Nine Herbs Charm: Ancient Anglo-Saxon Healing Magic

The Nine Herbs Charm is one of the most fascinating surviving pieces of early English magical and healing tradition.

Known in Old English as the Nigon Wyrta Galdor, it brings together plants, spoken charm work, healing ritual, Christian imagery and a rare appearance of the Germanic god Woden.

For modern witches, herbalists and students of folklore, it offers a remarkable glimpse into a world where medicine, magic and religion were not always treated as completely separate things.

However, this is an ancient historical charm rather than a modern medical recipe.

Some of the plants mentioned cannot be identified with certainty, and the original instructions involve treatments that should not be recreated as medical remedies today.

Instead, we can explore the charm for its history, symbolism and magical inspiration.

What Is the Nine Herbs Charm?

The Nine Herbs Charm survives in an early medieval manuscript now known as Harley MS 585.

It forms part of a collection usually called the Lacnunga, an Old English word meaning something like remedies or cures.

The collection contains medical recipes, magical charms, invocations and prayers written mainly in Old English, with some material in Latin and Old Irish.

The Nine Herbs Charm combines spoken verse with instructions for preparing a herbal remedy.

Its purpose appears to have been protection and healing against poison, infection, wounds and other harmful influences as they were understood at the time.

For a modern reader, one of its most striking features is the way spiritual and medicinal ideas sit side by side.

Pagan and Christian Elements

The charm is particularly interesting because it contains both pre-Christian Germanic and Christian imagery.

Woden appears in one of its best-known passages.

The charm describes him taking nine powerful twigs and striking a serpent so that it breaks into nine pieces.

Elsewhere, however, the text refers to Christ and to a wise Lord responsible for creating powerful herbs.

Rather than neatly belonging to either Paganism or Christianity, the surviving charm reflects a period in which different religious and cultural ideas could exist together.

That makes it much more interesting than simply labelling it a Pagan spell that Christians later altered.

We do not know the complete history of the composition before it was written into the manuscript.

Woden, Odin and the Charm

The manuscript uses the Old English name Woden.

Woden is the Anglo-Saxon counterpart of the Norse Odin, so the two figures are closely related. However, when discussing this particular text, Woden is the historically appropriate name.

One famous section describes Woden striking a serpent with nine “glory-twigs”, causing it to break apart.

That action becomes part of the charm’s symbolic attack against poison and harmful forces.

For modern practitioners interested in Germanic Paganism, this passage naturally attracts attention because direct appearances of Woden within surviving Old English magical texts are rare.

However, calling the plants simply the Nine Sacred Herbs of Odin can give a misleading impression.

The original text is a healing charm containing Woden, Christian material and nine plants. It is not a surviving instruction book for a clearly defined Odin-centred herbal tradition.

Why the Number Nine Matters

Nine appears repeatedly throughout the charm.

There are nine herbs.

Woden uses nine twigs.

The text speaks of nine poisons and nine harmful spirits or infections.

The number also appears elsewhere within Germanic mythology and folklore, which has encouraged many interpretations of its importance here.

Within magical practice, nine can therefore become part of the symbolism of the charm itself.

A modern practitioner might repeat an intention nine times, work with nine symbolic objects or arrange herbs into groups of nine.

You do not need to recreate the original medicinal preparation to engage with its numerical symbolism.

What Are the Nine Herbs?

This question is more complicated than it first appears.

Some of the Old English plant names can be matched fairly confidently with familiar plants. Others have produced several competing identifications.

Older translations sometimes present uncertain suggestions as though we know exactly which modern species were intended.

We do not.

The plants traditionally associated with the charm include:

• Mugwort
• Waybread or plantain
• A plant called stune, whose identification is uncertain
• A plant called attorlaðe, also debated
• Chamomile or mayweed
• Nettle in some interpretations
• Crab apple
• Chervil
• Fennel

Different translations and scholars may give you slightly different lists because Old English plant terminology does not always map neatly onto modern botanical names.

That uncertainty is part of the history rather than something we need to tidy away.

Mugwort

Mugwort appears first and is addressed as an especially ancient and powerful herb.

Within the charm, it is praised for its ability to stand against poison, contagion and threatening forces.

Its prominent position is particularly interesting because mugwort remains an important magical plant today.

