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Helleborus_niger_bd2_tafel_093

ceaster-æsc

noun, m., a-decl., 7 occ.

Type: plant

Last Update: 26.08.2011 09:43

Old-English: cæasteræsc, ceasteræsc, ceasteræsces, ceasteraxsan,

Latin (Machine generated): ELIFORUS,

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References Last Update: 26.12.2022 20:19

Meanings Last Update: 23.07.2009 12:04

  • A: plant: foreign
    Helleborus niger L., christmas rose, Christrose
  • B: plant: foreign
    Veratrum album L., white veratrum, Weißer Germer
  • C: plant: native
    Daphne mezereum L., mezereon, Gewöhnlicher Seidelbast
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Comment Last Update: 30.03.2012 12:18

  • Comment on (A): Helleborus niger L., christmas rose, Christrose

    ELIFORUS is a corrupted HELLEBORUS. BT and Cockayne (1962,III,311) give H. niger as single identification but the broad connotation of medieval HELLEBORUS cannot be limited in such a way, cf. Pritzel (1882,179): "Mittelalt. [...] ELLEBORUM NIGRUM, wovon ELLEBORUM ALBUM = Veratrum album oft nicht unterschieden wird." Due to the leaves even Daphne species are denoted by this name. Erhardt-Siebold (1936,168) gives further reasons: "The hellebores were chiefly prescribed for purging and vomiting, for which the veratrums and daphnes could be used as well. Probably the name hellebore contributed to enhance the prestige of such substitute drugs." She finds support for her argument in the the OE plant name →wēde-berie (ClSt E 243): "The term wēdeberge (= mad-berry), in its first part, undoubtedly refers to mental disorders which had been associated with the name hellebore since antiquity, while the second part clearly points to a berry-bearing plant." (1936,169)

    Etymology: On the determiner ceaster- cf. Erhardt-Siebold (1936,164), who relates it to the Gk plant name κέδτρον; on the primary word cf. Erhardt-Siebold (1936,169, fn.): "The synonym ceaster-æsc (=cestrum-ash) is particulary revealing. The Sorbus aucuparia (mountain-ash, Eberesche, Vogelbeere) and its shrub-like varieties are commonly known by the name 'ash' because of several striking resemblances with the real ashes. One af these varieties, in turn, has much in common with the Mezereum ...". Also cf. OE →ceaster-wyrt.

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Occurrences Last Update: 19.05.2009 16:20

  • ClSt, E 243 ELIFORUS wedeberge ł ceasteræsc
  • D 11, f.5v, col.1 ELIFORUS wedeberge ł ceasteræsc
  • LA, 148/14f[1] gsg ceaster[aesces]
  • LA, 148/8 nasg ceasteraesc
  • LA, 150/2 nasg ceasteraesc
  • LA, 178/9[2] nasg cæsteræsc
  • LB, 99/20 gsg ceasteræsces
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Etymology Last Update: 26.08.2011 09:43

  • Etymology: Etymology-Comment:
  • Word-Formation:
  • Word-Formation-Comment:
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Images Last Update: 26.08.2011 09:43

Helleborus niger L., christmas rose, Christrose
Helleborus_niger_bd2_tafel_093

Botanical-Information: stylised plate

Source: →reference-information

Thomé, Otto Wilhelm. Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. In 4 Mappen ; 531 Tafeln in naturgetreuen Farben mit 668 Pflanzenarten. Leipzip: Teubner, 1938.

Veratrum album L., white veratrum, Weißer Germer
Veratrum_album_bd1_tafel_118

Botanical-Information: stylised plate

Source: →reference-information

Thomé, Otto Wilhelm. Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. In 4 Mappen ; 531 Tafeln in naturgetreuen Farben mit 668 Pflanzenarten. Leipzip: Teubner, 1938.

Daphne mezereum L., mezereon, Gewöhnlicher Seidelbast
Daphne_mezereum_bd3_tafel_031

Botanical-Information: stylised plate

Source: →reference-information

Thomé, Otto Wilhelm. Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. In 4 Mappen ; 531 Tafeln in naturgetreuen Farben mit 668 Pflanzenarten. Leipzip: Teubner, 1938.

