Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 232

230 GRIPLA
24. Gras þat er acacia heitir – Legg við
enda þarms, ef út snýst, þá mun aftr
snúask ok svá sár, ef um vendisk.
(D:112; 434:381)
The plant that is called acacia [gum
Arabic] – apply it to the rectum if
it twists out, then it will turn back,
and also wounds if they become
twisted.
25. Gras þat er rubea heitir, þat er
roðagras – Þat hrindr út ór óléttri
konu, þó at barn sé dautt.
(D:88; 434:381)
The plant that is called rubea [rose
madder], that is roðagras [lit.: red-
dening plant] – it expels a baby out
of a pregnant woman, even if it is
dead.
26. Jǫrð sú er á innsigli er lǫgð ok
manns líkneski er á – Hon er góð
við ormsbit ok annarra flugorma.
Ok ef manni er gefinn ólyfjans-
drykkr, þá drekki hann af þessi
jǫrðunni. Þat hrindr eitri út, en
sakar ekki.
(D:124; 434:381)
The soil on which a seal is
impressed and a man’s likeness – it
is good against a snake bite and the
bite of flying insects. And if a man
is given a poisonous drink, then he
should drink from this soil. This
will expel the poison, but does no
harm.85
27. Muskus heitir forað. Þat elsk í kviði
eins dýrs. Þat er kiðlingi glíkt þeim
er elsk á Indíaland. Þat renn saman
af blóði þess dýrs ok ystisk sem
mjolk. En þá er þat er fullvaxið, þá
ǿðisk svá dýrit, at þat þolir hvergi,
nema renn til trés eða staurs. En þá
staurask þat svá lengi við í óviti, at
þat raufar á sér kviðinn. En forað
þat fellr út.
(D:124)
Muskus is the name of a monster
[or: mud].86 It grows in the belly of
an animal that is similar to the kid
that exists in India. It runs from the
blood of that animal and curdles like
milk. And when it is fully grown
the animal becomes so mad that it
cannot rest unless it runs into a tree
or a post. And then it ramps on for
so long in its folly that it tears its
belly. And that monster falls out.
85 This is a reference to the so-called terra sigillata, “small moulds of clay containing iron oxide
exported from the island of Lemnos. It was considered a good antidote for all poisons.”
(Larsen, Medical Miscellany, 208 f3). See also Kålund, Den islandske lægebog, 381–382f;
Constantine, De gradibus, 353.
86 Forað can mean “mud” or “wet dirt,” “pit,” “morass,” and the like, as well as “monster.” The
male musk deer produces a red-brown paste in its abdominal glands, used in perfumery.
Here, forað seems more likely to refer to the mud-like substance, and the translation
“monster” (Larsen, Medical Miscellany, 208) may perhaps be a mistranslation. See a cor-
responding Latin text in Constantine, De gradibus, 354; Kristensen, Harpestræng, 41, 131.
Among the described effects of muskus are that it strengthens the body with its pleasant
smell and combats infections. Ibid., 41.