In the Middle Ages, few plants were as feared, prized, or wrapped in myth as the mandrake. Said to scream when pulled from the ground and potentially kill the one who uprooted it, this powerful root was believed to hold incredible healing properties—if you could survive gathering it.
The Old English Herbarium: A Medieval Medical Manual
The Old English Herbarium, dating to around the 10th century, is a collection of medical remedies based on much earlier works. Surviving in four manuscripts, it offers cures from over 185 plants and herbs, including basil, nettle, and coriander. The cures range from common ailments like headaches and pimples to more serious medical problems such as snake bites and broken bones.
The Herbarium draws heavily on classical sources such as Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides, translated and adapted for use in early medieval England. But the text also includes material shaped by medieval belief systems, none more famous than its section on the mandrake.
The Myth and Danger of the Mandrake
One of the most fascinating entries in the Old English Herbarium is about the mandrake plant. Its root had an unusual shape—it vaguely resembled a human body with arms and legs. It was also known to be a highly toxic hallucinogen.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the mandrake was surrounded by folklore. It was often depicted as a cross between a plant and a human being, and stories warned of its magical powers. Despite these fears, it was also considered extremely valuable for its medicinal properties, said to treat a wide range of illnesses.
The Old English Herbarium section on the mandrake, from British Library Cotton MS Vitellius C III fol. 57v
The Old English Herbarium includes detailed (and bizarre) instructions on how to safely obtain a mandrake root. Apparently, it was no simple task:
This plant called mandrake is large and glorious to see, and it is beneficial. You must gather it in this manner: when you approach the plant, and you will recognize it because it shines at night like a lantern, when you first see its head, mark around it quickly with an iron tool lest it flee from you. Its power is so great and powerful that it wants to flee quickly when an impure person approaches it.
Because of this, you must mark around it with an iron tool, and then you must dig around it, being careful not to touch it with the iron; however, you can dig the earth strenuously with an ivory staff. When you see its hands and feet, fasten them. Take the other end and fasten it around a dog’s neck (make sure the dog is hungry). Throw some meat in front of him so that he cannot reach it unless he snatches the plant up with him. About this plant it is said that it has such great power, whatever pulls it up will quickly be deceived in the same way. Because of this, as soon as you see that it has been pulled up, and you have power over it, immediately seize it, twist it, and wring the juice from its leaves into a glass bottle.
Six Strange Cures Using Mandrake
Once harvested, the mandrake was used in a number of medical treatments. Here are six remedies listed in the Herbarium:
1. For headache and for sleeplessness, take the juice and smear it on the face, and use the plant in the same way to relieve headache. You will be surprised at how quickly sleep will come.
2. For earache, take the juice of the same plant mixed with oil of spikenard and put it into the ears. You will be surprised at how quickly it cures.
3. For gout, even if it is severe, take three pennies’ weight from either the right and left hand or from either hand of this plant and powder it. Give it to drink in wine for seven days, and the person will be cured; not just that the swelling will go down, but it will also relieve nerve spasms and cure pain, both in a wonderful manner.
4. For insanity, that is for possession by devils, take three pennies’ weight from the body of the mandrake plant and give it to drink as easily as the person is able in warm water. He will be quickly cured.
5. Again, for nerve spasms, take one ounce by weight from the body of this plant and pound it into powder. Mix it with oil and then smear it on whomever has the aforementioned condition.
6. If anyone perceives any grievous evil in the home, take the mandrake plant to the center of the house – as much as one has of it – and it will expel all the evil.
Myth, Medicine, and the Mandrake
The mandrake’s mix of danger, folklore, and healing power made it a plant like no other in the medieval world. Whether viewed as medicine, magic, or myth, it reflects the fascinating interplay between belief and science in early medieval healing traditions.
In the Middle Ages, few plants were as feared, prized, or wrapped in myth as the mandrake. Said to scream when pulled from the ground and potentially kill the one who uprooted it, this powerful root was believed to hold incredible healing properties—if you could survive gathering it.
The Old English Herbarium: A Medieval Medical Manual
The Old English Herbarium, dating to around the 10th century, is a collection of medical remedies based on much earlier works. Surviving in four manuscripts, it offers cures from over 185 plants and herbs, including basil, nettle, and coriander. The cures range from common ailments like headaches and pimples to more serious medical problems such as snake bites and broken bones.
The Herbarium draws heavily on classical sources such as Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides, translated and adapted for use in early medieval England. But the text also includes material shaped by medieval belief systems, none more famous than its section on the mandrake.
The Myth and Danger of the Mandrake
One of the most fascinating entries in the Old English Herbarium is about the mandrake plant. Its root had an unusual shape—it vaguely resembled a human body with arms and legs. It was also known to be a highly toxic hallucinogen.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the mandrake was surrounded by folklore. It was often depicted as a cross between a plant and a human being, and stories warned of its magical powers. Despite these fears, it was also considered extremely valuable for its medicinal properties, said to treat a wide range of illnesses.
The Old English Herbarium includes detailed (and bizarre) instructions on how to safely obtain a mandrake root. Apparently, it was no simple task:
This plant called mandrake is large and glorious to see, and it is beneficial. You must gather it in this manner: when you approach the plant, and you will recognize it because it shines at night like a lantern, when you first see its head, mark around it quickly with an iron tool lest it flee from you. Its power is so great and powerful that it wants to flee quickly when an impure person approaches it.
Because of this, you must mark around it with an iron tool, and then you must dig around it, being careful not to touch it with the iron; however, you can dig the earth strenuously with an ivory staff. When you see its hands and feet, fasten them. Take the other end and fasten it around a dog’s neck (make sure the dog is hungry). Throw some meat in front of him so that he cannot reach it unless he snatches the plant up with him. About this plant it is said that it has such great power, whatever pulls it up will quickly be deceived in the same way. Because of this, as soon as you see that it has been pulled up, and you have power over it, immediately seize it, twist it, and wring the juice from its leaves into a glass bottle.
Six Strange Cures Using Mandrake
Once harvested, the mandrake was used in a number of medical treatments. Here are six remedies listed in the Herbarium:
1. For headache and for sleeplessness, take the juice and smear it on the face, and use the plant in the same way to relieve headache. You will be surprised at how quickly sleep will come.
2. For earache, take the juice of the same plant mixed with oil of spikenard and put it into the ears. You will be surprised at how quickly it cures.
3. For gout, even if it is severe, take three pennies’ weight from either the right and left hand or from either hand of this plant and powder it. Give it to drink in wine for seven days, and the person will be cured; not just that the swelling will go down, but it will also relieve nerve spasms and cure pain, both in a wonderful manner.
4. For insanity, that is for possession by devils, take three pennies’ weight from the body of the mandrake plant and give it to drink as easily as the person is able in warm water. He will be quickly cured.
5. Again, for nerve spasms, take one ounce by weight from the body of this plant and pound it into powder. Mix it with oil and then smear it on whomever has the aforementioned condition.
6. If anyone perceives any grievous evil in the home, take the mandrake plant to the center of the house – as much as one has of it – and it will expel all the evil.
Myth, Medicine, and the Mandrake
The mandrake’s mix of danger, folklore, and healing power made it a plant like no other in the medieval world. Whether viewed as medicine, magic, or myth, it reflects the fascinating interplay between belief and science in early medieval healing traditions.
The text of the Old English Herbarium has been translated in Medieval Herbal Remedies: The Old English Herbarium and Anglo-Saxon Medicine, by Anne Van Arsdall (Routledge, 2002).
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