An Arithmetical Crux in the Woden Passage in the Old English Nine Herbs Charm

Abstract

The Nine Herbs Charm is one of the most extensively researched Old English metrical charms, not only in view of its allegedly corrupt text or its religious focus, but also with regard to its arithmetic. Since The Nine Herbs Charm abounds in references to numbers, particularly the number nine, three major arithmetical concerns have been whether the nine herbs, poisons and infections explicitly indicated in the text can actually be matched to referents within the charm. A fourth arithmetical crux, as yet undiscovered, is located in the charm's Woden passage. Here, Woden is said to have smitten a snake into nine parts with nine wuldortanas (''glory-twigs''). Interpretations of this passage have focused on the significance of Woden's presence and the nature of Woden's wuldortanas. These twigs have traditionally been interpreted as runic weapons of magical power, but this seems unwarranted on the basis of the textual evidence. Yet if the wuldortanas are conventional weapons, they cannot possibly strike the snake into nine pieces, unless the nature of the snake is properly understood.