Gripla - 2023, Page 228

226 GRIPLA
Appendix: Translation of the text of AM 655 xxx 4to with
notes
The original text follows the normalised version in Fabian Schwabe’s
digital edition of the manuscript, published at the Medieval Nordic Text
Archive.78 The references to other Old Norse medical books and page
numbers in parenthesis are coded as follows: D = RIA 23 D 43 as printed
in Larsen, Medical Miscellany; 434 = AM 434 a 12mo as printed in Kålund,
Den islandske lægebog; 194 = AM 194 8vo as printed in Kålund, Alfræði
íslenzk; 673: AM 673 a II 4to as printed in Hægstad, Eit stykke.
1. Við svefnleysi – Tak gras þat er
heitir migon79 ok stappa í súru víni.
Ok ríð þat um allan líkam manns
ok gef honum súrur at eta. Þat gerir
svefn allvel.
(D:125; 434:379)
For sleeplessness – take the herb
called poppy and mash it in sour
wine. And apply it all over a man’s
body and give him sorrel to eat. This
will produce a very good sleep.
2. Við sár – Tak saur80 ok legg við um
dag ok nótt. Ok síðan tak svína gall
eða nauta eða geita ok stappa við
salt svá sem pipar ok legg við sár um
kveld ok morgin í annat sinn. Þat
grǿðir einkum vel.
(D:126; 194:65)
For wounds – take dirt [or: excre-
ments] and apply it during day and
night. And then take the gall of
swine, or cattle, or goat, and mash it
with salt as with pepper, and apply
to the wound in the evening and in
the morning for a second time. This
will heal it especially well.
3. Við ormsbit – Tak lǫg af lǽknis-
grasi ok oleu ok salt ok gef honum
drekka. Þat hrindr eitri ór.
(434:379)
For a snake bite – take the juice of
healing plant81 and oil and salt, and
give it to him to drink. This will
expel the poison.
78 Schwabe, Ór lǽknisbók. English translation is mine. Silent modification of "in" to "enn"
in article 41. Translations of plant-names were aided by Larsen, Medical Miscellany,
Kristensen, Harpestræng, and Lange, “Lægeplanter.”
79 “Migon” refers to meconium (ancient Greek mēkōnion) meaning poppy, or the thickened
juice of the opium poppy. See “meconium, n.” in OED Online. Oxford English Dictionary,
Oxford University Press, http://oed.com.
80 “sallt” (salt) in D and AM 194 8vo.
81 The word lǽknisgras (lit.: healing plant) is likely to refer to the plant Plantago major, or
plantain (græðisúra).