Merseburg Echoes:

German language items

This is the Merseburg Echoes entry for German language Merseburg Spell II-type items. Merseburg Echoes is an ongoing project that compiles and makes accessible as many Merseburg Spell II-type items from the historical record as possible.

This entry was created in 2025 and this project is ongoing. This is entry is not a holistic representation of the historical record and it will be expanded.

Quick attribution:

  • Mimisbrunnr.info. 2025. “German Language Items”. Merseburg Echoes, Mimisbrunnr.info. URL: https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/merseburg-echoes-german

Contributors to these entries:

Please note that all external URLs were last accessed August 2025.

Historical German language collections include:

Sponheim, 1575

  1. Location: Sponheim, Germany

  2. Year: Originally published in 1575

  3. Informant:

    Unknown

  4. Item:

    Der h. Mann St. Simeon
    Soll gen Rom reiten oder gan,
    Da trat sein Folen uf ein Stein
    Und verrenkt ein Bein.
    Bein zu Bein, Blut zu Blut,
    Ader zu Ader, Fleisch zu Fleisch,
    So rhein khomm sie zusammen
    In unsers Herrn Jesu Christi Namen.
    Also rhein du aus Mutterleib khommen bist


    English translation modified by Joseph S. Hopkins for Mimisbrunnr.info from Agapkina, Karpov, & Toporkov 2013: 45

    St. Simeon went riding or on foot to Rome,
    And his foal stumbled over a stone
    And sprained a foot.
    Foot to foot, blood to blood,
    Vein to vein, flesh to flesh,
    So come together
    In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    Be the same as when you came out of the womb.

  5. Source:

    Zeitschrift des Vereins für rheinische und westfälische Volkskunde, VII. Jahrgang, 1910: 147 (Sponheim, 1575). View online: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Zeitschrift_des_Vereins_für_rheinische/lPMnAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Der+h.+Mann+St.+Simeon%C2%A0Soll+gen+Rom+reiten+oder+gan&pg=PA147&printsec=frontcover

  6. Observations:

    This item has been published in earlier texts, such as here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Deutsches_leben_in_der_vergangenheit/fP0rAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Der+h.+Mann+St.+Simeon%C2%A0Soll+gen+Rom+reiten+oder+gan&pg=PA846&printsec=frontcover

Boitzenburg, 1636

  1. Location: Boitzenburg, Germany

  2. Year: Published 1636

  3. Informant:

    Unknown

  4. Item:

    St. Peter und St. Paul gingen auf einen hohen Berg
    St. Peters Pferd vertrat einen Fuß,
    da steigt St. Peter selber ab und zog dem Pferde den Fuß und sprach:
    Fleisch zu Fleische,
    Blut zu Blute,
    Sehen zu Sehen.
    du sollst nicht kellen, du sollst nicht schwellen

    English translation by Agapkina, Karpov, & Toporkov 2013: 44-45

    St. Peter and St. Paul went to a high mountain
    St. Peter’s horse sprained its foot
    Then St. Peter got off his horse, grabbed its leg and said:
    flesh to flesh
    blood to blood
    sinew to sinew.
    You should not hurt, you should not swell

  5. Source:

    “WA, C VII/06, Boitzenburg, 1636.”

  6. Observations:

    “Saint Paul occurs most often in the Low German versions of the MC2 in the same role as the Old German P(h)ol: he goes riding with a companion, sees the horse sprain its foot, but he is not involved in healing the horse …” (Agapkina, Karpov, & Toporkov 2013: 44)

Güstrow, 1860

  1. Location: Güstrow, Germany

  2. Year: Published 1860

  3. Informant:

    Unknown

  4. Item:

    Von Leder tau Leder – von sehn tau sehn –
    Von glit tau glit – Von feß tau feß –
    Von Blud tau Blud – Von Mest tau Mest –
    Von Mutter Maria geboren vaß


    English translation by Agapkina, Karpov, & Toporkov 2013: 46-47

    From leather to leather – from sinew to sinew –
    from limb to limb – from flesh to flesh –
    from blood to blood – from knife to knife –
    was born of the Virgin Mary.

  5. Source:

    “WA, C VII/06, Güstrow, 1860.”

  6. Observations:

    None at this time.