Charms, Charmers and Charming

Bringing together many of today's key scholars of verbal charming, these essays cover vernacular magical texts and practice from Malaysia to Madagascar, and from England to Estonia. As the most comprehensive collection of research on charms, charmers and charming available in the English language, it forms an essential reader on the topic.

'In this ?New Age' of mass production of manuals of magic and Wicca-books, it is amazing how little scholarship has been produced about practical uses of magic, past and present. This rich book, authored by the leading charm experts, provides us not only with pieces of verbal magic, but also with interpretations, discussions and thoughtful comparisons. Charms, once considered a minor genre of folklore, are here opened up as a powerful source of diverse knowledge about European heritage, human thought, worldview, social conflicts and about magical solutions that charmers have offered to crisis situations worldwide.' - Ülo Valk, Professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, University of Tartu, Estonia, and President, International Society for Folk Narrative Research 'Thanks to its eclectic manner this book is a perfect source of information on what has happened in the fi eld of charm-related research lately. Last but not least, those who are interested in specific themes, methods, or types of charms will find the editor's introduction and the detailed table of contents with sub-headlines of essays particularly helpful. Charming, indeed.' - Toms ?encis, Numen 'The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the study of charms. For the non-converted, it is an excellent introduction to the complexities and subtleties of a fascinating subject. In short, this collection augurs most positively for our Silver Age of charm research, which appears to be in safe hands.' - Bairbre N?? Fhloinn, Folklore

PAUL COWDELL National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of SheffieldNATALIA GLUKHOVA Finno-Ugric Languages Department, Mari State University, Mari El, Russian FederationVLADIMIR GLUKHOV Freelance ResearcherLEE HARING Professor Emeritus of English, Brooklyn College, the City University of New YorkRITWA HERJULFSDOTTER Doctoral Candidate of Ethnology, University of Gothenburg and Nordic Museum postgraduate schoolDAVID HUNT Professor Emeritus, London South Bank UniversityHENNI ILOMÄKI Freelance ResearcherVLADIMIR KLYAUS Institute of World Literature, MoscowMONIKA KROPEJ Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Slovene Ethnology, the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, LjubljanaLEA OLSAN Professor Emerita of English, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, USALOW KOK ON Senior Lecturer, School of Arts of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah, MalaysiaÉVA PÓCS Professor Emerita, the University of Pécs, HungaryJONATHAN ROPER Teaching Fellow in English Language, the University of Leeds,UKJACQUELINE SIMPSON The Folklore SocietyT.M. SMALLWOOD Lecturer in English, the University of UlsterLAURA STARK Professor of Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä, FinlandANDREI TOPORKOV Researcher, Institute of the World Literature, MoscowMARY TSIKLAURI Associate, the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature, Tbilisi, GeorgiaDAIVA VAITKEVI?IEN? Senior Researcher, the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and FolkloreMARIA VIVOD Associate Researcher, the Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques, France