Modern witchcraft frequently associates it with dreams, divination, psychic work, protection and spiritual awareness.

Those modern correspondences should not automatically be projected backwards onto the Anglo-Saxon charm, but the plant certainly had an important place within historical herbal traditions.

Waybread and Plantain

The second plant is often translated as waybread and associated with plantain.

Its Old English name reflects the plant’s tendency to grow along paths and disturbed ground.

The charm describes it enduring carts, riders, brides and animals passing over it, yet continuing to survive.

That image gives the plant a wonderful symbolism of endurance.

Within a modern magical practice, you might work with plantain when focusing on resilience, persistence or remaining grounded despite pressure.

The Mysterious Stune

One of the plants is called stune.

Its precise modern identity remains uncertain.

Translations have offered possibilities such as lamb’s cress or corn salad, but no identification should be treated as completely settled.

For modern practice, there is no need to choose a plant simply to complete a list.

The uncertainty itself reminds us that historical herbal knowledge does not always translate perfectly into modern botanical categories.

Venom-Loather

Another plant receives a name often translated as something similar to Venom-Loather.

Its identity has also been debated.

Different interpretations have suggested plants including betony and other species.

The charm describes this herb as fighting poison and overcoming harmful substances.

If you explore older translations, you may therefore encounter betony⁠ listed among the nine plants.

Treat that as an interpretation rather than an unquestionable identification.

Chamomile or Mayweed

Another section addresses a plant commonly interpreted as chamomile or a related mayweed.

It appears within the charm as a protective and healing plant.

You can explore the wider magical traditions surrounding chamomile⁠, although modern correspondence lists should again be kept separate from what the medieval text itself actually tells us.

Today, chamomile is often magically associated with peace, purification, prosperity and restful sleep.

Nettle

Some translations and interpretations connect part of the charm with stinging nettle⁠.

Nettle has certainly gathered its own rich magical associations over the centuries.

Its sting makes it an obvious symbolic choice for protection, defence and strong boundaries.

However, because some of the historical plant names remain uncertain, it is better to describe nettle as one traditional identification rather than claiming that every scholar agrees.

Crab Apple

The apple also appears within the charm.

The text gives it a role in opposing poison and the serpent.

Apple trees carry an enormous amount of folklore across European traditions, including associations with healing, love, immortality and the Otherworld.

Within this particular charm, however, its role is much more specifically connected with the ritual’s struggle against harm.

Crab apple juice also appears in the accompanying preparation instructions.

Chervil and Fennel

The final portion of the plant list includes chervil and fennel⁠.

These are described together as particularly powerful plants.

The surviving charm gives this section explicitly Christian imagery, describing the herbs as created by a wise Lord and sent to help humanity.

That combination of herbal magic and Christian theology is one of the clearest examples of the mixed spiritual world preserved within the text.

The Serpent and Woden

At the centre of the charm is a powerful image.

A serpent comes crawling.

Woden takes nine twigs and strikes it.

The serpent breaks into nine pieces.

The image then becomes part of the charm’s wider battle against poison, infection and harmful forces.

Serpents have carried complex meanings across cultures, including danger, healing, transformation and renewal.

Within this passage, however, the creature represents something harmful that must be overcome.

For modern magical work, the scene can be approached symbolically as the breaking apart of something that has power over you.

A Short Passage From the Charm

The modern English translation used in the original version of this post came from Anglo-Saxon Magic by Godfrid Storms.

One of the best-known moments describes Woden confronting the serpent:

For Woden took nine glory-twigs,
he smote the adder that it flew apart into nine parts.

This short passage captures the protective force running through the wider charm.

The complete text addresses the herbs individually before calling upon them collectively against poisons, infections and harmful influences.

How the Original Ritual Was Performed

The charm was more than a poem.

It also came with instructions for preparing a herbal remedy.

The herbs were pounded and combined with other ingredients, including soap and apple juice.

A further preparation involving fennel, ash and other materials was also described.

The charm itself was then spoken repeatedly.

According to the instructions, it was sung three times over each herb before preparation.

It was also recited over the person receiving treatment and over the affected area.

This combination of physical remedy and spoken incantation shows how closely practical treatment and magical ritual could be connected.

Do Not Recreate the Original Medicine

The original preparation belongs to the history of medicine and magic.