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Research Literature

BT: Bosworth, Joseph. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Ed. by Thomas Northcote Toller. Reprint 1973. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882.
BW I: Bierbaumer, Peter. Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 1. Bern, Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 1975.
BW II: Bierbaumer, Peter. Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 2. Bern, Frankfurt am Main, München: Lang, 1976.
BW III: Bierbaumer, Peter. Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 3. Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Las Vegas: Lang, 1979.
ClSt: Stryker, William Garlington. The Latin-Old English Glossary in MS Cotton Cleopatra A III. Unpubl. diss. Stanford Univ.: 1952.
DOE: Cameron, Angus, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette di Paolo Healey, et al. (eds.). Dictionary of Old English (A to G). CD-Rom. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies for the Dictionary of Old English Project, 2008.
LA, Lor: Grattan, John Henry Grafton, and Charles Singer. Anglo-Saxon Magic and Medicine. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1952.
LA: Cockayne, Oswald Thomas (ed.). "[Lacnunga] Recipies." 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. 3. Rev. Ed. by Charles Singer. London: Holland Press, 1961. 2-81.
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.
WW, Prosp, Br: Wright, Thomas. Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies. 2nd ed. by Richard Paul Wülcker. Reprint of the 1884 ed. published by Trübner, London. Vol. 1: Vocabularies. Vol. 2: Indices. New York: Gordon, 1976.
Erhardt-Siebold, Erika von. "The Hellebore in Anglo-Saxon Pharmacy." Englische Studien 71 (1936): 161-170.
Grein, Christian-Wilhelm-Michael (ed.). Bibliothek der angelsächsischen Poesie. Göttingen: Wigand, 1864.
Lendinara, Patrizia. "The Glossaries in London, BL, Cotton Cleopatra A. iii." In: _Mittelalterliche volkssprachige Glossen: Internationale Fachkonferenz des Zentrums für Mittelalterstudien der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg 2. bis 4. August 1999._ Ed. Rolf Bergmann, Elvira Glaser, and Claudine Moulin-Fankhänel. Heidelberg: Winter, 2001. 189-215.
Meritt, Herbert Dean. "Old English Glosses, Mostly Dry Point." Journal of English and Germanic Philology 60 (1961): 441-450.
MS London, British Library, Royal 12 D.xvii.
MS London, British Library, Harley 585.
MS London, British Library, Cotton Cleopatra A.iii.
MS London, British Library, Cotton Otho E.i.
Olds, Barbara M.. The Anglo-Saxon Leechbook III: A Critical Edition and Translation. Diss. Univ. of Denver. 1985.
Pettit, Edward, (ed. and trans.). Anglo-Saxon Remedies, Charms and Prayers from British Library MS Harley 585: the 'Lacnunga'. Vol. I: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Appendices. Vol. II: Commentary and Bibliography. Mellen Critical Editions and Translations. 6A and 6B. Lewiston, Queenston and Lampeter: Mellen, 2001.
Pritzel, Georg und Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Jessen. Die deutschen Volksnamen der Pflanzen. Neudr. der Ausg.Hannover 1882. Amsterdam: Schippers, 1967.
Rusche, Philip Guthrie. The Cleopatra Glossaries. Diss. Yale Univ. Yale University, 1996.
Sauer, Hans. Patterns of loan-influence on the Medieval English plant names, with special reference to the influence of Greek. In: Foreign Influences on Medieval English, Eds. Jacek Fisiak, and Magdalana Bator. Studies in English medieval language and literature. 28. Frankfurt/Main: Lang, 2011. 55-76.
Storms, Godfrid (ed.). Anglo-Saxon Magic. Reprint of the 1948 ed. published by M. Nijhoff, The Hague. Norwood, Pa: Norwood Editions, 1975.
Voss, Manfred. "Strykers Edition des alphabetischen Cleopatraglossars: Corrigenda und Addenda." AAA 13:2 (1988): 123-138.
Voss, Manfred. "Altenglische Glossen aus MS Brit. Library, Cotton Otho E.i." AAA 22:2 (1996): 179-203.
Wright, Cyril E. (ed.). Bald's Leechbook. Early English manuscripts in facsimile. 5. Kopenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1955.
[1]:

Cf. Grattan/Singer (1951,148,A.5): "æsces C; axsan MS. L. The words asce "CINIS" and æsc "FRAXINUS" have been confused by the scribe. The correct spelling occurs on ff. 158a, 159a." Also cf. the Recipe in the LB (99/19ff.), which is nearly identical with the recipe in LA (148/13ff.); there ceasteræsces (99/20) replaces ceasteraxsan.

[2]:

Grattan/Singer (1951,215): "In contrast with ceasteræsc [...] there is one instance of cæsteræsc [...]. This may be an Angl. survival, the form cæster being regular in SNHb. and Merc. [...]; but the æ- form does occur also in SE dialects."