Table of Contents

James Kapalo, Eva Pocs and William Ryan: Introduction GENRE, CLASSIFICATION, TERMINOLOGY Arne Bugge Amundsen: A genre in the making. The first study of charms in Norway Domhnall Uilleam StiA'bhart: The making of a charm collector. Alexander Carmichael in Uist, 1864 to 1882 Tat'iana Agapkina and Andrei Toporkov: Charm indexes: problems and perspectives Edina Bozoky: Medieval narrative charms Vilmos Voigt: Baj-: The historical development of "charm" terminology in Hungarian HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES Lea Olsan: The marginality of charms in medieval England Eva Pocs: Church benedictions and popular charms in Hungary Daniel Barth: Benediction and exorcism in early modern Hungary Daiva Vaitkeviciene: Baltic and East Slavic charms CONTENT AND FUNCTION OF CHARMS Emanuela Timotin: The najit between prayers and charms: A study of the Romanian manuscript tradition Francisco Vaz da Silva: Charming the moon: moon charms for sick children in Portuguese ethnography Maarit Viljakainen: "Dear Merciful Mother". The Virgin Mary in Finnish and Karelian birth incantations Index

About the Author

Kapalo is lecturer in the Study of Religions Department, University College Cork, Ireland Pocs is professor emeritus at the University of Pecs, Hungary Ryan is Series editor for the Hakluyt Society for fifteen years; editor and typesetter of publications of the Warburg Institute, London, for over twenty years; former chief editor of the Slavonic and East European Review. Former President of the Folklore Society; former President of the Hakluyt Society.