It should not be treated as a modern recipe for poisoning, infection or wound care.

We cannot even identify every plant in the charm with certainty.

Furthermore, medieval recipes were created within completely different understandings of illness, hygiene, toxicology and medicine.

If you suspect poisoning, seek urgent medical assistance.

Likewise, wounds and infections require appropriate modern treatment.

Historical herbal magic can be fascinating without requiring us to recreate every historical medical practice.

Using the Charm in Modern Witchcraft

The Nine Herbs Charm can still inspire modern practice without being copied literally.

You might work with it as a piece of protection magic.

For example, choose several safe, familiar herbs that carry protective significance within your own practice.

Place them around your altar while reflecting on what you want to protect yourself from.

You could also work with the symbolism of Woden striking the serpent.

Write down something harmful that you want to break apart or remove from your influence.

Then divide the paper into nine pieces as a symbolic act of ending its hold over you.

Dispose of the pieces appropriately afterwards.

A Nine-Herb Protection Working

Another way to draw inspiration from the charm is to create a symbolic nine-herb arrangement.

You do not need to claim that your herbs are the exact nine plants from the manuscript.

Instead, choose nine plants you personally associate with protection, cleansing, strength or healing.

Arrange them around a candle, bowl or another central object.

If you use a candle, keep all dried plant material well away from the flame.

Speak your intention nine times.

For example:

What brings harm cannot remain. I strengthen my boundaries and protect my space.

You can then keep the herbs in a sealed charm bag or dispose of them respectfully according to your practice.

This takes inspiration from the structure and symbolism of the historical charm without pretending to reproduce it.

Working With the Original Herbs

If you want a closer historical connection, choose only plants from the charm that can be identified with reasonable confidence.

Mugwort, plantain, crab apple and fennel give you several possibilities.

Research each plant individually before handling, burning or consuming it.

Remember that magical use does not require ingestion.

A herb can sit on an altar, appear in a charm bag, be represented by an illustration or simply be named during a ritual.

This is especially useful when studying historical plants whose exact identification or safety is uncertain.

The Charm as a Protection Spell

Although the original text had a healing purpose, it also contains unmistakably protective language.

The herbs are repeatedly asked to stand against harmful forces.

The serpent is defeated.

Poison is driven away.

Threats arriving from every direction are named and opposed.

That structure makes the charm particularly interesting for witches working with protection and boundary magic.

Rather than focusing on literal medieval ideas of poison or infection, you can interpret the pattern more broadly:

Identify the threat.

Name your allies.

Establish your protection.

Confront what is harmful.

Release its influence.

The ancient language may be unfamiliar, but the magical structure remains remarkably recognisable.

Studying Historical Magic Responsibly

Old spells are fascinating partly because they are strange.

They come from people who understood health, religion, nature and the supernatural very differently from us.

It is tempting to reshape those texts until they resemble modern witchcraft, but doing so can erase what makes them historically valuable.

The Nine Herbs Charm is not simply a modern herbal protection spell written in Old English.

It belongs to an early medieval culture where spoken charms, Christian prayer, inherited Germanic traditions and practical remedies could exist within the same manuscript.

Allowing those contradictions to remain gives us a richer understanding of the charm.

Why the Nine Herbs Charm Still Matters

More than a thousand years after it was written down, this charm continues to fascinate people interested in witchcraft, herbalism, folklore and early English spirituality.

Part of its appeal comes from its mystery.

We cannot confidently identify every herb.

We do not know exactly how old every part of the composition was before it entered the surviving manuscript.

Nor can we neatly separate its Pagan and Christian elements.

What we do have is something wonderfully unusual: a surviving Old English healing charm in which plants speak with power, Woden strikes a serpent, Christian imagery appears alongside older traditions and the number nine echoes throughout the ritual.

For modern practitioners, its value does not depend on recreating a medieval remedy.

Instead, it gives us a window into the long and complicated relationship between plants, healing, spirituality and magic.

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Sources and Further Reading

The original version of this article quoted a modern English translation from Anglo-Saxon Magic⁠ by Godfrid Storms⁠.

Historical manuscript information: British Library, Harley MS 585, Lacnunga.

Additional magical and herbal references adapted from Witchipedia⁠.