Merseburg Echoes:
Swedish language items
This is the Merseburg Echoes entry for Swedish 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 entry is not a holistic representation of the historical record and it will be expanded.
Quick attribution:
Mimisbrunnr.info. 2025-ongoing. “Swedish Language Items”. Merseburg Echoes, Mimisbrunnr.info. URL: https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/merseburg-echoes-swedish
Contributors to these entries:
Please note that all external URLs were last accessed August 2025.
Åker, Småland, Sweden, 1638
Location: Åker, Småland, Sweden
Year: 1638
Informant:
No data
Item:
991. »Emot wreedh.»
När vår Herre Jesus Christus han sin åsna redh,
han honom vreedh.
Han stegh af,
satte moot emot moot,
blodh emot blodh,
ledh emot ledh.
I nampn:
Faders och Sons och Gudz then H. Andes.
English translation (Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
991. Against a twist.
When our Lord Jesus Christ rode his donkey,
he twisted him.
He stepped off,
put intersection against intersection
blood against blood,
joint against joint.
In the name
of the Father and Son and God the Holy Ghost.Source:
Published in:
Ragunda, Jämtland, 1673. Enligt bekännelse inför häradstinget i Ragunda den 15-18 dec. 1673 av Märit Hansdotter i Krokvåg. Gefleborgs läns domböcker, vol. 21 (1673), fol. 742 f.
Observations:
Konrad Rosenberg:Donkey: Historically, the use of the motif of a donkey instead of a horse was apparently a way to make the scene more Biblical, and perhaps ultimately also to distance the Christian version with Jesus and his donkey from the Pagan Balder/Oden with his horse.
Moot: Meaning ‘meeting, intersection’, here it appears to be an obscure folk-anatomical term. This sense is not found in the SAOB. Compare: https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=M_1261-0492.C4J7&pz=5
Arnäs, Ångermanland, Sweden, 1671
Location: Arnäs, Ångermanland, Sweden
Year: 1671
Informant:
“Transmitted by the housewife Segri, who said that she had learned it from ‘an old woman who once lived here on the plain by the name of Göle.’” See below for more information.
Item:
933.
Jesus gick öfver hede,
sköt han fohlan med sin graföre.
Är så Ols i broo,
är tu vriden i foot?
»Nej», sade Jesus, »sätt ihop
led och ledamot,
det skal vara så snart boot.
som tu vänder hand och fot.»
(I namn: Faders, Sons och den Helge Andes.)
(Denna läsning, som skedde i salt ock malt, meddelades av hustrun Segri, som sade sig ha lärt densamma »af en gammal käring för detta här på vallen vid namn Göle». Denna hade sagt, att läsningen skulle jälpa för halt boskap. Även andra kände denna läsning men voro icke så färdiga i dess användning, »föregifvandes, at om man ett qwintel bortglömmer af läsning», så vore denna utan värkan.)
English translation (Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
993. Against halting in cattle.
Jesus went over the heath,
pushed his foal with his pinewood.
[…]
Is your foot twisted?
“No”, said Jesus, “set together
joint and joint intersection,
it will be cured just as soon
as you turn your hand and foot.”
(In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.)
(Editor’s note: This reading, which was done in salt and malt was transmitted by the housewife Segri, who said that she had learned it from “an old woman who once lived here on the plain by the name of Göle.” This woman had said that the reading would help halt cattle. Others also knew of this reading, but were not as skilled in its use, “informing, that if the smallest part was forgotten from the reading,” it would be without effect.)Source:
Published in:
Observations:
Konrad Rosenberg:Graföre: For this interpretation of graföre (a dialectal form of granföre) the translator thanks dialectologist Elias Storm, private correspondence.
[…]: This line is not possible to translate. Ols i broo looks like a name (‘Ols in Bro’), but it is not clear what he is doing here.
Salt and malt: A common fixture in old Swedish folk magic. The charm would be read over a bowl or plate of salt and malted grain.
Bohuslän, Sweden, 1672
Location: Bohuslän, Sweden
Year: 1672
Informant:
“Communication to the court by Karin in Sandåker at the case in Krokstad on January 22, 1672.”
Item:
1022. För vred.
Vår Herre Iesus Christus och S. Pedher
ginge öfuer Brattebroo.
S. Pedhers häst feck vredh och skredh.
Vår Herre stegh af sin häst nedh,
signa S. Peders häst vredh och skredh.
Blodh vedh blodh,
leedh vedh leedh!
Så feck S. Pers häst both.
I nampn Faders,
Guds nampns, Sonss och then H. Andes. Amen.
