The Word ‘Nightmare’

In light of the thirteenth entry in my dear old Mellowfield, I would like to discuss the etymology of the word ‘nightmare’. The number thirteen always held a certain ominous sway over its symbolism. The word ‘nightmare’ is an interesting one, which dates back to Germanic folklore. We can first obtain its appearance, as it is dedicated in an Old English charm. This charm is called Wið Dweorh, which roughly translates to ‘against a dwarf’ in Modern English. By examining this charm, the article hopes to tell the reader more about the etymology and story behind having a nightmare.

Old English charms: what are they?

Before diving into the world of nightmares, I shall first introduce the dear reader to Old English charms. Although scattered throughout sixteen various Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, the two biggest manuscripts involving charms are Bald’s Leechbook (London, British Museum, MS Regius 12 D XVII) and Lacnunga (London, British Library, MS Harley 585). We speak of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ here, and not ‘Old English’, because they were written down by Anglo-Saxon monks. The language in the charms varies. Some of the texts are a mix of Old English, Hebrew, Greek, Old Irish, Latin and last but not least: a load of gibberish.¹

Scholars wanted to define these ‘charming’ enigmas for long, as they mislead many of these scholars’ interpretations. Felix Grendon courageously categorised the Anglo-Saxon charms into five main groups. All these groups highlight a specific aim for the individual’s remedy. Grendon placed them as such:
I. Exorcisms of diseases or disease-spirits.
II. Herbal charms.
III. Charms for transferring disease.
IV. Amulet charms.
V. Charm remedies.²

The fantastic

The Anglo-Saxon charms additionally invoke fantastic creatures found in Germanic paganism and folklore. These include elves, dwarves and dragons. For those, who know Beowulf, the latter is not a new addition to the Anglo-Saxon corpus, as Beowulf, himself, has his final battle against a dragon (wyrm). Elves are also mentioned in Beowulf’s line 112a: eotenas ond ylfe (‘ogres and elves’).³ The Old English version of Judith also has a slight reference to elves in line 14a: ælfscinu (‘elven-beauty’). Judith is a part of the Beowulf-manuscript (Nowell Codex).

While elves and dragons appear across various Anglo-Saxon texts, dwarves are the fantastic ones that do not. The dwarves rather appear in the Anglo-Saxon charms. Yet, this does not mean that Tolkien drew his inspiration entirely from these charms, when he wrote his dwarves in Middle-earth. Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, which was composed in Old Norse, holds numerous dvergar(‘dwarves’) in its narrative. In fact, although this is not entirely relevant to Snorri’s work, Tolkien adopted most of his dwarven names from the anonymous poet’s Poetic Edda (Völuspá, ll. 10–16), which includes the name of Gandalf as well. Dwarves were also prominently represented in the fairytales of the brothers Grimm. All in all, it is safe to say that the Anglo-Saxons got their dwarves from a shared Germanic heritage.

Charm ‘Against a Dwarf’

her com in gangan      in spiderwiht
hæfde him his haman on handa          cwæð ðæt ðu his hæncgest wære
legde ðe his teage an sweoran             ongunnan him of ðæm lande liðan
sona swa hy of ðæm lande coman      ða ongunnan him ða liðu colian
ða com in gangan        dweores sweoster
ða geændade heo        and aðas swor
ðæt næfre ðis ðæm adlegan    derian ne moste
ne ðæm ðe ðis galdor  begytan mihte
oððe ðe ðis galdor       ongalan cuðe

[Here came a spider-creature crawling in; His web was a harness held in his hand. Stalking, he said that you were his steed. Then he threw his net around your neck, reining you in. Then they both began to rise from the land, spring from the earth. As they leapt up, their limbs grew cool. Then the spider-dwarf’s sister jumped in, ending it all by swearing these oaths: No hurt should come to harm the sick, no pain to the patient who receives the cure, no harm to the one who sings this charm.][^Williamson, C., in The Complete Old English Poems, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), p. 1075.]

Against a dwarf: witch-riding or dwarf-riding?

When looking at the charm above, one could wonder what the anonymous author of the charm meant to say and do. Scholars have pondered about the same, but they never truly settled on a consensus. David E. Gay (1988) thought that this particular charm contained an allegorical comparison that a spider is a dwarf. He backed this fact up by mentioning that Scandinavian and German folklore draw this comparison, and, that in these languages, a spider could easily mean dwarf and vice versa. In light of the charm, he mentioned that a dwarf may mount their victim and ride them as a horse. Gay also mentioned that the ‘term “witch-riding” is a general term for the type of possessive riding just described, whether done by dwarfs, elves, or witches… It is clear that the main here is that the dwarf, in the form of a spider, has mounted his victim and is proceeding to ride him’.⁴

Gay mentions, thus, that the Anglo-Saxon charm is case against witch-riding. One aspect that I would like to clarify, before moving on, is that we still do not know in what actual situation the witch-riding/dwarf-riding occurs. This would help in undermining the charm’s true purpose and intent.

Returning to ‘nightmare’

The return to the word ‘nightmare’ may seem a bit odd now. Yet, when looking at the word itself, it becomes apparent that it comprises night plus mare (this word comes from Old English mære). But what has this to do with the Anglo-Saxon charm? If you take a close look at the charm, you shall notice that the caster evokes a ‘spider-dwarf’ who is mounting a steed. It is clear to see that when looking at Grendon’s five distinct categories that the charm is meant as an exorcist (thus, class I). The conjuring of the spider-dwarf’s sister needs to stop the spider-dwarf from harming the individual, or the sick. But what does the spider-dwarf do and why?

J.H. Grattan suggested that this charm must have been used against any form of nightmares.⁵ More recently, Marie Nelson seems to agree with this proposition.⁶ But what does this have to do with a nightmare? When you take the words individually, you get night and mare. The mare is the sick person. Thus, the dwarf is the one who rides the mare in the night. The suffering human becomes the nightmare. A spider-dwarf would be so small that you could not see him mounting an individual. When experiencing a nightmare, many people tend to kick and stir in their sleep. It would be believable to suggest that it looks as if a spider-dwarf mounts this individual. In this case, the charm may act as a remedy against having a nightmare.

Verdict

As this was the thirteenth entry on the Mellowfield website, I wanted to bring the reader’s attention to the word ‘nightmare’ and its etymology. The article provided some background information that traced back to Anglo-Saxon England. The charm ‘Against a Dwarf’ may serve as a potential explanation for our word ‘nightmare’ today. There is still dispute among scholars regarding the charm’s meaning and purpose. I want to ask the reader what they think about this. Do you think that this charm was against someone who was being used as a nightmare? Why do you think this is, or is not, the case?