Riddling Word Games and Biblical Allusions in “Against a Wen”

Abstract

This article presents an in-depth analysis of “Against a Wen”, a poetic charm from twelfth-century England that personifies, banishes, and annihilates a skin blemish. The study begins with a brief overview of the text’s linguistic features and then proceeds to discuss the charm in distinct sections. Each of these concentrates on the contextualisation of a specific passage. The article assembles analogues from previous research and also offers several novel parallels from a diverse range of incantations, Scandinavian sources, medieval medical texts, and the Old and New Testament. Combining these parallels not only helps clarify obscure passages in “Against a Wen” but also sheds additional light on the composition’s background. Specifically, unveiling the charm’s intertextual connections allows pointing out that “Against a Wen” incorporates riddling and bilingual wordplay, as well as biblical allusions. These findings challenge the long-held perception of the composition as vernacular and provide insight into the literary devices and healing strategies found in early medieval verse charms.