English translation (Danielle Cudmore for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
1022. Against sprain.
Our Lord Jesus Christ and Saint Peterwent over Brattebro.
Saint Peter’s horse got a twist and a sprain.
Our Lord got stepped down from his horse,
Blessed [made the sign of the cross over] St. Peter’s horse’s twist and sprain.
Blood to blood,
joint to joint!
So was Peter’s horse cured.
In the name of the Father,
the name of God, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Source:
“Sandåker, Krokstad, Bohuslän, 1672. GHRA. Criminalia ifrån Bohuslän, 1672. Meddel. inför rätta av Karin i Sandåker vid rannsakningen i Krokstad den 22 januari 1672.
Förr men felaktigt, hos Arcadius, Om Bohusläns införlifvande med Sverige, 1883, s. 118. Jfr Viktor Rydberg, Germ. mythol. II, 1889, s. 238.”
Observations:
Danielle Cudmore: The word Brattebro looks to be a location name and means ‘steep bridge’. On vredh och skredh: The pair vredh och skredh shows up a twice in this spell. It is a bit hard to translate skred and mostly the point is that it rhymes with vred(h); I’d say ‘a twist and a sprain’; skred could also be read as dislocation (though it doesn’t sound nice), so there is also the option of ‘sprain and dislocation’.
Ragunda, Jämtland, Sweden, 1673
Location: Ragunda, Jämtland, Sweden
Year: 1673
Informant:
“According to confession before the county council in Ragunda by Märit Hansdotter in Krokvåg”
Item:
992. Mot vred.
Jesus Christus reed sigh öfwer een wåhla skogh,
hans häst brööt sitt been af hwredh.
Jesus stegh af hästen nedh
och satte been emot been
och leedh emot leedh,
modt emot blodh.
Stat häll och säll,
som du förr war!
I tre Gudz ord,
i nampn:
Gudz Faders, Sons och then Helige And[s].
English translation (Danielle Cudmore & Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
992. Against a sprain.Jesus Christ rode over a cleared forest,
his horse broke his leg from a sprain.
Jesus got down from the horse
And set bone to bone
And joint to joint
And modt to blood
Stand, healed and happy,
as you were before!
In the three words of God;
In the name of God the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Source:
Published in:
Ragunda, Jämtland, 1673. Enligt bekännelse inför häradstinget i Ragunda den 15-18 dec. 1673 av Märit Hansdotter i Krokvåg. Gefleborgs läns domböcker, vol. 21 (1673), fol. 742 f.
Observations:
Danielle Cudmore & Konrad Rosenberg:
Häll och säl, here rendered by Cudmore as ‘be healed and happy’ (but may also be rendered as ‘be healthy and blessed’, suggested by Rosenberg), is a formulaic greeting. This is a very old phrase, compare Old Norse heill ok sæll. See Svenska Akademiens Ordbok’s entry for “hell”: https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=H_0593-0155.6zwZ&pz=3
Konrad Rosenberg:Cleared forest: The “cleared forest” is more specifically a forest which has been cleared in order to be burned down and turned into farmland as part of traditional slash-and-burn agriculture (svedjebruk). Such a forest would be difficult to walk through owing to the large amount of branches and stumps on the ground. See Svenska Akademiens Ordbok’s entry “vål”: https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=V_1583-0167.Jhug&pz=3
“And modt to blood”: Apparently an error for modt emot [modt, blodh emot] blodh. Compare 991, which has this form. The sense of modt is not certain.
Vireda, Småland, Sweden, 1691
Location: Ragunda, Jämtland, Sweden
Year: 1673
Informant:
No data
Item:
996. Mot vred.
Iesus redh åth berget nedh,
hans häst stuxa och föll needh.
Han sielfwer åstegh
och toogh upp leedh,
signade wreedh
med 9 leder,
10 fingrar
och 12 Guds änglar;
satte kiött emot kiött,
sena emoth sena.
Uhr wreedh
och i leedh,
i dhet lagh,
dhet förra war!
I tre nampn:
Gudh Fader, Gudh Sohn och dhen helige Andh.
English translation (Danielle Cudmore & Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
996. Against a twist.Jesus rode down the hill,
his horse stumbled and fell down.
He himself got off,
and took up the joint,
blessed the twist
with nine joints,
ten fingers,
and the 12 angels of God.
He set flesh against flesh,
sinew against sinew.
Out twist,
and [back] in place,
in the order
it previously was!
In three names:
God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Source:
Published in:
Observations:
None at this time.
Uppland, Sweden, 1750
Location: Uppland, Sweden
Year: 1750
Informant:
No data
Item:
997. »At läsa emot vree.»
Jesus red på sin fåla,
hans fåla vred sig.
