Dwa staropolskie zaklęcia z XV w.

Abstrakt

Two old-Polish incantations of the fifteenth century

The fifteenth-century manuscript no. R. XV. 3 belonging to the Archive of the Polish Province of Dominican Fathers in Cracow contains magic formulas (pages 192r–193v). These are so-called ‘incantationes’: against a rabid dog, against a rabid dog bite, against a thunder, against all the poison, against venomous worms and against rabies (Contra rabiem venenosi canis, Contra morsum rabidi canis, Contra toniturua, Benediccio panis pro pecudibus... contra omnem venenum, Contra venenosos vermes, Contra rabies). The last two of them is unique because it was written in Polish. Up to now, only three other medieval magic spells written in Polish were known to us. They were published in 1895 by Aleksander Brückner in Volume XXIV of Rozprawy Akademii Umiejętności.

The incantations against venomous worms and against rabies are a valuable monuments of the Old Polish language not only due to the nature of this texts, but also because of the fifteenth-century words and word forms that were unknown until now. This small size formulas is a linguistic testimony of medieval medical practices and an expression of faith in God combined with superstitious beliefs.