Lacnunga

Lacnunga (Old English for "remedies") is a collection of various Old English texts that give instructions on healing methods, many of which use spells and blessings .

classification

Lacnunga is one of several medical texts from the Old English period. It was probably written down in the 11th century in southwest England. The name was only given to it by Oswald Cockayne in the 19th century . The text is contained in the British Library Harley 585 manuscript . The instructions on the circumstances under which the spells and blessings are to be used are in prose , the proverbs themselves in poetry .

content

While other works of old English medical literature (e.g. Bald's Leechbook ) contain many rationally explainable healing methods, Lacnunga relies primarily on white magic as a remedy. An order of the content according to the principle of “a capite ad calcem” (Latin “from head to heel”) was planned, but was not maintained. Lacnunga contains sayings in a loose sequence

for the fertility of barren land
as a recipe for a herbal mixture ( nine herbs blessing )
against a dwarf
against late birth
against the "water elf disease"

(Gif mon biþ on wæterælfadle, þonne beoþ him þa hand-

næglas wonne and þa eagan tearige and wile locian niþer.

Translation:

When someone has water elf disease, their finger

nails pale and eyes watery and he wants to look down. )

to calm a swarm of bees
against cattle theft
as a travel blessing and many others.

The longest and best known of these sayings is the nine herbs blessing ( Nine Herbs Charm ).

reception

Lacnunga is of comparatively little medicinal value. However, it gives an insight into the popular beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons - according to their imagination, diseases were often caused by elves or worms - and allows conclusions to be drawn as to what the most common diseases and complaints may have been. The magic Wið færstice ( Against a sudden stab ) z. B. could u. a. be understood as a remedy for a heart attack. The last lines are:

Ut, spere, næs in, spere!

Gif her inne sy isernes dæl,

hægtessan geweorc, hit sceal gemyltan.

Gif ðu would be on fell scoten oððe would be on flæsc scoten

oððe would be scoten on blod

oððe wære on lið scoten, næfre ne sy ðin lif atæsed;

gif hit would be esa scot oððe hit would be ylfa scot

oððe hit would be hægtessan gescot, nu ic wille ðin helpan.

þis ðe to bote esa gescotes, ðis ðe to bote ylfa gescotes,

ðis ðe to bote hægtessan gescotes; ic ðin will helpan.

Fleoh þær on fyrgenheafde.

Hal westu, helpe ðin drihten!

Translation:

Out, spear, not in, spear!

Should there be something iron in here

Rocket science, then it should melt.

Whether you were shot in the skin or shot in the flesh

or got shot in the blood

or have been shot in a limb, never be harmed to your life;

Whether it was a shot from the Aesir or an elven shot

or it was lumbago, now I'll help you.

This shall heal you from the demsir's shot, this shall heal you from the elven shot,

this should heal you from lumbago; I'll help you.

Escape to the head of the mountain.

Salvation, help you the Lord!

In addition, a mixture of Germanic pagan beliefs, Christian influence (recognizable by Latin blessings) and Greco-Roman superstitions in Lacnunga can be examined.

Possibly has JRR Tolkien , a professor of Old English was, from nine herbs blessing and the WID Færstice inspiration when he's novel The Lord of the Rings wrote. In the nine herbs blessing , nine medicinal herbs are juxtaposed with nine diseases, just as in Tolkien's novel nine companions stand against nine evil ring spirits . In WID Færstice is of riders on a hill, the speech, and the sudden pain is attributed to a knife, an arrow or spear, which is cast of hexene or Elf. Finally the bullet is removed and is supposed to melt. In The Lord of the Rings , the main character Frodo is pierced on a hill by a rider who is called a "Witch King" with a knife, the fragment of which is left in the wound is later melted down. The wish for a blessing "Hal westu" also appears as "Westu Théoden Hal" ("Werde du, Théoden, Heil").

Footnotes

^ British Library: Detailed record for Harley 585. Retrieved February 2, 2015 .

↑ See archived copy ( Memento of the original dated May 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ • Cameron, Malcolm L. "Anglo - Saxon medicine and magic." Anglo-Saxon England 17 (1988): 191-215.
↑ See archived copy ( Memento of the original dated February 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ ^a ^b Carol A. Leibiger in the JRR Tolkien Encyclopedia , Ed. Michael DC Drout. Routledge 2006. See http://cw.routledge.com/ref/tolkien/charms.html

Sources (accessible online)

Cockayne, TO, Leechdoms Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England Being a Collection of Documents, for the Most Part Never Before Printed Illustrating the History of Science in this Country Before the Norman Conquest , 3 vols., London: Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores ( Rolls Series) 35 i-iii, 1864-6 (reprint 1965) vol. 2. ( Digital copy - Internet Archive )

Web links

[1] British Library: Detailed record for Harley 585. Retrieved February 2, 2015 .