dispersed through the land.
70 Now I pray to the Power who planned the creation
That no woman of witchcraft, no worker of magic,
May change or unspell the charm I have spoken.

_Then drive forth the plow and turn the first furrow and say:_

75 Hail to thee, Earth, of all men the mother,
Be goodly thy growth in God's embrace,
Filled with food as a favor to men.

_Then take meal of every kind and bake a loaf as broad as it will lie
between the two hands, kneading _80_ it with milk and with holy water,
and lay it under the first furrow. Say then:_

Full be the field with food for mankind,
Blossoming brightly. Blessed by thou
By the holy name of Heaven's Creator,
85 And the maker of Earth, which men inhabit.
May God who created the ground grant us growing gifts,
That each kernel of corn may come to use.

_Say then three times_, Crescite in nomine patris, sint benedicti. Amen
_and_ Pater Noster _three times_.

30. Irregularities in the meter in the translations are imitations of
similar irregularities in the original.

58. _Erce:_ probably the name of an old Teutonic deity, the Mother of
Earth. This reference is all we have to preserve the name.

75. The conception of a goddess as Mother of Earth and of Earth as Mother
of Men is entirely pagan. This charm is a peculiar complex of
Christian and pagan ideas.

II. Against a Sudden Stitch

_Against a sudden stitch take feverfew, and the red nettle that grows
through the house, and plantain. Boil in butter._

Loud were they, lo loud, as over the lea they rode;
5 Resolute they were when they rode over the land.
Protect thyself that thy trouble become cured and healed.
Out, little stick, if it still is
I stood under the linden, under the light shield,
Where the mighty women their magic prepared,
10 And they sent their spears spinning and whistling.
But I will send them a spear in return,
Unerringly aim an arrow against them.
Out, little stick, if it still is within!
There sat a smith and a small knife forged
15 . . . . . . . sharply with a stroke of iron.
Out little stick if it still is within!
Six smiths sat and worked their war-spears.
Out, spear! be not in, spear!