Neumes in Three Old High German Charms

Ad pestem equi, Ad equum infusum and Crist unte Iudas are three Old High German charms of the twelfth century that display various signs between the lines that can be identified with neumatic notation. The charms are integrated into two manuscripts collections of healing remedies, and they are the only texts displaying neumes. Ad pestem equi and Ad equum infusum are written in the margins of Vatican City, (BAV) Cod. pal. lat. 1158; Crist unde Iudas is in MS. Bamberg, (Staatsbibliothek) Msc. Med. 6. Nobody would be surprised to know that some charms were sung, or that there should have been an oral performance connected to them, yet this can be considered the first textual evidence of this idea. This essay provides a description of the neumes and a new edition and interpretation of the three charms.