Wið færstice
Wið fǣrstice is an Old English medical text surviving in the collection known now as Lacnunga in the British Library. Wið fǣrstiċe [wiθ ˈfæːrˌsti.t͡ʃe] means 'against a sudden/violent stabbing pain'; and according to Felix Grendon, whose collection of Anglo-Saxon charms appeared in the Journal of American Folklore in 1908, "the charm is intended to cure a sudden twinge or stitch, possibly rheumatism that can be due to being shot by witches, elves, and other spirits that fly through the air." Scholars have often sought to identify this as rheumatism, but other possibilities should not be excluded.