Columcille circul ‘Colum Cille’s circle’
- Old English
- prose, diagram
A set of Old English instructions, with included diagram, for building a magical device with which to protect a bee-enclosure (apiary). It is attested in a Gallican Psalter from Winchester, where it is part of an Old English gloss that includes various charms for healing animals. The present item follows directly on one for protection from theft of bees. The user is instructed to take a knife and use it to inscribe the circular device depicted in the diagram on a malmstone, along with the Latin words it contains (certain numerals and the words contra apes ut salui [sic] sint et in corda eorum [sic] s[crib]am h[anc]). Next, one is to drive a stake into the center of the enclosure and impose the stone on the stake until only the writing surface remains visible.
- Old English
- Secondary language(s): Latin language
See more WinchesterWinchester
See more Although the heading attributes the device to Colum Cille using his Irish name, there is no known sign of Irish influence on either the composition of the Old English text or the particular device it depicts.
While Columba/Colum Cille was not unknown at Winchester and charms could be associated with saints, it is not certain why the device came to be specifically associated with him. Martha Rust has offered two sources which may have inspired the attribution. In HE 5.9, Bede tells that Columba’s other name, Columcelli, is to be explained as a compound of Columba and cella. The term cella, in turn, may have been re-interpreted as referring to bee-hives rather than to monasteries (or to suggest an analogy between them; note that apes have become grammatically masculine). Second, with respect to the malmstone, references to Columba’s miraculous powers involving white stones in Adomnán’s vita of the saint may have reinforced the idea. As far as the words and etching of the Latin charm are concerned, she also points to Columba‘s reputation as a scholar and mediator between orality and writing.
It has been remarked by scholars like Singer that the circular diagram, with its four quadrants and Roman numerals (for the days of the moon?), resembles devices such as the Sphere of Apuleius (cf. f. 16r) or the Petosiris Circle. The latter are used for medical prognostics, however; if any such device had provided the blueprint, it would have been repurposed to facilitate a charm.
Rust also suspects familiarity with Virgil, principally his treatise on bees in Georgics IV, whether through a copy of that text or through quotations in a grammatical tract (e.g. Priscian).
Latin Life of St Columba (Ir. Colum Cille), Irish missionary, monk and founder of Iona, written by Adomnán, abbot of Iona, about a century after the saint’s death. The work is organised into three books: one on the saint’s prophetic revelations, another on the miracles performed by him and the final one on angelic apparitions. Despite its hagiographic content, it remains an important source of historical study.
Georgica (Virgil)Georgica (Virgil)View incoming dataSources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
Secondary sources (select)
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