Bringing together many of today's key scholars of verbal charming, these essays cover vernacular magical texts and practice from Malaysia to Madagascar, and from England to Estonia. As the most comprehensive collection of research on charms, charmers and charming available in the English language, it forms an essential reader on the topic.

'In this ?New Age' of mass production of manuals of magic and Wicca-books, it is amazing how little scholarship has been produced about practical uses of magic, past and present. This rich book, authored by the leading charm experts, provides us not only with pieces of verbal magic, but also with interpretations, discussions and thoughtful comparisons. Charms, once considered a minor genre of folklore, are here opened up as a powerful source of diverse knowledge about European heritage, human thought, worldview, social conflicts and about magical solutions that charmers have offered to crisis situations worldwide.' - Ülo Valk, Professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, University of Tartu, Estonia, and President, International Society for Folk Narrative Research

'Thanks to its eclectic manner this book is a perfect source of information on what has happened in the fi eld of charm-related research lately. Last but not least, those who are interested in specific themes, methods, or types of charms will find the editor's introduction and the detailed table of contents with sub-headlines of essays particularly helpful. Charming, indeed.' - Toms ?encis, Numen

'The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the study of charms. For the non-converted, it is an excellent introduction to the complexities and subtleties of a fascinating subject. In short, this collection augurs most positively for our Silver Age of charm research, which appears tobe in safe hands.' - Bairbre N?? Fhloinn, Folklore

Autorentext
PAUL COWDELL National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield NATALIA GLUKHOVA Finno-Ugric Languages Department, Mari State University, Mari El, Russian Federation VLADIMIR GLUKHOV Freelance Researcher LEE HARING Professor Emeritus of English, Brooklyn College, the City University of New York RITWA HERJULFSDOTTER Doctoral Candidate of Ethnology, University of Gothenburg and Nordic Museum postgraduate school DAVID HUNT Professor Emeritus, London South Bank University HENNI ILOMÄKI Freelance Researcher VLADIMIR KLYAUS Institute of World Literature, Moscow MONIKA KROPEJ Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Slovene Ethnology, the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana LEA OLSAN Professor Emerita of English, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, USA LOW KOK ON Senior Lecturer, School of Arts of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia ÉVA PÓCS Professor Emerita, the University of Pécs, Hungary JONATHAN ROPER Teaching Fellow in English Language, the University of Leeds,UK JACQUELINE SIMPSON The Folklore Society T.M. SMALLWOOD Lecturer in English, the University of Ulster LAURA STARK Professor of Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland ANDREI TOPORKOV Researcher, Institute of the World Literature, Moscow MARY TSIKLAURI Associate, the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature, Tbilisi, Georgia DAIVA VAITKEVI?IEN? Senior Researcher, the Institute of Lithuanian Literature andFolklore MARIA VIVOD Associate Researcher, the Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques, France

Inhalt
Introduction: Unity and Diversity in Charms Studies; J.Roper PART I: TOPICS AND ISSUES IN CHARMS STUDIES The Charmer's Body and Behaviour as a Window onto Early Modern Selfhood; L.Stark 'If not, shall employ "Rough on Rats"': Identifying the common elements of rat charms; P.Cowdell Miracles and Impossibilities in Magic Folk Poetry; E.Pócs Snakebite Charms from a Gender Perspective; R.Herjulfsdotter Charms as a Means of Coping; U.Wolf-Knuts Towards the Systematization of Narrative Elements of Slavic Charms; V.Klyaus Conformity and Originaligy in Middle English Charms; T.M.Smallwood The Nightmare Charm in King Lear; J.Simpson Expressions of Impossibility and Inevitability in Mari Charms; N.Glukhova& V.Glukhov PART II: NATIONAL TRADITIONS Russian Charms in a Comparative Light; A.Toporkov Slovenian Charms and Conjuring: Between South Slavic and Central European Tradition; M.Kropej Finnish Snake Charms; H.Ilomäki Estonian Narrative Charms in European Context; J.Roper Lithuanian and Latvian Charms: Searching for Parallels; D.Vaitkeviciene Charms in Late Middle English Recipe Collections; L.Olsan The Charms of the Biljana, a Bajalica (Conjurer) in Budisava, Serbia; M.Vivod Verbal Charms in Malagasy Folktales; L.Haring The Structure and Use of Charms in Georgia, The Caucasus; M.Tsiklauri Malay Magic; K.O.Low