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.
Hough, Carole.
"Place-Name Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Plant-Names." in: _From Earth to Art. The Many Aspects of the Plant-World in Anglo-Saxon England._ Proceedings of the First ASPNS Symposium, University of Glasgow, 5-7 April 2000. ed. by Carole Biggam. Amsterdam - New York: Rodopi, 2003. 41-78.
MS London, British Library, Royal 12 D.xvii.
Storms, Godfrid (ed.).
Anglo-Saxon Magic. Reprint of the 1948 ed. published by M. Nijhoff, The Hague. Norwood, Pa: Norwood Editions, 1975.
Wright, Cyril E. (ed.).
Bald's Leechbook. Early English manuscripts in facsimile. 5. Kopenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1955.
It seems that this occurrence originated from a hearing mistake, or it is some other writing error: all other OE occurrences of this plant name start with w- (cf. →wanan-beam). Frequently recorded as place name (cf. Hough 2000,56). Not recorded as lemma in the DOE.
Etymology: Holthausen: "wanan-bēam m. [...] viell. zu as. wānam 'glänzend' (wegen des gelben Holzes) u. ais. vanir 'Götter'?" Pheifer (1974,87,n.418) refutes this impropable interpretation. It attracts attention that the -a- in wan-, although it is in front of a nasal,[1] is characterised by most scholars and also recorded in the oldest glosses as a short vowel. Maybe we do have a long vowel which is the product of a vowel brightening of GMC ai. Was this the case, wān- would be related to the IGMC root +ųei- ('rotate, bend; drehen, biegen, or the multiple of flexible twigs, besketry, creepers'; cf. Pokorny 1989,I,1120). A possible parallel formation of an n-formant to this root could be found in OE wine-wincla 'periwinkle, Uferschnecke'. OE *wāna bēam[2] would then translate as 'flexible tree, biegsamer Baum' which is a suitable name for E. europaeus.