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Against the Dangers of Travel: Journey Blessings and Amulets in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic Tradition

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Travel, Time, and Space in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time
This chapter is in the book Travel, Time, and Space in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110610963-004Chiara BenatiAgainst the Dangers of Travel: Journey Blessings and Amulets in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic TraditionIn the Middle Ages traveling was often connected with a great deal of fatigue and danger: whether on foot, on horseback or by sea, travelers had to face the challenge represented by uneven and muddy roads, storms and bad weather and were at constant risk of being attacked by robbers, wild animals or pirates. As highlighted by Norbert Ohler,1 in fact, traveling conditions in the Middle Ages strongly resembled the experience described by the Apostle Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians (11: 25–27): Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Nevertheless, mobility belonged to medieval everyday life,2 and many medieval people of different social classes and statuses traveled, whether they wished or not. Fear and scarce desire for travel gave rise to a specific genre of blessings (in German, Ausfahrtsegen or Reisesegen)and rituals aimed at obtaining protection while on the road and at ensuring for oneself or a beloved person a safe comeback.3This contribution focuses on journey charms, blessings, and amulets in the Germanic language area on the basis of a wide corpus of English, German, and Scandinavian texts, paying particular attention to the insertion and/or 1 Norbert Ohler, Reisen im Mittelalter (Düsseldorf and Zürich: Artemis & Winkler, 2004), 13.2 See also Marianne O’Doherty and Felicitas Schmieder, “Introduction: Travels and Mobilities in the Middle Ages From the Atlantic to the Black Sea,” Travels and Mobilities in the Middle Ages. From the Atlantic to the Black Sea, ed. Marianne O’Doherty and Felicitas Schmieder. Internation-al Medieval Research, 21 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), ix–xliii; here xxxi.3 See also Albert Bettex, “Reisesegen,” Du: kulturelle Monatsschrift 5 (1945): 44; F. Ohrt, “Aus-fahrtsegen (Reisesegen),” Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens. Vol. 1: Aal – Butzemann, ed. Hanns Bächthold-Stäubli and Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1927), col. 726–2 7.Chiara Benati, Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110610963-004Chiara BenatiAgainst the Dangers of Travel: Journey Blessings and Amulets in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic TraditionIn the Middle Ages traveling was often connected with a great deal of fatigue and danger: whether on foot, on horseback or by sea, travelers had to face the challenge represented by uneven and muddy roads, storms and bad weather and were at constant risk of being attacked by robbers, wild animals or pirates. As highlighted by Norbert Ohler,1 in fact, traveling conditions in the Middle Ages strongly resembled the experience described by the Apostle Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians (11: 25–27): Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Nevertheless, mobility belonged to medieval everyday life,2 and many medieval people of different social classes and statuses traveled, whether they wished or not. Fear and scarce desire for travel gave rise to a specific genre of blessings (in German, Ausfahrtsegen or Reisesegen)and rituals aimed at obtaining protection while on the road and at ensuring for oneself or a beloved person a safe comeback.3This contribution focuses on journey charms, blessings, and amulets in the Germanic language area on the basis of a wide corpus of English, German, and Scandinavian texts, paying particular attention to the insertion and/or 1 Norbert Ohler, Reisen im Mittelalter (Düsseldorf and Zürich: Artemis & Winkler, 2004), 13.2 See also Marianne O’Doherty and Felicitas Schmieder, “Introduction: Travels and Mobilities in the Middle Ages From the Atlantic to the Black Sea,” Travels and Mobilities in the Middle Ages. From the Atlantic to the Black Sea, ed. Marianne O’Doherty and Felicitas Schmieder. Internation-al Medieval Research, 21 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), ix–xliii; here xxxi.3 See also Albert Bettex, “Reisesegen,” Du: kulturelle Monatsschrift 5 (1945): 44; F. Ohrt, “Aus-fahrtsegen (Reisesegen),” Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens. Vol. 1: Aal – Butzemann, ed. Hanns Bächthold-Stäubli and Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1927), col. 726–2 7.Chiara Benati, Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Illustrations IX
  4. Author Biography XIII
  5. Time, Space, and Travel in the Pre-Modern World: Theoretical and Historical Reflections. An Introduction 1
  6. A Vicarious Voyage in Queer Time: Hygeburg’s Hodoeporicon 76
  7. Texts that Travel: Translation Genres and Knowledge-Making in the Medieval Arabic Translation Movement 95
