Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 233
“EYRSILFR DRUKKIT, ÞAT GERIR BANA” 231
28. Steinn sá er koralus heitir – Hann er
góðr við augu ok augnamyrkva.
(D:122; 434:382)
The stone that is called coral – it is
good for the eyes and the dimness
of the eyes.
29. Balsamum bǿtir myrk augun ok
skírir.
((D:121); 434:382)
Balsam87 improves and clears dim-
ness of the eyes.
30. Reykelsi stǫðvar blóðrás, hvaðan
sem renn. Ok þat linar saur88 í enda-
þarmi eða í ǫðrum stað lǽtr eigi
vaxa. Ef þat er temprat við mjólk ok
við lagt, þá er þat lǽkning.
(D:51; 434:382; 194:67–68)
Incense stops blood from flowing,
wherever it runs from. And it
loosens excrements in the rectum or
prevents it from growing in other
places. If it is tempered with milk
and applied, then it is a cure.
31. Dioskurides segir af grasi því er
peonia heitir: „Ek sá svein einn
átta vetra gamlan, er hafði þat gras
hengt á hals sér. En þá barsk svá at
of daginn, at þat gras féll af honum.
En þegar jafnskjótt féll sveinninn
niðr ok hafði brotfall. En þá var þat
aftr horfit í annat sinn á hann ok þá
sakaði sveinninn ekki meðan hann
hafði þat á sér. En þá féll af honum
í annat sinn, en jafnskjótt féll hann
í ina sǫmu sótt sem hann hafði fyrr.
En þá var grasit bundit á hann enn
ok bǽttisk jafnskjótt. Ok sǫmu lund
fór sinn it þriðja: Spiltisk er af var,
en batnaði er á var bundit.“ Sama
vitni berr Galienus, inn spakasti
maðr, of þat sama gras.
(D:120; 434:382)
Dioscorides says about the plant
called peony: “I saw a boy, eight
years old, who had that plant
hung around his neck. And then it
happened one day that the plant fell
off him. And immediately the boy
fell down and had an epileptic fit.
And then it was put on him again
and the boy was in no harm while
he had it on him. And then it fell off
him a second time, and immediately
he fell into the same sickness as he
had before. And then the plant was
put on him again and he recovered
straight away. And the same thing
happened for the third time:
deteriorated when it was off but
recovered when it was put on him.”
Galen, the wisest of men, testifies in
the same way about that same plant.
87 This presumably refers to balm of Gilead, or balsam of Mecca, the mastic of the tree
Commiphora gileadensis, the Arabian balsam tree. See Larsen, Medical Miscellany, 228.
However, balsam can be collected from a variety of plants. It was used by the church, mixed
with olive oil, to make chrism.
88 “sar” (wound) in D (Larsen, Medical Miscellany, 51) and AM 194 8vo (Kålund, Alfræði
íslenzk, 67).