And it also became clear to me what “pbrey” could be, after Stolfi identified the last letter as possibly being a “y.”
As we now know, the author of the “Charm” loved alliteration.
The scribe might have placed the “p” before “brey” to achieve the phonetic—or at least visual—alliteration “palsen–prey,” while at the same time writing “brey,” the form that was likely more familiar to him.
This would not be a standard dictionary word “pbrey,” but rather a contamination of two equally valid spelling variants. This is particularly supported by the fact that both forms actually existed in the same linguistic area.
But was there even such a thing as “balsam brey”???
(Mainz 1485):
"darnach dissen durch gestrichen brey mischen mit baumöle vnd wachs vnd dar vß machen eyn salbe."
“Then mix this brey, which has been strained, with tree oil and wax, and make an ointment out of it.”
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Balsam is originally a viscous, fragrant plant sap from balsam trees.
The recipe above demonstrates the connection between “brey” and tree oils.
As a conclusion of the last posts: And so, unfortunately, I have to disagree with Stolfi.
The various passages in the charm make sense. It’s clearly not an attempt to reconstruct something the scribe couldn’t read, but rather a perfectly normal charm.
However, I can’t say whether it was added by one of the scribes of the VMS or at a later