History Visits
Medical Dictionary
A
Within these pages I will try to list out some of the ailments the Anglo-Saxons suffered from, the remedies that might have been associated with them, and the tools and ingredients they used.
For translations of the plant names, I have used the most excellent website (Dictionary of Old English Plant Names) found here. (It is free to register). Where a plant has been definitively identified the name will be written in regular text; where there is some discussion or confusion of the name, it will be highlighted with the number of possible identifications in brackets next to it. Further notes will be underneath the entry. There are many issues around plant identification because of scribal error, foreign plants, etc...
These pages are for entertainment purposes only. Please always seek the help of a trained medical professional.
vitamin A
Vitamin A has several important functions. These include:
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helping your body's natural defence against illness and infection (the immune system) work properly
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helping vision in dim light
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keeping skin and the lining of some parts of the body, such as the nose, healthy
You can get vitamin A by including good sources of beta-carotene in your diet, as the body can change this into vitamin A. The main food sources of beta-carotene are:
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yellow, red and green (leafy) vegetables, such as spinach, carrots
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yellow fruit - but the Anglo-Saxons didn't have any!
NHS Choices
Symptoms of Vitamin A deficiency:
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Night blindness:
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This causes you to have trouble seeing in low light. It will eventually lead to complete blindness at night.
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Xerophthalmia:
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With this condition, the eyes may become very dry and crusted, which may damage the cornea and retina.
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Infections:
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A person with a vitamin A deficiency can experience more frequent health concerns as they will not be able to fight off infections as easily.
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Bitot Spots:
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This condition is a build-up of keratin in the eyes, causing hazy vision.
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Skin Irritation:
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People experiencing vitamin A deficiency could have problems with their skin, such as dryness, itching, and scaling.
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Keratomalacia:
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This is an eye disorder involving drying and clouding of the cornea — the clear layer in front of the iris and pupil.
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Keratinisation:
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This is a process by which cells become filled with keratin protein, die, and form tough, resistant structures in the urinary, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.
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Stunted Growth:
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Not having enough vitamin A could delay growth or cause children to experience slow bone growth or stunted growth.
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Fertility:
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A deficiency in vitamin A may cause challenges when trying to conceive a child, and in some cases, infertility.
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ache ece, wræce, wærce
all evil hardnesses and gatherings ealle yfele heardnyssa 7 gegaderunga
Notes:
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The originator of the article is Dioskorides (ii. 193). The drawing, MS. V., fol. 60 c, has only the pointed ends of a few leaves left. The Flora Graeca and the drawing in the Vienna codex make Greek stroutheion, (Saponaria officinalis). [MS V is Cotton Vitellius III C] Cockayne
all inward / internal disease eallum innan adlum, eallum inadlum
see here:
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Again for spleen sick people and for all internal-disease
amenorrhoea
Amenorrhoea is the absence or cessation of menstruation and a normal physiological event before puberty, during pregnancy and whilst breastfeeding, and also after the menopause.
Wiþ þon þe wifum sie forstanden hira monaþ
gecynd wyl on ealað hleomoc 7 twa
curmeallan sele drincan 7 beþe þæt
wif on hatum baþe 7 drince þone drenc on þam
baþe hafa þe ær geworht clam of
beor dræstan 7 of grenre mucgwyrte 7
merce - 7 of berene melwe meng ealle tosomne gehrer on pannan clæm on þæt gecynde lim
7 on þone cwið nioþoweardne þonne hio of
þam baþe gæþ 7 drince scenc fulne þær ilcan
drences wearmes 7 bewreoh þæt wif wel 7
læt beon swa beclæmed lange tide þæs dæges do swa
tuwa swa þriwa swæþer þu scyle - þu scealt
simle þam wife bæþ wyrcean 7 drenc sellan
on þa ilcan tid - þe hire sio gecynd æt wære
ahsa þæs æt þam wife.
In case women be stopped in their month
condition (periods): boil in ale brooklime and two
curmealles (3), give to drink, and bathe the
woman in a hot bath, and drink the drink in the
bath; have there, already worked, a paste from
beer dregs and from green mucgwyrte (3) and
celery and from barley meal; mingle all together,
mix up in a pan, plaster onto the natural member
and into the womb (netherwards) when she from
the bath goeth, and drink a cup full of the same
drink warm, and cover/wrap the woman well and let be so plastered a long time in the day; do so
twice or thrice whichever thou shall - thou shalt
always the woman's bath, make and drink give
at the same time - when the condition affects her;
ask this of the woman.