...
Satte led mot led,
sena mot sena,
blod mot blod,
lade la i la.
Bot, som åt är gordt!
English translation (Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
997. ”To be read against a twist.”Jesus rode on his foal,
his foal twisted itself.
…
Set joint against joint,
sinew against sinew,
blood against blood,
laid la in la.
A cure which is made against it!
Source:
Published in:
Observations:
Konrad Rosenberg:A line or two appear to be missing here. It presumably indicated how Jesus stepped off his horse.
la: An obscure word. Perhaps a dialectal form of lag ’liquid’ referring to synovial fluid.
Södermanland, Sweden, 1860-1870a
Location: Södermanland, Sweden
Year: Archive item dated to 1860-1870
Informant:
No data
Item:
990. »Bruti och vridi.»
Fylla red utför berget,
hästen vred sin vänstra fot,
så mötte hon Freja.
»Jag skall bota din häst.
Ur vred,
ur skred,
i led!
Jag skall bota dig för
stockvred, stenvred, gångvred,
ondt ur kött, godt i kött,
ondt ur ben, godt i ben,
godt för ondt, led för led,
aldri mer skall du få vred!»
Genom tre namn. Amen.
English translation (Danielle Cudmore for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
990.
Fylla rode down the mountain.[Her] horse sprained its left leg
So she met Freja:
“I shall heal your horse
from twist
from sprain
into place!
I will heal you from
stump twist, stone twist, going twist,
evil out from the flesh, good into the flesh,
evil out from the bone, good into the bone,
Good for evil, joint for joint,
Never more shall you suffer a twist!”
Through the three names. Amen.
Source:
Published in:
Originally from:
“Södermanland, 1860-1870-talet. SFF. ULmA. 347: 25. Uppt. av G. Ericsson.”
Observations:
Danielle Cudmore:
ont: This word can also mean ’painful’
få is just ‘get’, but ‘suffer’ works and alliterates. If you want to keep things literal, change to ‘get’.
Joseph S. Hopkins:
The appearance of the pagan goddesses Fulla and Freyja make this item especially notable and raises questions about whether this account was influenced by knowledge of the Old Icelandic record and of the Old High German Merseburg Spells. While Freyja (here Freja) appears in Swedish folklore in the 18th and 19th centuries (see for example Sara Bonadea George’s Fröja’s Apples: Plants, Gods, & Other Beings, 2025, Hyldyr), would be especially notable to find a secure mention of the Old Norse goddess Fulla (here Fylla) in 1800s Swedish folklore. Note that Fulla appears in Merseburg Spell II but Freyja does not (Freyja is only attested in North Germanic sources). Any item recorded after Grimm’s publication of the Merseburg Spells (1842, Über zwei entdeckte Gedichte aus der Zeit des deutschen Heidenthums) runs the risk of somehow being influenced by it. In turn, all items found before Grimm’s publication are secure but questions may be raised against those published after it. Note also that the Merseburg Spells has been the subject of a hoax or forgery elsewhere, namely the Old High German Lullaby (1859).
Konrad Rosenberg:
The presence of Fylla and Freja is curious, but compare Merseburg II: friia, uolla era suister. There are signs that this is an antiquarian invention. Old High German Friia is often confused with Norse Freyja, but is actually cognate with Frigg. Swedish Freja is, in turn, not the authentic Swedish form of Norse Freyja (that would be Fröja), but rather a learned borrowing from Modern Icelandic which makes her presence even more suspicious.
Södermanland, Sweden, 1860-1870b
Location: Södermanland, Sweden
Year: Archive item dated to 1860-1870
Informant:
Not provided
Item:
1019. Mot ledvrickning.
Jungfru Maria red öfver e bro
och hade Herren Jesus i sitt knä,
så kom de till ett led;
där bröt deras häst sin fot ur led.
Så visst skall jag bota din fot,
arm eller hvad [led] som heldst,
så visst som - [det är, att] Herren Jesus satt
i Jungfru Mariä knä.
I F:s, S:s o. H. A:s N. Amen.
English translation (Danielle Cudmore & Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
1019. Against sprain.
Virgin Mary rode over a bridge
and had Lord Jesus on her knee,
So they came to a fence gate;
there their horse broke its foot out of joint.
Indeed I will heal your foot,
arm, or whatever it may be,
as surely as Lord Jesus sat
on Virgin Mary’s lap.
In F:s, S:s o. H. A:s N. Amen.Source:
Published in:
Originally from:
Södermanland, 1860-1870-talet. SFF. ULmA. 347: 33. Uppt. av G. Ericsson. Jfr SÄKH. II, 103 (något förbättrad).
