erce
See also: ērcē and ērce
Old English
Etymology
Attested in the 11th-century Æcerbot ("field-remedy") charm.The triple invocation erce, erce, erce is compared to the Latin sanctus, sanctus, sactus, and interpreted as derived from a vocative form of eorcnan "true, genuine; holy", or a proper name Erce, from an earlier *Eorce for a fertility goddess addressed as "mother of earth".
Interjection
erce
- (magic) holy
- A Spell to promote the Fertility of Land rendered sterile by Witchcraft. From M. S. Cott. Caligula, A. 7., in: A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Tongue from the Danish of Erasmus Rask. By Benjamin Thorpe, 2nd edition, London, 1865, p. 148ff., excerpt from p. 151:
- Erce, erce, erce, | eorðan módor, | geunne ðe se alwealda | éce drihten | æcera wexendra | and wriðendra, | eácniendra and elniendra! […]
- Erce, erce, erce, mother of earth, may the all-wielder grant thee, the great Lord, acres waxing and covering, increasing and strengthening! […]
- Erce, erce, erce, | eorðan módor, | geunne ðe se alwealda | éce drihten | æcera wexendra | and wriðendra, | eácniendra and elniendra! […]
- A Spell to promote the Fertility of Land rendered sterile by Witchcraft. From M. S. Cott. Caligula, A. 7., in: A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Tongue from the Danish of Erasmus Rask. By Benjamin Thorpe, 2nd edition, London, 1865, p. 148ff., excerpt from p. 151: