The Pervinca Charm: A Medieval German Love Charm

The Pervinca love charm is a 15th century German text, preserved in clm. 7021, ff. 165v-166r. This article is the first attempt to provide a complete transcription of it, a translation and a description of its content. The Pervinca charm displays a perfectly coherent rhetorical structure enriched by Christian images of bright- ness and fire; the structure lays on a large set of non-Christian motifs, like: “as the wax melts, let N. melt / neither eat nor drink / neither sleep nor be awake”, as well as on ancient rituals with silver, gold, salt and wax. The theological frame gives even more power to the Pervinca, whose (Latin) name is here the key device of its irresistible magical power. A part of this charm is based on ancient curses and maledictions meant as a punishment if the beloved tried to resist the love charm. The performer needs the efficacy of the Pervinca in order to gain emotional, physical and mental power over a woman.