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- Magic in Anglo-Saxon England (Old English: galdorcræft) refers to the belief and practice of magic by the Anglo-Saxons between the fifth and eleventh centuries AD in Early Mediaeval England. In this period, magical practices were used for a variety of reasons, but from the available evidence it appears that they were predominantly used for healing ailments and creating amulets, although it is apparent that at times they were also used to curse. The Anglo-Saxon period was dominated by two separate religious traditions, the polytheistic Anglo-Saxon paganism and then the monotheistic Anglo-Saxon Christianity, both of which left their influences on the magical practices of the time. What we know of Anglo-Saxon magic comes primarily from the surviving medical manuscripts, such as Bald's Leechbook and the Lacnunga, all of which date from the Christian era. Written evidence shows that magical practices were performed by those involved in the medical profession. From burial evidence, various archaeologists have also argued for the existence of professional female magical practitioners that they have referred to as cunning women. Anglo-Saxons believed in witches, individuals who would perform malevolent magic to harm others. In the late 6th century, Christian missionaries began converting Anglo-Saxon England, a process that took several centuries. From the 7th century on, Christian writers condemned the practice of malevolent magic or charms that called on pagan gods as witchcraft in their penitentials, and laws were enacted in various Christian kingdoms illegalising witchcraft. (en)
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- "[In the Anglo-Saxon witch] we have woman in her basic feminine roles as wife and lover, housekeeper and mother, and as guardian of her family’s health. In each of these aspects it is understandable that from time to time she would find inadequate the socially acceptable ways of manipulating her environment, and resort to other means, whether these were calling on the old gods whom the churchmen considered demons; using a ritual tainted by heathenism ; or concocting a magic – and let it be admitted – probably dangerously toxic brew as an aphrodisiac or abortifacient. Only occasionally do we get a hint of a woman stepping outside her normal role, to call up the dead or foretell the future, or magically piercing a man with lumbago." (en)
- "The Anglo-Saxon charms… are of outstanding importance because they provide more than vague references of exceptional and short texts. They cannot be said to reveal everything, for there are numerous points in which they lamentably fail us, but they are numerous enough and, taken as a body, complete enough to give more than a tantalising hint of a strange world. The veil of mystification enveloping magic appears to be thin and transparent here." (en)
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- Archaeologist Audrey Meaney on the image of the witch in Anglo-Saxon England, 1989. (en)
- Godfrid Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic, 1948. (en)
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- Magic in Anglo-Saxon England (Old English: galdorcræft) refers to the belief and practice of magic by the Anglo-Saxons between the fifth and eleventh centuries AD in Early Mediaeval England. In this period, magical practices were used for a variety of reasons, but from the available evidence it appears that they were predominantly used for healing ailments and creating amulets, although it is apparent that at times they were also used to curse. (en)
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- Magic in Anglo-Saxon England (en)
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