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Harley MS 585, ff 130r-193r
- Record Id:
- 041-001949807
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-001949795
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000002022.0x0002a3
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 585, ff 130r-193r
- Title:
- Lacnunga (Leechbook)
- Scope & Content:
-
Lacnunga (i.e. 'remedies' or 'cures') is a collection of medical recipes, magical charms and invocations mainly in Old English, partly in Latin and Old Irish. Rubric 'With heafod wræce' with later marginal note in Latin 'Ad dolorem capitis', incipit: 'Genim hamorwyrt and efenlastan nyðowearde', explicit (f. 190v): 'daga fyrste he his lif geændað', followed (ff. 191r-193r) by invocations in Latin and (f. 193r) a medical recipe in Old French, incipit: 'A os freint en tester A merusche / et herbe terestre boilli en miel'.
The text includes prose and metrical charms (ff. 136v-137r, 160r-163r known as 'Nine Herbs Charm', 167r-167v, 175r-176r, 180v-181r, 181v-183r, 185r-186r), Latin prayers (ff. 149r-150v, 151r, 181r-181v, 183r-184r, 191r-193r), the poem 'Lorica of Lodgen' (ff. 152r-157r), and a short text (ff. 190r-190v) on lucky and unlucky days known as 'Dies Aegyptiaci'. For the text see Cockayne 1864-1866; H. H. G. Grattan and C. Singer, Anglo-Saxon Magic and Medicine Illustrated Specially from the Semi-Pagan Text 'Lacnunga', Publications of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, new series 3 (London: Oxford University Press, 1952); Bierbaumer 1976. For the charms, see E. V. K. Dobbie, The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems, Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, 6 (New York, 1942); G. Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic (The Hague, 1948).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
Harley Science Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-001949795
041-001949807 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 585 : Medical miscellany including Pseudo-Apuleius, Herbarium, and 'Lacnunga'
Harley MS 585, ff 130r-193r : Lacnunga (Leechbook) - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[0585]/040-001949795[0004]/041-001949807
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- Item
- Extent:
- 63 folios.
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_585 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English, Old
French, Old
Irish
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1000
- End Date:
- 1040
- Date Range:
- Early 11th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)