An archaic term for a curse, enchantment, or magical binding, possibly related to harmful magic or witchcraft.
Old English compound: 'by' (intensive prefix) + 'spell' (a magical incantation). Common in medieval texts describing magical harm, reflecting Anglo-Saxon beliefs about the power of words and curses.
Medieval people believed words had real magical power to harm you—'byspell' was their word for when someone's magical curse actually worked to hurt someone!
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