The Glagolitic Amulet from Varna in Light of Old Novgorod Parallels and Vice Versa

The article analyses the Glagolitic prayer on the lead amulet published by K. Popkonstantinov and H. Miklas in 2009. A new reading of the central phrase is proposed based on the parallels in Novgorod birchbark documents. In the second part of the article, the Varna amulet and artefacts of its circle are compared with the birchbark documents about magical contents. It is shown that Old Bulgarian and Old East Slavic texts share a group of motifs organized around the figure of angel Sichael as a protector against fevers. The mention of the name Sichael in the inscription – its only South Slavic attestation – does not support the conclusion according to which the cult of this angel reached Novgorod directly from Cappadocia, where it had emerged and developed.