“Herbalism was a blend of fantasy, fact, and superstition. People created their own remedies, invoking the gods for a blessing. If the remedy did not work, the ill person would invoke a different god and try another remedy.”
-Judy Griffin, Mother Nature’s Herbal
Leechcraft and Wortcunning
Leech is an Old English word, which means healer. Anglo-Saxon leeches thought disease was caused by the entrance of demons and evil spirits into the body. The treatments that were used at this time (c. 596-1066 AD) were meant to rid the body of these obnoxious intruders.
Leech craft was the use of herbs for healing purposes and was often combined with amulets, prayers, charms, and spells. A leech book was an Anglo-Saxon book of medicine, which contained a variety of charms, spells, herbal remedies, and healing rituals, which a leech could refer to when healing their patients.
Here is an example of an ancient Anglo-Saxon charm that would have been found in the leech books of the time:
- “Twig runes shalt thou ken
- If thou a leech will be,
- And ken a sore to see;
- On bark shall one then write
- And on branch of wood whose limbs to east do lout.”
Wort was an Anglo-Saxon word meaning herb. I.e. elfwort = elecampane, liverwort = agrimony, coughwort = coltsfoot. Wort cunning was the knowledge of how to use the secret, occult properties of herbs for healing purposes. Wort craft combined the use of herbal magic along with herbal knowledge and herbal healing.
The Nine Herbs Charm
The nine herbs charm is part of the Lacnunga (remedies) text. The Lacnunga is an ancient 11th-century Anglo-Saxon manuscript written around 1000 AD. The original manuscript, referred to as Harley 585, is currently housed in the British Museum. Various translations of the Lacnunga have been published throughout the years such as Stephen Pollington’s book Leechcraft; Early English Charms, Plant Lore and Healing.
The herbs, or worts, mentioned in this charm are the nine sacred herbs of the Anglo-Saxons which were thought to have been given to humans by Woden, the God of healing.
Sacred Herbs of the Nine Herbs Charm
The Nine Herbs Prayer from the Lacnunga includes nine sacred herbs:
- Una = mugwort – Artemisisa vulgaris
- Waybread = plantain – Plantago major
- Stune = lamb’s cress – Nasturtium officinalis
- Atterlothe = betony – Stachys betonica
- Maythe = chamomile – Anthemis nobilis
- Wergulu = nettle – Utricia dioca
- Crab apple – Pyrus malus
- Chervil – Anthriscus cerefolim
- Fennel – Foeniculum vulgare
The Nine Herbs Charm was supposed to help the person reciting it to heal a sick person by invoking the god Woden and his skills as a healer.
“Remember, Mugwort, what you made known,
what you arranged at Regenmeld.
You were called Una, the oldest of herbs,
you have power against three and against thirty,
you have power against poison and against infection,
you have power against the loathsome foe roving through the land.
And you, waybread, mother of herbs,
open from the east, mighty inside.
Over you chariots creaked, over you queens rode,
over you brides cried out, over you bulls snorted.
You withstood all of them, you dashed against them.
May you likewise withstand poison and infection
and the loathsome foe roving through the land.
‘Stune’ is the name of this herb, it grew on a stone,
it stands up against poison, it dashes against poison,
it drives out the hostile one, it casts out poison.
This is the herb that fought against the snake,
it has power against poison, it has power against infection,
it has power against the loathsome foe roving through the land.
Now, atterlothe, put to flight now, Venom-loather, the greater poisons,
though you are the lesser,
you the mightier, conquer the lesser poisons, until he is cured of both.
Remember, maythe, what you made known,
what you accomplished at Alorford,
that never a man should lose his life from infection
after maythe was prepared for his food.
This is the herb that is called ‘Wergulu’.
A seal sent it across the sea-right,
a vexation to poison, a help to others.
It stands against pain, it dashes against poison,
it has power against three and against thirty,
against the hand of a fiend and against mighty devices,
against the spell of mean creatures.
There the Apple accomplished it against poison
that she [the loathsome serpent] would never dwell in the house.
Chervil and Fennel, two very mighty one.
They were created by the wise Lord,
holy in heaven as He hung;
He set and sent them to the seven worlds,
to the wretched and the fortunate, as a help to all.”
Lay of the Nine Twigs of Woden
This section of the Nine Herbs Charm is sometimes referred to as the ‘Lay of the Nine Twigs of Woden’.
“These nine have power against nine poisons.
A worm came crawling, it killed nothing.
For Woden took nine glory-twigs,
he smote the adder that it flew apart into nine parts.
Now these nine herbs have power against nine evil spirits,
against nine poisons and against nine infections:
Against the red poison, against the foul poison.
against the yellow poison, against the green poison,
against the black poison, against the blue poison,
against the brown poison, against the crimson poison.
Against worm-blister, against water-blister,
against thorn-blister, against thistle-blister,
against ice-blister, against poison-blister.
Against harmfulness of the air, against harmfulness of the ground,
against harmfulness of the sea.
If any poison comes flying from the east,
or any from the north, [or any from the south,]
or any from the west among the people.
Woden stood over diseases of every kind.
I alone know a running stream,
and the nine adders beware of it.
May all the weeds spring up as herbs from their roots,
the seas slip apart, all salt water,
when I blow this poison from you.”
Preparing the Nine Herbs for Healing
The following section of the Nine Herbs Charm describes how to prepare and use the nine healing herbs while singing, or chanting the charm.
“Mugwort, waybread open form the east, lamb’s cress, atterlothe, maythe, nettle, crab-apple, chervil and fennel, old soap; pound the herbs to a powder, mix them with the soap and the juice of the apple. Then prepare a paste of water and of ashes, take fennel, boil it with the paste and wash it with a beaten egg when you apply the salve, both before and after.
Sing this charm three times on each of the herbs before you prepare them, and likewise on the apple. And sing the same charm into the mouth of the man and into both his ears, and on the wound, before you apply the salve.”
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