My book explores the narrative power charms and riddles continue to hold as the oral tradition enters mass print culture in the nineteenth century.
Charms control events by manipulating the hidden forces of nature.
To exercise power over an object, charms involve actions as well as words. The tradition passes down. In either case, the consumer practices the action for which the product is designed. Like a reader untangling a plot to complete a narrative puzzle, those that discern the trap spring it without being caught. Researchers have focused almost exclusively on the value and function of oral charms and riddles.