Healing spells



Healing spells can heal and cure a person from injuries, wounds, poisoning and bleeding. They are usually very demanding of a sorcerer and involve a great quantity of energy drawn from him.

Although Merlin used many healing spells, it seems he's not particularly talented in those, for he failed several times to heal Arthur.

Healing spells must be one of the most difficult aspects of magic that a sorcerer has to master. In fact, although he was shown to be quite experienced and powerful with other types of spells, the druid Ruadan told his daughter Sefa, when she begged him to try and heal himself from the wound Sir Elyan had inflicted him, that he didn't have such power (Arthur's Bane: Part Two).

The known healing spells are:
 * Þu fornimest adl fram guman, used by Merlin to enchant a magical poultice so that it released a steam of medicinal vapours. The young warlock cast this spell to cure Tom of the magical plague brought upon Camelot by the High Priestess Nimueh and the Afanc she had conjured (The Mark of Nimueh).
 * Seópan ærest wearð feasceaft funden. Denum æfter dom. Dreamleas gebad he gewann langsum, used by Gaius to enchant the antidote he had prepared with the leaf of the Mortaeus flowers and heal Merlin, who had been poisoned by the same flowers. He had to do this because only magic can negate another enchantment (The Poisoned Chalice).
 * Bebiede þe arisan áblinnan, cast by Edwin Muirden to command the Elanthia Beetle that he had enchanted to enter Morgana's ear, forcing it out. This caused the Lady to quickly recover from her fatal internal injuries (A Remedy to Cure All Ills).
 * Bebiede þe arisan ealdu. Áblinnen. This spell was used by Merlin to take a deadly beetle out of Uther's ear, curing him, and is slightly different from the one cast by Edwin (A Remedy to Cure All Ills).
 * Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle, used by Merlin to try to save Arthur. The spells failed because the Questing Beast's poison was fatal and only the power over life and death of the Old Religion could counteract it (Le Morte d'Arthur).
 * Gefultuma híe þæt heo onslæpe, used by Morgause on her healing bracelet to cure Morgana of her nightmares. This is actually a sleeping enchantment but had healing effects on the sorceress' half-sister (The Sins of the Father).
 * Ahlúttre þá séocnes. Þurhhæle bræd, used by Balinor to heal Arthur. Merlin's father had prepared a medical preparation which had the appearance of a thick and green cream and applied on the prince's wound (The Last Dragonlord).
 * The enchantment used by Kilgharrah to heal Merlin from the Serket's venom (The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part Two).
 * Þurhhæle dolgbenn, used by Merlin to heal Arthur's wound in his back, caused by an arrow shot by a bandit. This spell, anyway, had no effect (The Crystal Cave).
 * Licsar ge staðol nu, another spell used by the young warlock to try to save Arthur's life (The Crystal Cave).
 * Wel cene hole, used by Taliesin. It worked on Arthur thanks to the sorcerer's powerful magic (The Crystal Cave).
 * Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ! This is one of the most powerful healing spells ever cast. It was given to Merlin by the Kilgharrah in order to cure Morgana from her cranium wound. At first the dragon didn't want to use his magic on the Witch, but Merlin forced him with his Dragonlord powers. Even while the young warlock was chanting the spell (with a dragon-like voice), he could feel Kilgharrah's opposition and had to hold the hand he had above Morgana's head (The Crystal Cave).
 * The "Sorcerer's chime", a magical artifact capable of curing the sick (Love in the Time of Dragons).
 * The spell that was possibly put on the healing potion by Alice (Love in the Time of Dragons).
 * Þurhhæle licsar min, used by Gilli to heal his wound while he was clutching his arm, creating a blinding light and a wave of scorching heat. This is an old healing spell. According to Gaius, it's crude, but it works. It heats the skin to coagulate the blood and cauterize the wound (The Sorcerer's Shadow).
 * Butan þæt cwalu. Hrðe þon aidlian. Hrðe þon eðian. Bot ond tile, chanted by the Druids in chorus while Iseldir made Sir Leon drink water from the Cup of Life (The Coming of Arthur: Part One).
 * Ge hailige, used by Merlin to try to heal Arthur from a poisoned wound. The spell, even though it was repeated twice, failed (The Coming of Arthur: Part One).
 * The spells used by the Vilia to heal Merlin from the Dorocha's deadly touch. The young warlock stretched out his hand to touch the surface of the lake's water and the good spirits' magic flowed from it to his cold body (The Darkest Hour: Part Two).
 * Efencume... ætgædre, eala gastas cræft ige gestricaþ þis lic forod, used by Merlin, disguised as Dragoon the Great, to try to heal Uther from his mortal wound. This spell was invented by Gwillem of Cambria who was, according to Gaius, mad as a coot but one of the best healers of all. Merlin had prepared an unknown potion which he gave to Uther. Gaius told him to use only four drops, because any more could have been dangerous. The young warlock also took a branch of sage and held it over Uther. As his eyes glowed gold, the branch began to smoke and Merlin wafted the incense over Uther's face. He then began to chant the formula, with increasing intensity. Unfortunately, the spell didn't work, for Agravaine had put a pendant, enchanted by Morgana, around the King's neck. The enchantment could reverse the effect of any healing magic and magnify it tenfold (The Wicked Day).
 * Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare, used by Merlin to heal King Arthur and the other Knights of the Round Table after they ate a soup poisoned by Julius Borden (Aithusa).
 * Ic ðe ðurhhæle ðinu licsar mid ðam sundorcræft ðære ealdan æ. Drycræft ðurhhæle ðina wunda ond ðe geedstaðolie, used by Morgana to heal Merlin of the wound that a bandit had inflicted him, so that he wouldn't have died and she would have been able to take over his mind. The High Priestess cast this spell after she had tended to Merlin's wound, stitching it (A Servant of Two Masters).
 * The spell or spells put by a High Priestess (possibly Vivienne) on Morgana's sleeping bracelet. The sorceress told Alator of the Catha that the healing powers of her bracelet were without equal in the Five Kingdoms (The Secret Sharer).
 * Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare, used by Merlin when he tried to heal the villagers of Longstead. The spell failed because they were not suffering from an ordinary illness, but they had been attacked by Lamia (Lamia).
 * Ic hæle þina þrowunga, cast by Merlin after he had taken the arrow shot by princess Mithian out of Gwen's leg. Gwen quickly recovered and was able to talk to the young warlock (The Hunter's Heart).
 * A healing spell was cast by the young dragon, Aithusa on Morgana. The Witch, who had been running away from Camelot into the Darkling woods, was on the brink of death and was about to die, after having collapsed on the ground and closed her eyes. Aithusa arrived and used his healing breath on the High Priestess, who quickly recovered (The Sword in the Stone: Part Two).
 * Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare. Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare..., cast by the Euchdag to cure Sir Gwaine, who had been brutally beaten by the Saxons who were keeping him, under Morgana's orders, imprisoned in the mines under the Fortress of Ismere. Although the Euchdag possessed the knowledge of the entire universe, it remains uncertain how powerful her spell was, for it took a long time for Gwaine to heal himself. The Diamair used this enchantment again on Merlin, to heal him from the injuries caused by Morgana's stunning spell (Arthur's Bane).
 * Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare. After Merlin had been knocked unconscious by Morgana's stunning spell and brought to the brink of death by an enchantment the witch used to strangle him, Gaius tried to cure him with his medical knowledge. Because the sorcerer was not recovering, the old physician decided to use his long abandoned magic and cast a healing spell, while moving a branch of withered leaves that was releasing a medicative smoke over Merlin's body. Although it took Gaius several attempts, in the end he was able to revive his apprentice (Another's Sorrow).
 * Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ! This spell was cast by Merlin to cure Arthur, who had been poisoned by Gwen with a tincture of valerian and henbane. By placing his hands on the King's chest, the young warlock was able to feel that the sickness was deep in his body, and that his heart had nearly stopped. Although he feared he might not have had the power to bring him back, Emrys' magic was powerful enough to negate the poisons' effects and restart Arthur's heart (A Lesson in Vengeance).
 * After having been poisoned by Morgana and thrown over a cliff, when Merlin came round, he tried to use his magic to heal himself. Given his almost paralyzed condition, however, he was not successful and would have died, hadn't Daegal intervened (The Hollow Queen).
 * When Merlin came round after the Great Dragon had saved him and took him away from Morgana, he found that the wound caused by an arrow in his side had been healed by Kilgharrah. When he noticed that the creature's wing was wounded, he offered him to cure him, but the dragon told Merlin that not even a sorcerer as great as him couldn't prevent him from dying because of his long years (The Kindness of Strangers).
 * The most powerful healing spell was performed on Merlin by the Crystal Cave itself. The sorcerer had been injured by Morgana's dark powers and had lost the will to live, thinking everything he ad fought for was lost. The magic of the Cave, however, created a vision of his father Balinor, who told him he was much more than the son of his father, a son of the earth, the sea and the sky. Merlin was born of magic, the fabric of the world, he was magic itself, and he couldn't lose what he was. Peacefully lulled by Balinor's words, who told him to find in his heart the strength to believe what he knew to be true, Merlin fell asleep, and when he woke, he was completely healed (The Diamond of the Day: Part One).
 * When Gaius told Merlin Arthur had a fragment of sword embedded in his chest, the sorcerer suggested using magic to draw it out. Not even Emrys, however, could hope to negate the dragons' magic of Mordred's sword. The blade's point travelling inexorably toward his heart caused Arthur to suffer a slow and painful death. Although the warlock tried to take the king to the Lake of Avalon, hoping that the Sidhe magic, ancient as the dragons themselves, could have saved his friend. Unfortunately, Arthur passed away (The Diamond of the Day: Part Two).
 * When Merlin threatened her with a sword, Morgana told him that, being a High Priestess, no mortal blade could kill her: this possibly explained how the sorceress had survived the many wounds that had been inflected her on different occasions. Merlin's sword, however, had been forged in a dragon's breath, and with it he was successful in slaughtering the witch (The Diamond of the Day: Part Two).