Indo-European Poetry and Myth

of a king who had thrice nine chariots in his train, superstitiously confident
that this number would always secure him victory.^48 Heroes in battle often kill
thrice nine men at one go, matching Patroclus’ feat in the Iliad (16. 784 f.):
‘three times he rushed at them... and thrice nine men he killed’.

Herbs

Many magical operations call for more than spells. The use of special herbs
is often involved in addition. Latin poets speak of serpents being made to
burst by incantations (Lucilius 575 M., Virg. Ecl. 8. 71, etc.), but in the
Ra ̄ma ̄yan
̇

a (3. 28. 28) a club shattered by arrows is likened to a snake
destroyed mantraus
̇

adhibalaih

̇

, by the power of spells and herbs. Some of the
poems in the Atharvaveda refer to or address the therapeutic herb with which
a disease is to be treated. The combination of incantation and medication will
be further documented below.
A mystique attaches to the culling of these potent plants. Pliny cites many
special instructions on the matter: particular herbs must be picked before
sunrise, at new moon, with two fingers of the left hand, without using iron,
and so forth. He gives the Gaulish Druids as his authority for some of this,
and European folklore provides more wisdom of the same kind.^49 By a device
attested both in India and Italy, the spell itself includes a warranty of the
plant’sfitness for the intended purpose by stating how it was first discovered,
collected, and ingested:

suparn

̇

ás tva ̄nv avindata, su ̄ karás tva ̄khanan nasa ́ ̄... ́

Índro ha cakre tva ̄ ba ̄haú...

pa ̄t

̇

a ́ ̄m Índaro ví as ́na ̄t...

An eagle found thee; a boar dug thee with his snout...

Indra put thee on his arm...

Indra ate up the pa ̄t

̇

a ̄ ...

(AV 2. 27. 2–4, cf. 4. 4. 1; 5. 14. 1; 6. 109. 3, 137. 1)

Pastores te inuenerunt,

sine manibus collegerunt,

sine foco coxerunt,

sine dentibus comederunt.

(^48) Vita S. Patricii 5. 35f. (549B), duxerat enim [rex Leogarius]ter nonies currus secum, quia
fascinatio nugacitatis seducens cor eius persuaserat ei tali numero ubique provenire sibi omnem
triumphum.
(^49) Plin. HN 20. 29; 21. 42, 143, 176; 22. 50; 24. 12, 103 f., 133, 170; 25. 21, 107, 145; 27. 140, etc.;
Grimm (1883–8), 1195–9, 1202–9, 1673, 1676 f.

8. Hymns and Spells 331