CHARM, anything believed to possess some occult or supernatural power, such as an amu let, spell etc but properly applied to spells couched in formulas of words or verse.
Among celebrated charms the Danish Dane brog, or national banner, stands prominent. This banner was said to have been woven in a day and a night by three daughters of a cele brated Norse chieftain, of the race of Ynglings said to be descended from the god Odin. These girls were deeply versed in the lore of the gods, giants, dwarfs and morns, and in the centre of the banner they placed a raven, the bird of Odin, wonderfully lifelike and real istic. The superstition was that the result of a battle was foretold by this raven, which if vic tory was to fall to the possessors of the ban ner, held its head and bill in an upright posi tion. By observing this banner the Danes in three years' time had won 27 important battles, going into action only when the raven looked skyward. If the bird looked droopy and held its head low, they remained in camp, or, if in action, and the attitude of the raven suddenly changed, they withdrew from the field. Alfred,
the king of the English Saxons, noting the en thusiasm which this banner inspired in the Danes, determined to capture it, and succeeded after a savage battle in which the Danes fought desperately for three hours. When, however, it fell into the hands of the Saxons, and the head and wings of the raven drooped, there was a general rout. The Danes were models of courage and bravery so long as superstition fanned the fire of faith in their hearts, but they were arrant cowards the minute they realized that their idol was powerless to protect them. Another curious charm is to be seen in the National Museum at Washington. This is a necklace of human fingers which was captured from the Sioux Indians in 1876, the loss of which brought about the subjection of the In dians. Consult Grendon, The Anglo-Saxon Charms) (in Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XXII, Boston 1909).