  8. Against the Dangers of Travel: Journey Blessings and Amulets in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic Tradition 120
  9. Water Rituals and the Preservation of Identity in Ibn Fadlan’s Risala 165
  10. Mapping the Road to Knowledge: The Mosaic Floor of Otranto Cathedral, Apulia, Italy (1163–1165) 188
  11. The Chronotope of Law in the Sachsenspiegel Illustrations: A Pictorial Travel Through the World of Law 224
  12. Anachronism and Anatopism in the French Vulgate Cycle and the Forging of English Identity through Othering Muslims/Saracens 266
  13. Traveling to/in the North During the Middle Ages: The World of Northern Europe in Medieval and Early Modern Travel Narratives 285
  14. The Buddha and the Medieval West: Changing Perspectives on Cultural Exchange between Asia and Europe in the Middle Ages 311
  15. At Home and on the Road: Comparing Food Cultures in the Medieval Low Countries 331
  16. The Revealing Peregrinations of Margery Kempe 359
  17. Spatial Configurations, Movement, and Identity in Chaucer’s Romances 379
  18. “Make a Pilgrimage for Me”: The Role of Place in Late Medieval Proxy Pilgrimage 424
  19. Time and Space in Late-Medieval Dynastic Chronicles: With a Focus on Examples from Czech-Language Literature 446
  20. Miracles, Marvels, and the Plague in the Czech-Written Travelogue by Christopher Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621) 464
  21. Traveling Carpenters: The Russell Family of Westminster in the Early Sixteenth Century 482
  22. Travels with Johann Reuchlin: Linguist, Lawyer, and Christian Cabalist 515
  23. Personality Type and Prison Survival in Early Modern Spain. The Spiritual Move from Inside to the Outside: The Inquisitorial Trials of Fray Luis de León, Gaspar de Grajal, Martín Martínez Cantalapiedra, and Alonso Gudiel 542
  24. Mobility, Space and the Pícara’s Identity in Alonso de Salas Barbadillo’s La hija de Celestina 563
  25. The Journey within the Journey: Catabasis and Travel Narrative in Late Medieval and Early Modern Epic 585
  26. Voyage to India with Sir William Jones: The Asiatick Society Remakes the West. The Travel of Texts and Their Transformative Power on Culture 622
  27. Space, Time, and Identity: Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the Epidemic of Ennui in the Pre-Modern West 647
  28. Index 697
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110610963-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Illustrations IX
  4. Author Biography XIII
  5. Time, Space, and Travel in the Pre-Modern World: Theoretical and Historical Reflections. An Introduction 1
  6. A Vicarious Voyage in Queer Time: Hygeburg’s Hodoeporicon 76
  7. Texts that Travel: Translation Genres and Knowledge-Making in the Medieval Arabic Translation Movement 95
  8. Against the Dangers of Travel: Journey Blessings and Amulets in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic Tradition 120
  9. Water Rituals and the Preservation of Identity in Ibn Fadlan’s Risala 165
  10. Mapping the Road to Knowledge: The Mosaic Floor of Otranto Cathedral, Apulia, Italy (1163–1165) 188
  11. The Chronotope of Law in the Sachsenspiegel Illustrations: A Pictorial Travel Through the World of Law 224
  12. Anachronism and Anatopism in the French Vulgate Cycle and the Forging of English Identity through Othering Muslims/Saracens 266
  13. Traveling to/in the North During the Middle Ages: The World of Northern Europe in Medieval and Early Modern Travel Narratives 285
  14. The Buddha and the Medieval West: Changing Perspectives on Cultural Exchange between Asia and Europe in the Middle Ages 311
  15. At Home and on the Road: Comparing Food Cultures in the Medieval Low Countries 331
  16. The Revealing Peregrinations of Margery Kempe 359
  17. Spatial Configurations, Movement, and Identity in Chaucer’s Romances 379
  18. “Make a Pilgrimage for Me”: The Role of Place in Late Medieval Proxy Pilgrimage 424
  19. Time and Space in Late-Medieval Dynastic Chronicles: With a Focus on Examples from Czech-Language Literature 446
  20. Miracles, Marvels, and the Plague in the Czech-Written Travelogue by Christopher Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621) 464
  21. Traveling Carpenters: The Russell Family of Westminster in the Early Sixteenth Century 482
  22. Travels with Johann Reuchlin: Linguist, Lawyer, and Christian Cabalist 515
  23. Personality Type and Prison Survival in Early Modern Spain. The Spiritual Move from Inside to the Outside: The Inquisitorial Trials of Fray Luis de León, Gaspar de Grajal, Martín Martínez Cantalapiedra, and Alonso Gudiel 542
  24. Mobility, Space and the Pícara’s Identity in Alonso de Salas Barbadillo’s La hija de Celestina 563
  25. The Journey within the Journey: Catabasis and Travel Narrative in Late Medieval and Early Modern Epic 585
  26. Voyage to India with Sir William Jones: The Asiatick Society Remakes the West. The Travel of Texts and Their Transformative Power on Culture 622
  27. Space, Time, and Identity: Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the Epidemic of Ennui in the Pre-Modern West 647
  28. Index 697
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