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Lacnunga
Sign in to savethumb|First page of Lacnunga, beginning Ƿit heafodwræce ("against headache") Lacnunga is a collection of miscellaneous Anglo-Saxon medical texts and prayers, written mainly in Old English and Latin. The title Lacnunga, an Old English word meaning "remedies", is not in the manuscript: it was given to the collection by its first editor, Oswald Cockayne, in the nineteenth century. It is found, following other medical texts, in the British Library's Harley MS 585, a codex probably compiled in England in the late tenth or early eleventh century. Many of its herbal remedies are also found, in varian
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3 sectionsContents
- Contents
- Editions, translations and facsimiles
- References
thumb|First page of Lacnunga, beginning Ƿit heafodwræce ("against headache") Lacnunga is a collection of miscellaneous Anglo-Saxon medical texts and prayers, written mainly in Old English and Latin. The title Lacnunga, an Old English word meaning "remedies", is not in the manuscript: it was given to the collection by its first editor, Oswald Cockayne, in the nineteenth century. It is found, following other medical texts, in the British Library's Harley MS 585, a codex probably compiled in England in the late tenth or early eleventh century. Many of its herbal remedies are also found, in variant form, in ''Bald's Leechbook, another Anglo-Saxon medical compendium.
==Contents== Lacnunga contains many unique texts, including numerous charms, some of which provide rare glimpses into Anglo-Saxon popular religion and healing practices. Among the charms are several incantations in Old English alliterative verse, the most famous being those known as For Delayed Birth, the Nine Herbs Charm and Wið færstice ("Against a sudden, stabbing pain"). There are also several charms in corrupt Old Irish.