Hvönnin í Ólafs sögum Tryggvasonar

Abstract

IN this paper the author describes the use of the herb angelica (Angelica archangelica) in old Norwegian and Icelandic folklore and popular medicine. The Norwegians and the Lapps used to chew the angelica root and this was perhaps originally done to clean the teeth; this was also known in Germany where angelica root dipped in water or wine was used to clean the mouth and teeth. The root was also put under the tongue of people during epidemics. Angelica was also eaten with milk and whipped milk (flautir) both in Norway and Iceland. It was usually cut where it grew wild on mountains. Young Norwegians went collecting it on Saturdays preferably in June before the feast of St. John (the 23fd of June), came back laden on Sundays and sold the herb in front of the church or at the market. It is also known to have been cultivated in gardens in Iceland and Norway in the 18* and 19»h centuries; a Old Norse lawbook from as early as the late 13th century mentions angelica gardens. It is not known whether the belief in angelica as a medicine spread from the North to the South but some of the customs known in Norway are also known in Germany, and a Danish herbal from the early 13th century mentions angelica as a magical and medicinal plant. In Norway it has also been known as a fertility symbol. These customs help to explain an episode in the Sagas of King Oláfr Tryggvason by Oddr Snorrason and Snorri Sturluson, the former more of a hagiographical vita than a biography and originally written in Latin, the latter a part of Snorri's compilation, Heimskringla. Oddr tells that one Palm Sunday King Óláfr met a man in the front of the church with a bundle of angelica. He gave the king "this summer fruit" and King Óláfr cut a piece of it and gave it to his queen Þyri, daughter of King Haraldr of Denmark. When she received it she suddenly remembered the properties which her father gave her as tannfé (a present given to a child when it got his first tooth) and she wanted Oláfr to reclaim these properties. This episode reveals the old custom of chewing angelica or using it for cleaning teeth. It is also possible that the hagiographer Oddr Snorrason used angelica as a Christian symbol, a heaven-sent token referring to Óláfr's death as a martyr in the battle at Svoldr. In Snorri's version of this story there is no specific day mentioned when King Óláfr got the angelica and it appears that he bought it at the market on a Sunday which corresponds to the customs prevailing in Norway. Snorri has Oláfr give one whole angelica to Þyri who does not accept it but abuses the King for not obtaining her properties. The King became angry. This episode is explained here by Snorri having known the angelica as a symbol of love and fertility and he is showing a loveless marriage