Fabian Schwabe: Fragment eines altwestnordischen Arzneibuches aus dem 13. Jahrhundert

Only few medicine books in Norrøn language have survived till today. Concerning Norway and Iceland, just seven fragments of manuscripts are known to us. The oldest manuscript has been dated at about the 13^th century, the youngest, which was found in Ireland, at about the time between 1500 and 1550. In medieval times, genuine Scandinavian medical literature did not exist. All seven manuscripts are connected with Continental European sources that are derived from monastic medicine and classical antiquity. The names of Galen, Hippocrates of Kos and Dioscorides are mentioned in some of the texts. Obviously, Norway and Iceland were the recipients of an intensive knowledge transfer from the South via Denmark to the North. Henrik Harpestræng’s book of herbs and the well-known ‘Macer floridus’ (11^th century) are the main sources of the Norrøn manuscripts that are highly related to each other. The text and its variations was made use of during a long period of time and it was widely distributed.

A diplomatic edition of the oldest fragment, manuscript AM 655 XXX, and a translation into modern German are the core of the article.

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