M agnetodielectric materials are characterized by a strong coupling of the magnetic and dielectric properties and, in rare cases, simultaneously show both magnetic and polar order. Among other multiferroics, TbMnO 3 and GdMnO 3 reveal a strong magneto-dielectric coupling and as a consequence fundamentally different spin excitations exist: electro-active magnons (or electromagnons), spin waves that can be excited by a.c. electric fields. Here we provide evidence that these excitations appear in the phase with an incommensurate magnetic structure of the manganese spins. In external magnetic fields this incommensurate structure can be suppressed and the electromagnons wiped out, thereby inducing considerable changes in the index of refraction from d.c. up to terahertz frequencies. Hence, besides adding a creature to the zoo of fundamental excitations, the refractive index can be tuned by moderate magnetic fields, which enables the design of the next generation of optical switches and optoelectronic devices.Enormous progress has been made in the field of multiferroics and the discovery of new classes of ferroelectromagnets (FEMs) with the simultaneous occurrence of magnetic and polar order [1][2][3][4][5] has triggered a revival 6,7 of this old field of magneto-dielectric effects and the electrodynamics of multiferroic media 8 . As well as promising applications of FEMs in the field of modern electronics, for example, as multiple-state memory devices with mutual magnetic or electric control or as magnetically switchable optical devices, fascinating new problems can be tackled in basic research, such as the search for magneto-dielectric excitations.