merican
Indian tribes, harsh discordant sounds and doleful chants have long been
a favorite means of driving away these same spirits.[178:3] Aulus
Gellius, the Roman writer of the second century, in his "Attic
Nights,"[178:4] mentioned a traditionary belief that sciatica might be
relieved by the soft notes of a flute-player, and quoted the Greek
philosopher Democritus (born about B. C. 480) as authority for the
statement that the same remedy had power to heal wounds inflicted by
venomous serpents. According to Theophrastus, a disciple of Plato and
Aristotle (B. C. 374-286), gout could be cured by playing a flute over
the affected limb;[179:1] and the Latin author Martianus Capella, who
flourished about A. D. 490, asserted that music had been successfully
employed in the treatment of fevers, and in quieting the turbulence of
drunken revellers.

Among the ancient northern peoples, also, songs and runes were reckoned
powerful agents for working good or evil, and were available "to heal or
make sick, bind up wounds, stanch blood, alleviate pain, or lull to
sleep."[179:2] A verse of an old Icelandic poem, called the "Havamal,"
whose authorship is accredited to Wodan, runs as follows: "I am
possessed of songs, such as neither the spouse of a king nor any son of
man can repeat. One of them is called, 'the Helper.' It will help thee
at thy need, in sickness, grief, and all adversities. I know a song
which the sons of men ought to sing, if they would become skilful
physicians."[179:3]

The Anglo-Saxons appreciated the healthful influence of music. At a very
early period in their history, a considerable number of persons adopted
music and singing as a profession. It was the gleemen's duty to
entertain royal personages and the members of their courts. Afterwards
these functions devolved upon the minstrels, a class of musicians who
wandered from castle to camp, entertaining the nobility and gentry with
their songs and accompaniments. The intermediate class of musicians,
whom the later minstrels succeeded, appeared in France during the eighth
century, and came, at the time of the Norman Conquest, to England, where
they were assimilated with the Anglo-Saxon gleemen.[180:1] In the early
poetry of Scandinavia there is frequent reference to the magical
influence of music. Wild animals are fascinated by the sound of a harp,
and vegetation is quickened. The knight, though grave and silent, is
attracted, and even though inclined to stay