Spells at the Cradle. The Magic of Words in Folk and Lyrical Lullabies

Abstract

The article focuses on some examples of magic in traditional folk lullabies and lyrical lullabies for children. The aforementioned types of genre should invoke child’s sleep by using special words or melody. On the other hand, traditional lullabies were used to protect children or bring them health and happiness. To accomplish this, the singer often called some „higher  being”  for  help.  In  the article  that  kind  of  speech  acts  are  considered  as  magical behavior.  The  second  part  of  the text  discusses  use of  language,  character  of  content  and some special procedures in lyrical lullabies, that can be called „magical”. This kind of magic is,  however,  created  by  lullaby  authors, who  practice  it  as  an  intentional  method  to  „do things with words”.