüche,” Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, lxv (1928), 97–130; Georg Wedding, Die Merseburger Zaubersprüche und die Merseburger Abschwörungsformel (Merseburg, 1930); Felix Genzmer, “Die Götter des zweiten Merseburger Zauberspruchs,” Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi, lxiii (1948), 55–72; and J. Knight Bostock, A Handbook on Old High German Literature (Oxford, 1955), pp. 16 ff. On the OE charms in particular (although some of these place them in a wider context), see Felix Grendon in Journal of American Folklore, xxii (1909), 105–237 (also reprinted separately); Godfrid Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic, Academisch Proefschrift... aan de R.K. Universiteit te Nijmegen ... (The Hague, 1948); A. R. Skemp, “The Old English Charms,” MLR, vi (1911), 289–301; F. P. Magoun, Jr., “Strophische Überreste in den altenglischen Zaubersprüchen,” Englische Studien, lxxii (1937–38), 1–6; Karl Schneider, “Die strophischen Strukturen und heidnisch-religiösen Elemente der ae. Zauberspruchgruppe ‘wiÐ þeofÐe’,” Festschrift zum 75. Geburtstag von Theodor Spira, ed. H. Viebrock and W. Erzgräber (Heidelberg, 1961), pp. 38–56. The above bibliography is selective.

²³ See his Philosophical Papers, ed. Urmson and Warnock (Oxford, 1961), chs. iii and x.

²⁴ E. M. Butler, Ritual Magic (Cambridge, Eng., 1949), p. 3. Cf. C. M. Bowra, Primitive Song (Cleveland and New York, 1962), pp. 116 ff., 277, et passim.

²⁵ For a short introduction to homeopathic or imitative magic, see James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, one vol. abridged ed. (New York, 1941 reprint), pp. 11–37. See also Hutton Webster, Magic, A Sociological Study (Stanford, 1948), pp. 60 ff. and 92 ff.

²⁶ Op. cit., ii, 40–44. If Abercromby were more interested in poetic structure, he could have listed repetitions and slight variant repetitions as another charm element.

²⁷ See Ebermann (n. 22 above) and Hampp (n. 22 above), pp. 110 ff. Grendon (n. 22 above), p. 111, writes “charms with narrative passages in heroic style occur in nearly all Indo-European languages.” It must, however, be stressed that all charms are not constructed in this way.

²⁸ Ed. G. Storms, pp. 206 ff. I use Storms's translation and numbering.

²⁹ Bostock's translation (op. cit., pp. 19–20). I am purposely avoiding the complicated problems of interpretation in this charm as they are not germane to my purpose. Cf. Storms, op. cit., pp. 109–110.

³⁰ Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, Hymns and Incantations with Illustrative Notes ... Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and translated into English (Edinburgh, 1900), ii, 14–15.

³¹ Hermann Gollancz, ed. The Book of Protection, Being a Collection of Charms ... from Syriac MSS (London, 1912), p. lxxxiv. This book contains many other examples of similar analogical magic charms.

³² Op. cit., ii, pp. 133–134.

³³ Abraxas, Studien zur Religionsgeschichte des späteren Altertums, Festschrift Hermann Usener zur Feier seiner 25-jährigen Lehrtätigkeit ... (Leipzig, 1891), p. 136, n. 1.

³⁴ See n. 22 above. In Maurice Bloomfield's translation of the Atharva-Veda, The Sacred Books of the East, xlii (Oxford, 1897), we find a number of charms which begin with a short narrative or several narratives and are followed by a wish or command. See, e.g., vi, 11 (pp. 97–98), “Charm for Obtaining a Son”; iv, 4 (pp. 31–32), “Charm to Promote Virility”; iv, 12 (pp. 19–20), “Charm for Cure of Fractures”; iv, 37 (pp. 34–35); iii, 13 (pp. 146–147); i, 25 (pp. 3–4); etc.

On classical charms of this form, see the article “Mayela.” (by Hopfner) in Pauly-Wissowa, Neue Bearbeitung xxvii Halbband, 343.

³⁵ Denys Page, Sappho and Alcaeus, An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry (Oxford, 1955), pp. 16–17.

³⁶ On the literary use of the prayer, see Friedrich Schwenn, Gebet und Opfer, Studien zum griechischen Kultus, Religionswissenschaftliche Bibliothek 8 (Heidelberg, 1927), pp. 53 ff. and Eduard Norden, Agnostos Theos, Untersuchungen zur Formengeschichte religiöser Rede, second printing (Leipzig and Berlin, 1929), pp. 150 ff. et passim.

³⁷ See F. P. Magoun, “Deors Klage und GuÐrunarkviÐa I,” Anglia, lxxv (1942), 1–5.

³⁸ Translated by Storms, op. cit., p. 141. The dots indicate a gap in the MS. The last twelve lines are not reproduced here. See Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie, The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records VI (New York, 1942), pp. 122–123. For his valuable comments and notes on the OE poetical charms, see pp. cxxx ff. and 207 ff.

³⁹ See the Poetic Edda (especially the stanzas about runes in the Sigdrífumál), Njal's Saga, Bricriu's Feast and The Cattle Raid of Cooley, etc.

⁴⁰ “The Dream of the Rood as Prosopopoeia,” Essays and Studies in Honor of Carleton Brown (New York, 1940), p. 23.

It is possible that the charm form has influenced other poems besides Deor. See Professor Bessinger's suggestion in n. 19 above. It is a natural form for a request of any sort to take since it is to be found in the liturgy and prayers, even if the original magic aura is gone. See, for instance, Roland's prayer to God to save his soul (ll. 2384–88, ed. Alfons Hilka, third edition by Gerhard Rohlfs, 1948, p. 65) and Charlemagne's prayer for protection while avenging Roland (ll. 3100–09, ibid., p. 85) in the Chanson de Roland. I should like to thank Professors Malone and Dobbie for suggestions in the composition of this paper.

Since writing and submitting this article, I have found one brief suggestion that the form of Deor resembles that of a charm. J. H. W. Rosteutscher, in his “Germanischer Schicksalsglaube und angelsächsische Elegiendichtung,” ES, lxxiii (1938–39), 11, writes of the refrain, “Er ähnelt stark einer Zauberformel, z.B. den magischen Sprüchen gegen Hexenstich, aber anderseits auch den christlichen ‘preces commendaticiae’.”