Smith, A.W. The Luck in the Head: A Problem in English Folklore

• Author: Smith, A. W.
• Title: The Luck in the Head: A Problem in English Folklore
• Published in: Folklore 73/1
• Year: 1962
• Pages: 13-24
• E-text:
• Reference: Smith, A. W. "The Luck in the Head: A Problem in English Folklore." Folklore 73/1 (1962): 13-24.

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• Key words: religion (trúarhugmyndir)

Annotation

On the use of animal heads in English folk traditions. German, English and Norse tradition and folklore assign great magic power to the heads of animals and men: severed heads can be the source of wisdom, healing or scorn. Smith suggests that head-centred ceremonies represent a common Germanic/Nordic heritage and that animal heads may have had a totemic significance.

Lýsing

Fjallað er um notkun dýrahausa í enskri þjóðsagnahefð. Í þýskum, enskum og norrænum sagnahefðum eru höfuð dýra og manna talin hafa mikinn galdramátt; höfuð sem skilið hefur verið frá búk sínum getur verið uppspretta visku, lækninga eða níðs. Smith telur að siðir sem tengist höfði dýrs séu hluti sameiginlegrar germanskrar eða norrænnar hefðar og að höfuðið kunni að hafa merkingu sem tótem.

References

Chapter 59: tók hann hrosshöfuð: "If the head was a source of wisdom, it was also a source of destructive power. This is illustrated by the Norse ‘stake of scorn’. This was a pole surmounted by a mutilated horse head. Runes were carved on the stake and the whole device set up and turned towards the victim’s home. In Egil’s Saga we are given some of the words to be uttered. ... The stake of scorn or something like it was still known in Scandinavia as late as the mid-sixteenth century. This is clearly shown by a picture in ‘De Gentibus Septentrionalibus’ by Olaus Magnus, published in 1555" (p. 21-22).

Links

• Written by: Katelin Parsons
• Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason