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.
Jellinghaus, H..
"Angelsächsisch-neuenglische Wörter, die nicht niederdeutsch sind." Anglia XX (1898): 46-466.
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.
In the occurrences LB 28/41, and 30/36 (lustmocan crop) crop refers to the florescence of the plant, therefore it seems logical to see croppan only connected to lustmoce. Consequently lustmoce would be a gsg. of a f. ō-decl. *lustmocu. This would also apply to LB 31/35 →lust-moce, croppiht. Cf. Cockayne (1961,II,398): "Lustmoce, fem., gen. -an, not in the gll., possibly by corruption of syllables, Ladys smock, cardamine pratensis"; equally Jellinghaus (1898,465).
Etymology: cf. Holthausen (1974, s.v. moce). To IGmc +meug-, +meuk- 'slip, slippery, schlüpfen, schlüpfrig', based on this 'mucilaginous, mucus, schleimig, Schleim'; cf. L MUCUS, OIs mygla 'mold, Schimmel'. The plant's name derives from the soapy sap, which comes from spittlebugs sucking on the stem (cf. Marzell 2000,I,808); therefore lust-moce could mean 'lust mucus, Lustschleim', 'lust scum, Lustschaum' (= 'semen , Sperma'?).