_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.
_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! If it still is there, the stick of iron, 20 The work of the witches, away it shall melt. If thou wert shot in the skin, or sore wounded in the flesh, If in the blood thou wert shot, or in the bone thou wert shot, If in the joint thou wert shot, there will be no jeopardy to your life. If some deity shot it, or some devil shot it, 25 Or if some witch has shot it, now I am willing to help thee. This is a remedy for a deity's shot; this is a remedy for a devil's shot; This is a remedy for a witch's shot. I am willing to help thee. Flee there into the forests . . . . . . . Be thou wholly healed. Thy help be from God.