C

CHANGELING (German Wechselbalg, Wechselbutte): Supernatural beings, especially dwarves, commonly substitute their own children for those of humans. The German designations for the changeling or substituted child are Wechselbalg and Wechselbutte; in Old Norse, the changeling is called skiptingr and vixling; in Latin, it is cambio.

Changelings can be recognized by the following characteristics. They are slow to grow and remain puny; they do not speak, and their hunger is never satisfied. There is a whole series of procedures for causing them to speak and thus reveal their true nature. A person can also beat them: their mother will immediately come running, bringing back the human child whom she has treated well.

Doulet, Quand les démons enlevaient les enfants; Grambo, Svart katt over veien, 29; Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, nos. 81–82; Ilmar Arens and Bengt af Klintberg, “Bortbytingssägner i en gotländsk dombok frå 1690,” Rig 62:3 (1979): 89–97.

Fig. 18. Changeling. Illustration by Eyvind Nielson, 1921.

CHARM: A very ancient form of verse used for the conjuration of gods and spirits. They are especially common in Old High German and in Old English. The most famous are the Old High German Merseburg Charms in which the gods Wodan (Odin), Frîja, Volla, Sinthgunt, and Phol are named. In England the charms fall under the heading of folk mythology and are intended to provide protection from dwarves and the shot they fire, as well as from the Æsir, nightmares, and witches. The best-known examples are The Nine Herbs Charm, For a Sudden Stitch, and Against a Dwarf. The value of the charms collected from the British Isles is that they reveal the deities in a decayed state. This is how the Æsir have been conflated with evil demons and accorded the same status as nightmares and witches. Furthermore, these charms show us that the preferred method for a supernatural being to take action is by shooting an arrow. In German lumbago was once called Alpschuß, “elf shot.” In all the Germanic countries, the names of diseases are often derived from the names of supernatural entities reduced to the status of demons.

MERSEBURG CHARMS

Lecouteux, Charmes, Conjurations et Bénédictions, Lecouteux, Dictionary of Ancient Magic Words and Spells; Lecouteux, The Book of Grimoires; Jean-Paul Allard, “Du second Charme de Mersebourg au Viatique de Weingarten,” Études Indo-Européennes 14 (1985): 33–53, with an additional note by Jean Haudry at 54–59.

CHIMMEKE, CHIM, JIMMEKEN (“Little Joachim”): The name of a drac and rapping spirit that haunts a castle in Pomerania. He is said to have cut a kitchen boy into little pieces for drinking the milk that had been left out for him.

Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, no. 273; Linhart, Hausgeister in Franken, 52–53 et passim.

CHLUNGERI: The name of a female demon associated with spinning in Alemannic Switzerland. She has the appearance of a humpbacked woman from the front with long nails and crooked nose, and she lives in a cave. The Chlungeri travel about during the Twelve Days to verify if spinners have spun their yarn properly; they make balls from the work of those who have been lazy.

Vernaleken, Alpensagen, 37–38.

COSMIC TREE: YGGDRASILL

COSMOGONY: In the beginning there was chaos, Ginnungagap, a bottomless abyss that extended between Niflheimr (the land of ice, shadow, and mist) in the north and Muspellsheimr (the land of fire) in the south. Rivers flowing out of the south toward Niflheimr became frost-covered and subsided in the vast, frozen waste. Gradually these masses of frozen water filled the abyss, and the southern winds, which were growing warmer and warmer, began melting the ice. Water drops enlivened by the wind combined to form the body of the giant Ymir, who was soon able to feed from the cow Auðumla, born the same way. Ymir began sweating, and a man and woman grew beneath his left arm, while one of his feet engendered a son with his other foot. By licking the ice Auðumla caused the emergence of a man named Búri who was capable of reproduction like Ymir. He had a son, Burr (or Borr), who married one of Ymir’s descendants, Bestla. From their union were born the gods Odin, Vili, and Vé. They murdered Ymir and created the world using his body parts. From his bones they made the mountains and from his skull, the sky; they used his blood to create the sea. Once they had finished, the gods placed a dwarf at each of the four cardinal points to hold up the celestial vault.

COSMOLOGY: Roughly speaking, the world consists of Miðgarðr, the world of men; Ásgarðr, the realm of the gods; and Útgarðr, the realm of the giants, demons, and all harmful beings. The realm of the dead, presided over by the goddess Hel, lies beneath Miðgarðr. Jötunheimr, which is inhabited by the giants, lies to the east. The vertical axis of these worlds is the cosmic tree, Yggdrasill, and its horizontal consistency is ensured by the Miðgarðsormr, the great sea serpent that encircles the world. Ásgarðr is in the center of Miðgarðr, to which it is connected by a bridge—Bifröst, or Ásbrú. The world of men is separated from Jötunheimr by rivers that never freeze as well as by the Iron Forest (Járnviðr), where giants that have the shape of wolves dwell.