Lögberg-Heimskringla - 31.01.2003, Blaðsíða 1

Week at a glance
Andrea Svava Jónsdóttir
2003 lcelandic Canadian Club of
BC Princess See page 3
Canada-lceland Foundation
Announces Scholarships
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Friday, 31 January 2003 • Number 03/ Númer 03» Föstudagur, 31 Janúar 2003
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuð 20. ágúst 1959
Heimskringla
The Icelandic Weekly
www.logberg.com
PAP Registration no. 08000 Agreement no. 1402161 '116th year /'T1B. Árgangur ISSN 0047-4967
íslensk ætihvönn aftur hafin til vegs og virðingar
Icelandic Angelica Archangelica Esteemed Again
Hvönn, Arctic angelica, by Dyrhólaey close to Vík i Mýrdal.
In January 2002 SAGAMED-
ICA marketed its first natural
health product made from the
Icelandic Angelica archangeli-
ca. This product is called
Angelica and is the results of a
ten-year research project done
by Dr. Sigmundur
Guðbjarnarson, professor of
biochemistry at the University
of Iceland, his assistant, the
versity. By researching and pro-
ducing natural products from
Angelica archangelica, the
Icelandic nations shows that it
values the plant again, as it did
in the past.
Merkileg saga
ætihvannarinnar
The remarkable history of
the Angelica archangelica
Angelica archangelica has a
ment. It is not known whether
the settlers brought it with them
or not. The scholar, Helgi
Hallgrímsson, thinks it likely
that it existed in Iceland before
settlement and that it probably
survived glacial times.
Therefore its history in Iceland
is many thousands of years old.
Angelica archangelica has been
known and used from time
immemorial.
Angelica was an important
herb in the Nordic countries
and is thought to be one of the
first herbs to be cultivated.
Angelica archangelica grows
all over the globe and there are
about thirty different varieties
that exist. The Nordic Angelica
was considered much more
potent then the ones that grew
further south. In the ninth cen-
tury when the Vikings began
their trading tours through
Europe, they used the dried
roots in place of currency. It is
interesting to note that today’s
research done by Dr.
Guðbjarnarson and Steinþór
Sigurðsson confirms that the
Nordic Angelica is more potent
than the one that grows farther
south.
Utilization of Angelica was
considered an important part of
farming in the past. In 1782 the
government of Iceland offered
one rix-dollar as a reward to the
farmer who planted the greatest
amount of Angelica in his veg-
etable garden in the Múlasýslas
and in northern Iceland. The
utilization of Angelica was
mostly tied to its roots. The
roots were eaten raw with all
kinds of milk products and with
dried fish. The root was gath-
ered and transported by horses
to the farms, where it was dried
and then buried in soil and kept
until winter. Other parts of the
plant such as the stem, leaves
and seeds were also used.
Af hverju Angelica?
Why Angelica?
The Icelandic product is
called Arctic Angelica. The
Latin name of the plant is
Angelica archangelica-
(archangel). It is named
Engelwurz (angel root) in
German. The root was named
thus because Archangel
Raphael is said to have shown
himself, in the sixteenth centu-
ry, to a French monk in a dream
and pointed to the Angelica as a
cure for the plague.
The Icelandic Angelica is a
so-called herbal tincture made
with alcohol. This is an ancient
method that extracts the healing
substance from the plant.
Monks invented this method in
the sixteenth century and it has
been used to this day. Later
other methods have been used
where the healing substance
has been put into tablets or cap-
sules. SAGAMEDICA will be
producing natural herbal reme-
dies in tablet and capsule form.
Mikil virkni ísienskra
náttúruvara
The great function of
Icelandic herbs
Ten years ago Dr
Sigmundur Guðbjarnarson
began researching Ævar
Jóhannesson’s Lupinus
nootkatensis extract which is
considered to strengthen the
immune system. That research
made Dr. Guðbjamarson and
his co-workers interested in
researching the healing sub-
stance of other Icelandic herbal
plants. Dr. Guðbjamarson and
the biochemist Steinþór
Sigurðsson have mainly con-
ducted this research.
Old medical books record
how good Angelica is for peo-
ple. There it is recorded how
good its use is for people who
are recovering after a difficult
sickness. It helps get rid of
stress, mucus from respiratory
organs, increases and strength-
ens the digestive system, cleans
out the kidneys and is good for
treating children’s ailments of
the lungs. The seeds are consid-
ered good for treating cancer.
These recordings are supported
by modem research. The out-
come of the research shows that
Icelandic herbs produce natural
substances with important bio-
logical activity, which work
against many types of human
cancer cells cultivated and test-
ed in laboratory settings, and
prevent growth of tumors in
mice. (Clinical trials have not
been carried out.) It stimulates
the immune system. As this is a
natural product, the only claim
being made in advertising is
that Arctic Angelica increases
energy, endurance and well-
being. The current use in
Iceland supports that.
New products made from
the seeds and leaves of the
Angelica are being developed
in Iceland. Among those is a
mixture for stomach ailments
and colds, and a mixture and
capsules for reducing the fre-
quency of urination during the
night, and strengthening of the
immune system. Research
shows that the leaves have a
different function than the
seeds. Thus Icelanders will
once again esteem Angelica
archangelica as it was in days
of yore and possibly it will
became an important commod-
ity sold on foreign markets as it
was in the time of the Vikings,
a thousand years ago.
lnformation taken frorn an article
by Þráinn Þon’aldsson, published in
the lcelandic magazine Heima er best.
The Arctic Angelica tinc-
ture is now available through
Walter Sopher in Edmonton tel.
780-481-3502, website
www.icelandic-goods.com.
Árný Hjaltadóttir
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ntblödigrns, l-r(Ul*b. (Nettvante* tflfollntoj
iélUt ábur po Mmtr*r. Ifön cr
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þvntitntdl, apphxtuuuli, orinilrrparulí or vcr
rvUiun. Ilún brtihnst þvf ntdti .k.TbJtÍRl,
Jtulu, ndhls - Og Nfrmttkl, vntimótt, Ikt-
I og floatnm f Kíinu. Illttft lu im-
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wyOIiiu takiit hilCa fninnn eint opt 4 <I*ít;
juö drcjiur ortnn í wíímiuiu og styrklr
prtyttm Kltama, Ijynnír og hrdnsar p.illíð,
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heiwolu er hlft bczta ii)aga»tyrkjiin<li incfi-
41 vift hnrfiJ/ÍÍ, gulu, inlllís og Ilff-
arbóJpu og öftrutii mriulmtutn; aí J»ví rirekk-
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orinum I mDnnunt. Te aí bluOum hcimar
skal f ofantítlilum tlUclluin rirckkaat tullur , a
kafBtmlli f acnn 4 slnnunt .luglr.cn- í »aia- S
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llvönu, *lihv«mt (angeUea atiUango- ;
lira) takist ií vori avo fljött »e«n vtröur.
llúii liclir atyrkjanrii, vindcyfttunU, r>viU“>
leiöuinli, ormdrcpamli, uj»j»loy*mn4I, Iriíft-
t>y> vcsMi hriíinsamli krajit. Hóft er þvJ
góft móti mftUróIyat, vinrium ( gfirtmm, l»o-
vortu tökum. gulu, ln«U og akyrbjúgl, fóU-
‘
A page with information from an old Icelandic medicinal
book published in 1859, and still in use at an Icelandic farm.
biochemist Steinþór Sigurðsson
and other scientists at the uni-
remarkable history, which goes
back to the beginning of settle-
Creating Community • Sköpum Samfélag