Bald's Leechbook III
Cockayne 1864, vol 2 pg 330/1 xxxviii 1
Notes:
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mucg-wyrte most likely mugwort:
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Etymology: lit. 'gnat-plant, Mückenkraut'; it refers to the fact that flies and gnats like to settle down on Artemesia vulgaris; cf. the use of the plant: "In Norddeutschland hängt man ab und zu in den Stuben Bündel der Pflanze auf, an die sich dann abends die Fliegen in großer Zahl setzen. Hierauf zieht man schnell einen Sack über die Pflanze, sodaß die Fliegen gefangen sind." [In northern Germany, bundles of the plant are sometimes hung up in the living room, and large numbers of flies attach themselves to them in the evening. Then you quickly pull a sack over the plant so that the flies are trapped.] (Hegi 1906,VI,637). Also cf. the NHG popular names: Fliegenkraut [flyweed], Müggerk, Muggart, Mugwurz (Pritzel / Jessen 1886,45). The Dictionary of Old English Plant Names
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amputation a-sniþan
West Heslerton, N. Yorks, G114 - female aged 17-25.
Buried face down with legs bent up and tied together at the knees. Severe Cribra Orbitalia.
The left fibula [small calf bone on the outside] appears to have been cut off below the distal articulation [lower joint], almost certainly ante mortem [before death] or at time of death. There is no evidence of healing and the condition of the bone indicates that damage is not post mortem [after death].
As well as having had her foot cut off, she seems to have also suffered a stroke and survived for a time. Her left clavicle and humerus are much thinner and more fragile than the right. although they are the same length, suggesting asymmetrical paralysis or hemiplagia, with subsequent muscle and bone wasting. This young woman would have been severely disabled for some time before her death. Apart from mobility problems she may well have experienced partial to total loss of bladder and rectal control. In terms of contributing to the communal life of the village and her immediate family, her capabilities would have been severely restricted when compared to healthy and active women of her age. It is possible that she would have required special care. Her survival after her disability reflects the versatility and values of the society in which she lived.
West Heslerton The Anglian Cemetery Vol. i
anaemia
Iron deficiency anaemia is a condition where a lack of iron in the body leads to a reduction in the number of red blood cells. The most common symptoms include:
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tiredness and lack of energy (lethargy)
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shortness of breath
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noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations)
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a pale complexion
see also Cribra Orbitalia.
Vitamin B12 or B9 (commonly called folate) deficiency anaemia occurs when a lack of vitamin B12 or folate causes the body to produce abnormally large red blood cells that cannot function properly. Symptoms include:
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extreme tiredness
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a lack of energy
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pins and needles (paraesthesia)
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a sore and red tongue
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mouth ulcers
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muscle weakness
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disturbed vision
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psychological problems, which may include depression and confusion
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problems with memory, understanding and judgement
This type of anaemia can be caused by your immune system attacking healthy cells in your stomach, preventing your body absorbing vitamin B12 from the food you eat, as well as by simply not eating enough foods that contain it.
anorexia unluste
Wiþ unluste & wlættan þe óf magan
cymð & be his mete - sele him neahtnestigum wermod oððe þreobread gedon on scearp win sele neahtnestigum - & æfter þon sealte mettas mid ecede geswete · & gerenodne senep & rædic
þicgen & ealle þa mettas ge drincan þa þe habban hat mægen & scearp sele þicgean - & gebeorh
$ hie ungemeltnesse ne þrowian - & god win gehæt
& hluttor þicgen on neaht nestig - & neaht nestige lapien on hunig - & secen him broc on onrade
- & on wæne oððe on þon þe hie a þrowian mægen.
For poor appetite and nausea which from the stomach cometh and of his food - give him at nights-fast wormwood or 'three-bread' put into sharp wine give at nights-fast - and after that salt foods with
vinegar sweetened - and prepared mustard and radish consume and all the foods and drinks which have
hot strength and sharp give to consume - and beware that they indigestion not suffer - and good wine heated and clear consume at night fast - and night fast
lap at honey - and seek for him a jade to horse-back-ride - and in a wagon or such as they may endure.
Bald's Leechbook II
Cockayne vol 2. pg 184/5, vi
Jade is a term of no very decided meaning. It sometimes signifies a hackney, sometimes a vicious horse, and sometimes a tired one. (Hackneys were a primary riding horse, riding being the common mode of equine transportation.)
See Appetizers in History Cookbook
arthritis
There are two types of arthrits: rhuematoid arthritis, which affects the fluid of the joints, and osteoarthritis which affects the bones.
Rhuematoid arthritis - joint juice
Osteoarthritis - on the bones. Sewerby, E. Yorks: G31, 41, 44
Resources:
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Cockayne, Leechdoms 1864