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Introduction: Treasures and Magic

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Treasures were magical. Until the nineteenth century, buried treasures were shrouded with intricate webs of narratives. Most of these narratives had magical elements. Vestiges of that treasure magic have survived. In the summer of 2009, while I worked on this book, the spectacular discovery of an Anglo-Saxon treasure in Staffordshire made headlines. Metal detector enthusiast Terry Herbert, who had searched for treasure troves in vain for years, unearthed about 1500 gold and silver objects dating back to the seventh century. In an interview, Herbert told the press: I have this phrase that I say sometimes — ‘spirits of yesteryear take me where the coins appear’ — but on that day I changed coins to gold. […] I don’t know why I said it that day, but I think somebody was listening and directed me to it. […] I was going to bed and in my sleep I was seeing gold items.1