Editing Æsir (section)

===Wið færstice===
The [[Wið færstice]] text from the late 10th or early 11th century [[Lācnunga]] is an Old English remedy against harm caused by several beings including ēse and [[ælfe]] (often translated as "elves").{{sfn|Hall|2007|pp=1–5}}

{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ang|gif hit wǣre ēsa gescot oððe hit wǣre ylfa gescot
oððe hit wǣre hægtessan gescot nū ic wille ðīn helpan
þis ðē tō bōte ēsa gescotes ðis ðē tō bōte ylfa gescotes
ðis ðē tō bōte hægtessan gescotes ic ðīn wille helpan
flēo [?MS fled] þǣr on fyrgenhǣfde
hāl westū helpe ðīn drihten
nim þonne þæt seax ādō on wǣtan·}}
|
If it was the {{lang|ang|gescot}} of {{lang|ang|ēse}} or it was the {{lang|ang|gescot}} of {{lang|ang|ælfe}} 
or it was the {{lang|ang|gescot}} of {{lang|ang|hægtessan}}, now I want to (?will) help you. 
This for you as a remedy for the {{lang|ang|gescot of ēse}}; this for you
as a remedy for the {{lang|ang|gescot}} of {{lang|ang|ælfe}}, 
this for you as a remedy for the {{lang|ang|gescot}} of {{lang|ang|hægtessan}}; I will help you. 
Fly around there on the mountain top. Be healthy, may the Lord help you.
Then take the knife; put it in (the) liquid.|attr1=[[Old English]] text{{sfn|Hall|2007|pp=2–3}}|attr2=[[Alaric Hall|Hall]] Translation{{sfn|Hall|2007|pp=2–3}}}}

The collocation of ēse and elves Wið færstice is paralleled in Old Norse writings as the alliterative phrase "æsir and álfar".{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=35}}{{efn|
Examples of this formula include {{lang|non|Mart var þar ása oc álfa}} ("Many of the æsir and álfar were there") from the prose prologue to [[Lokasenna]] and {{lang|non|ása oc álfa, er hér inno ero}} "of the æsir and álfar who are here within") from the body of the poem.{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=35}}
}}
It is not clear whether this formula dates back to the ancestral community speaking the ancestor of Old Norse and Old English and thus had always existed in both languages, or was the result of a later loaning due to the close cultural contact.{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=108}}

It has been proposed that just like in early Old Norse-speaking communities, those speaking Old English early on would also have placed ēse and ælfe in contrast with monstrous beings such as [[eotenas]] and [[wyrmas]], although it is unclear exactly how the beings were conceived of in English-speaking communities by the time that Wið færstice was written.{{sfn|Hall|2007|pp=35-67}}