For a Swarm of Bees

[1] The charm is named for its opening words, "wiþ ymbe", meaning "against (or towards) a swarm of bees".

[2] In the most often studied portion, towards the end of the text where the charm itself is located, the bees are referred to as sigewif, "victory-women".

The word has been associated by Kemble,[1] Jacob Grimm, and other scholars with the notion of valkyries (Old English wælcyrian), and "shield maidens", hosts of female beings attested in Old Norse and, to a lesser extent, Old English sources, similar to or identical with the Idise of the Merseburg Incantations.

[3] Some scholars have theorized the compound to be a simple metaphor for the "victorious sword" (the stinging) of the bees.

Grendon suggested that the two could possibly have a common origin in pre-Christian Germanic culture.