Observations:
Konrad Rosenberg: Led here (line three) could mean ‘path’ or ‘way’, but that’s not a neuter word (as the one in the text is). See Svenska Akademiens Ordböcker’s entry for “Led”: https://svenska.se/saob/?id=L_0225-0258.D2Q5&pz=3
Södermanland, Sweden, 1860-1870c
Location: Södermanland, Sweden
Year: Archive item dated to 1860-1870
Informant:
Not provided
Item:
989. Mot ledvrickning
Dåve red över vattubro,
så kom han in i Tive skog;
hästen snafva mot en rot
och vrickade sin ena fot.
Gångande kom Oden:
»Jag skall bota dig för vred,
kött i kött, ben i ben,
jag skall sätta led mot led,
och din fot skall aldrig
sveda eller värka mer!»I he
l. treenighetens namn. Amen.
English translation (Konrad Rosenberg for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
989. Against a twisting of a joint.
Dåve* rode over a bridge over water
thus he came into Tive wood.**
The horse stumbled against a root
and twisted one of its feet.
Walking came Oden:
“I shall cure you for your twist,
flesh to flesh, bone to bone,
I shall set joint to joint,
and your foot shall never
sting nor ache no more!”In the name of the Holy Trinity. Amen.
Source:
Published in:
Originally from:
Södermanland, 1860-1870-talet. SFF. ULmA. 347: 33. Uppt. av G. Ericsson. Jfr SÄKH. II, 103 (något förbättrad).
Observations:
Konrad Rosenberg: Dåve is an unknown figure. Tive skog (‘Tive wood’), apparently ‘the wood of the gods’, is perhaps synonymous with Tiveden, a large wood in Sweden.
Jälluntofta & Unnaryd, Sweden, 1879-1880
Location: Jälluntofta & Unnaryd, Småland, Sweden
Year: 1879-1880
Informant:
Not provided
Item:
987. Mot vred.
Oden rider öfver sten och bärg;
han rider sin häst ur vred och i led,
ur olag och i lag, ben till ben, led till led,
som det bäst var, när det helt var.
English translation (Danielle Cudmore for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
987. Against sprain.
Oden rides over stones and hills;he rides his horse. From the twist and [back] into place,
from out of order and back into order, bone to bone, joint to joint,
as it was best when it was whole [= unbroken].
Source:
Published in:
Originally from:
Jälluntofta, Småland, 1879-1880. MfrNM. 1897, 32. Tryckt av V. Rydberg efter A. Hazelius, med Småland såsom ursprungsort, i Germ. mythol., II, 1889, s. 234. Vidare efter egna uppteckningar av P. G. Wistrand i MfrNM. 1897, 32. Ordagrant samma formel i ULmA. 92:41 (Smål. landsmålsförenings samt.) från Unnaryd, Småland, 1870-1880-talet.
Observations:
The link source above adds:
988. Jälluntofta- ock Unnarydsformeln i rekonstruktion.
Oden rider öfver sten och berg.
Han rider sin häst
»Ur vred och i led,
ur olag och i lag:
Ben till ben,
led till led,
som det bäst var,
när det helt var!»
“I traditionen har denna Odens formel starkt förvanskats, varför den av tidigare utgivare icke häller riktigt uppfattats. Det moment, som anger, att ryttaren steg av för att beta hästen, har fallit bort. Kvar står dock en väsentlig del av den uråldriga, samgermanska, praktiska läkeregeln, ursprungligen rationell ock icke magisk.” (p. 428-429)
English translation (Danielle Cudmore for Mimisbrunnr.info, 2025)
988. The Jälluntofta and Unnaryd formula in reconstruction.
Oden rides over stones and hills.
He rides his horse
“Out of a sprain
and [back] into the joint,
From [being out of order] to in order,
bone to bone,
joint to joint,
as it was best
when it was whole!”
“In the tradition, Oden’s incantation has been strongly corrupted, which is why it has not been completely understood by previous [publishers]. The moment, which is reported, that the rider dismounted to cure the horse, has disappeared. However, a substantial amount of the ancient Germanic, practical healing formula remains, originally rational and not magical.”(Note that the Swedish says beta, which is ‘put to pasture’, but the context has to be bota, ‘cure’.)
Danielle Cudmore & Konrad Rosenberg:
987 is the same spell as 988, but with more line breaks and editorial quotation marks beginning at ur vred ‘Out of a sprain’.
berg is a vague term that can mean ’mountain’, but also smaller stony protrusions like cliffs, crags and hills.
The speaker is not indicated, but that the incantation proper starts here is supported by the parallels.