Research Literature
BW I:
Bierbaumer, Peter.
Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 1. Bern, Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 1975.
LB:
Cockayne, Oswald Thomas (ed.).
"Leech Book." In: Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early England. Being a Collection of Documents, for the Most Part never before Printed, Illustrating the History of Sience in this Country before the Norman Conquest. Vol. 2. Rev. Ed. by Charles Singer. London: Longman [et. al.], 1961. 1-360.
LB:
Leonhardi, Günther.
Kleinere angelsächsische Denkmäler I. Bibliothek der ags. Prosa VI. Hamburg: Grand, 1905.
Deegan, Marilyn.
A Critical Edition of MS. B.L. Royal 12.D.XVII: Bald's 'Leechbook'. Diss. Univ. of Manchester. 1988.
Hankins, Freda Richards.
Bald's 'Leechbook' Reconsidered. Diss. Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 1993.
Hegi, Gustav.
Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa. Mit bes. Berücks. v. Oesterreich, Deutschland u. d. Schweiz. Zum Gebrauche in d. Schulen u. zum Selbstunterricht. Bd 1-7. Wien: Pichler, 1906.
Jente, Richard.
Die mythologischen Ausdrücke im altenglischen Wortschatz. Anglistische Forschungen; 56 Heidelberg: Winter, 1921.
MS London, British Library, Royal 12 D.xvii.
Wright, Cyril E. (ed.).
Bald's Leechbook. Early English manuscripts in facsimile. 5. Kopenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1955.
Based on the position of the comma I assume that Leonhardi relates smalan to bulentsan; but there are two factors contradicting his decision: in the LB specifying adjectives are generally inserted before the plant name, and þunorwyrt - like →sin-fulle - denotes Sempervivum tectorum L.; in the LB 72/20 a 'great' variety is referred to: þa miclan sinfullan. Therefore I suggest reading bulentsan, þa smalan þunorwyrt, wuduweaxan, the only fact contradicting this argument is the full stop after smalan as recorded in the MS.
Lit. 'thunder-wort, Donnerkraut', cf. Hegi (1906,IV,547): "Diese Art wird seit alter Zeit vom Landvolk auf dem Dach [...] angepflanzt [...], weil die Pflanze nach dem Volksaberglauben vor dem Blitze schützen soll." Also cf. Jente (1921,§§ 58,93,174).