Of Spirituality and Nature: Studying The Anglo-Saxons through The Nine Herbs Charm

 

 

For England in the early Middle Ages, medicine was limited at best. However, it was also a period of experimentation with the plants that surrounded them. The Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm is a written example of this, one that tested the limits of nature and spirituality in its heyday. If this and similar charms really worked, though, is a matter of debate and even scientific testing. 

To begin, the Nine Herbs Charm was believed to have a variety of purposes. The only ailment it actually specifies curing is removing venom from snake bites, but this is a lyrical piece that invokes the assumed powers of these nine herbs, alluding to more that they could do. If you read the Nine Herbs Charm that would be the first thing you notice: the fact that it reads like a poem. This is because this charm was meant to be chanted to the patient, according to the instructions included with it. This was necessary or else the charm would not work, which could denote doubt in the efficiency of the herbs.



11th century leaf depicting medical herbs surrounding Old English text

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/old-english-illustrated-herbal

 Charms were often included in books as the leaf pictured here was, and kept in libraries for study. As you can see in the featured leaf, the designs dominate the page, far more than the text. It could show how much the people of the time valued self-expression even in something as important as a medical document. Considering how poetic the Nine Herbs Charm is, it is easy to believe. This could also be a testament to their doubt in the plants they used if they placed their illustrations so broadly on the life, as they are valuing the art aspect more than the potential use of it.

Yet, charms were not uncommon at the time, so there must have been faith in them. They even went beyond medicine and into daily life. For some tasks such as maintaining livestock or beekeeping, there were good-luck charms. It could be that magic, or superstition rather, was a huge part of Anglo-Saxon society. By the diversity of these charms, there is a clear fascination for the unknown, and it all connected to nature. Nature and superstition seemed to go hand in hand. For beekeeping, it required a ritual done on dusty earth. In the Nine Herbs Charm, the herbs could not work without a ritual. Likewise, "magic" required the herbs as a channel.

It leads us to our burning questions: Did it work? Were the Anglo-Saxons skilled enough to make beneficial use of the plants around them or was it all left up to hope and chance? Studies in recent years asked these very questions. Scientists have considered just how advanced the Anglo-Saxons were through their medical practices preserved in manuscripts like the Nine Herbs Charm. One study took a group of herbs mentioned in Anglo-Saxon medical documents—some of which were used in the Nine Herbs Charm--and prepared the remedies as accurately as they could using technology that would have been available at the time. Then they pit the medicines against the diseases they were said to cure. The plantain was one of the herbs tested, which was described in the Nine Herbs Charm as the “plant-tribes’ mother,” most likely promoting its status. However, when used against infection-causing bacteria, the plant had no effect whatsoever. Of course, one test cannot speak for the multitudes of charms or incantations out there, but it does point out how heavily the Anglo-Saxons must have relied on their spirituality fueled by nature for not only medicine but for guidance. They may have been aware of the weakness in their charms, but having a physical anchor like a group of "magic herbs" provided the spiritual support they needed to navigate life.