Balder the Beautiful, Volume I. / A Study in Magic and Religion: the Golden Bough, Part VII., The / Fire-Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul

by James George Frazer

Footnote 873: [(return)]

In the Ammerland, a district of Oldenburg, you may sometimes see an old cart-wheel fixed over the principal door or on the gable of a house; it serves as a charm against witchcraft and is especially intended to protect the cattle as they are driven out and in. See L. Strackerjan, Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 357, § 236. Can this use of a wheel as a talisman against witchcraft be derived from the practice of rolling fiery wheels down hill for a similar purpose?

Footnote 874: [(return)]

F.S. Krauss, Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven (Münster i. W., 1890), pp. 118 sq.

Footnote 875: [(return)]

In German such spells are called Nestelknüpfen; in French, nouer l'aiguilette. See J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,⁴ ii. 897, 983; A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube,² (Berlin, 1869), p. 252 § 396; K. Doutté, Magic et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord (Algiers, 1908), pp. 87 sq., 294 sqq.; J.L.M. Noguès, Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis (Saintes, 1891), pp. 171 sq.

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