_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.
_30_ _Then take the knife and put it into the liquid._
1. The sudden stitch in the side (or rheumatic pain) is here thought of
as coming from the arrows shot by the "mighty women"--the witches.
21-28. These irregular lines are imitated from the original.