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Sellic Spell (Intro)

from Hedenskap, Trolldom, og Folkeeventyr by Seiðmannen

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The hunt for folkloric sources and analogues has played an important part in Beowulf criticism for over a century, most importantly since Friedrich Panzer’s 1910 seminal study Studien zur germanischen Sagengeschichte, I: Beowulf (Munchen: Beck). Panzer amassed an enormous amount of comparative evidence (more than 200 folktales from all over the world) to argue that the first part of Beowulf was based on a variant of the “Bear’s Son” international folktale pattern, also attested in other Germanic texts such as Grettis saga. (Panzer also demonstrated that the second part of Beowulf was a version of the widespread northern European legend of the dragon-slaying hero.) The “Bear’s Son” tale usually begins with a boy born to, or raised by, bears, who has bear-like characteristics, including super-human strength. The young hero sets out on adventures with various companions, fights a supernatural being which has already defeated his companions, and descends under the earth or under water to finish off the monster and/or fight its mother, often by means of a magical weapon. The hero is left in the lurch by companions who were supposed to wait for him and draw him up, but – of course – all ends well with the hero returning safe and being rewarded.

In Sellic Spell, Tolkien attempted to “reconstruct” a specifically “Northern” version of this folktale, the version that the Beowulf-poet could have heard and used in his epic composition. The title Sellic Spell itself comes from line 2109 in Beowulf (line 1772 in Tolkien’s translation) which Tolkien translates as “wondrous tale”, a significant term, as the “wonder tale” is the particular folktale genre that gave birth to the literary “fairy-tale” that we all recognise today

Tolkien believed that his “reconstructed” folktale provided a good solution to many strange and puzzling elements in Beowulf (not just the monsters!), including:

Beowulf’s exaggerated strength: “he hath in the grasp of his hand the might and power of thirty men” (lines 305-6 in Tolkien’s translation) – the hero of Sellic Spell, Beewolf, has the strength of seven men when he is seven years old, and of thirty men when he’s a young man (presumably of thirty years), a typical folktale hero’s characteristic (note that both 7 and 30 are “magic” numbers in many folklore traditions). Both Beowulf and Beewolf also seem to have a voracious appetite, as befitting their bear associations.


For more info watch this video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGmeRMUYah4

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from Hedenskap, Trolldom, og Folkeeventyr, released December 10, 2019

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Seiðmannen Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

Seiðmannen is a Dungeon Synth project promoting and exploring Paganism, folklore, mythology, animism and genuine spirituality. This is the true undiscovered territory. The true crux of the Norse spiritual path is consciousness evolution.The vast and varied teachings and lore can be condensed into a unified focus or goal, as can all true spiritual teachings across the globe. Music is universal. ... more

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