hræfnes-fōt

Old-English: hræfnæsfoot, hræfnesfot, hræmmesfot, hræmnes fot, hraebnæsfoot, hraefnaes fot, hraefnesfoot, hrafnesfot, hrefnes fot, hremmesfot, ræfnes fot, refnesfot, refnesfoþ,

Latin (Machine generated): CAMEDAFNE, CHAMEDAFNE, CHAMEDAPNE, PENTAPHILON, POLIPEDIUM, POLIPODIUM, QUINQUEFILA, QUINQUEFOLIUM,

• A: plant: native Several native species.
  Ranunculus L., crowfoot, a species of ~, Hahnenfuß, eine Art von ~
• B: plant: native
  Potentilla reptans L., creeping cinquefoil, Kriechendes Fingerkraut
• C: plant: native Two native species: D. mezereum L, D. laureola L.
  Daphne L., daphne, Heideröschen
• D: plant: foreign
  ??? Ruscus hypophyllum L., Israeli ruscus, Westmediterraner Mäusedorn

• Comment on (A): Ranunculus L., crowfoot, a species of ~, Hahnenfuß, eine Art von ~

  Probably Ranunculus ficaria L., lesser celandine, Gewöhnliches Scharbockskraut[1] the species most often used in the Middle Ages. It is unlikely that the species referred to here is the foreign R. gramineus L.; Grasblättriger Hahnenfuß (cf. BT, s.v. hræfnes fot, following Cockayne 1962,III,333 and Hegi 1906,III,548); also cf. Lindheim's note on Dur 84.

• Comment on (B): Potentilla reptans L., creeping cinquefoil, Kriechendes Fingerkraut

  Cf. Dur 269 and Dur 84.

• Comment on (C): Daphne L., daphne, Heideröschen

  Cf. D'Aronco (1998,50) who for the HA suggests a Daphne species, probably Daphne gnidium L, Herbst-Seidelbast; this interpretation is also used by Van Arsdall (2002,162).

• Comment on (D): ??? Ruscus hypophyllum L., Israeli ruscus, Westmediterraner Mäusedorn

  An identification with a Ruscus species[2] is problematic because the name 'raven's foot' seems to have no connection to this plant at all, moreover, a connection to the planat name →leoþ-wyrt is not clear (cf. Lindheim 1941, note on 84). We have argued that →leoþo-wyrt is a variant of OE →liþ-wyrt which matches the L plant name CHAMEDAPHNE (Gk χαμαι-δάφνη); Lindheim suggests a similar solution, he sees →leoþo-wyrt as a corrupted līþ-wyrt but - as we have demonstrated - an OE form with a short vowel (→liþ-wyrt) is more likely.

  Lindheim (Dur note on 84) attempts a second interpretation of the plant name →leoþ-wyrt: "Es wäre aber auch denkbar, in unserer Glosse eine Verstümmelung aus einem ae. *lād-wyrt zu sehen, das nur als me. lodewort belegt ist." In my opinion ME lodewyrt comes from OE →gelodwyrt (to OE gelo-der 'spine, Rückgrat'), P. anserina. It certainly does not belong to OE lād 'stream, Wasserlauf' as recorded in MED, s.v. lōde-wort; more so as the description in the ME Agnus Castus without doubt refers to a Potentilla species. Cf. Brodin (1950,199): "PES ARIETIS is an herbe þat men clepuþ rammes fot or lodewort þis herbe hath leues lich to crowfot". PES ARIETIS 'ram-foot, Widderfuß',[3] is - according to Brodin (1950,285) - Ranunculus spec., but it is more likely to denote a Potentilla species because Rnunculus in Agnus Castus is referred to as crowesfot (Apium amoridarum; cf. Brodin, 1950,131).

  Since hræfnesfōt (cf. for example Dur 269) can also denote a Potentilla species, the reason for the equation CHAMEDAPHNE - hræfnesfōt has to be a confusion of →leoþ-wyrt and →gelodwyrt.[4] Another explanation could be that the translator of HA XXVIII (chamedafne ƀ is hræfnes fot) confused CHAMEDAPHNE with a synonym of of QUINQUEFOLIUM that occurs in Plinius 25,109: CHAMAEZELON; also cf. CGL 3,558,69: CAMEDELEON QUINQUEFOLIUM; 622,62: CAMELEN IDEST QUINQUEFOLIUM. POLIPEDIUM (= POLYPODIUM) denots a fern species (cf. →eofor-fearn], why it is associated with hræfnesfōt I cannot explain.

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