āttor-lāþe

Old-English: aterlaþe, aterlaþe, atorlaþe, atterlada, atterlaþe, attorlaths, aturlaþe, attorlaþe, attorlaðe, attorlathe, atterlada, atterloðe, atterlawe, atorlaðe, aterlaðe, aturlaðe, attorlaþan, attorlaðan,

Latin (Machine generated): ATRILLA, BECONICA, BETONICA, BETTONICA, CYCLAMINOS, FENIFUGA, GALLICRUS, SOLATRUM, UENENIFUGA, VENENIFUGA .I. MORELLA UEL,

• →āttor-lāþe, sīo smale;

• E: plant: introduced
  Fumaria L., fumitory, Erdrauch
• D: plant: foreign
  ? Cyclamen purpurascens Miller, cyclamen, Sommer-Alpenveilchen
• A: plant: native
  ? Stachys officinalis (L.) Trevis., betony, Echter Ziest
• B: plant: introduced
  ? Echinochloa crus-galli P. Beauv., cockspur, Gewöhnliche Hühnerhirse
• C: plant: native
  ? Solanum nigrum L., black nightshade, Schwarzer Nachtschatten

• Comment on (A): ? Stachys officinalis (L.) Trevis., betony, Echter Ziest

  Identification is based on glosses from the 8th cent.: BETTONICA. aterlaþe (Hessels, 24), and the 11th cent.: BETTONICA, aterlaþe (WW 358/6), UENENIFUGA, atterlaþe (WW 133/38). Cf. Stracke (1974,76, note on Laud 199: BECONICA.I. atterlaþe): "BECONICA (i.e. BETONICA) is Betony, B. officinalis, [...] Atterlaþe also glosses it at WW 358/6; CGL V, 402/51; Laud 227. In the Laud glossary, atterlaþe covers a variety of Latin plant-names: GALLICRUS (715), SOLATRUM (1324), and VENENI FUGA, MORELLA (1507)." Concerning VENENI FUGA Stracke follows Cockayne's argumentation (cf. 1961,II,370) and states that it is simply a translation of OE āttorlāþe. Förster, though, sees āttorlāþe as translation of L UENENIFUGA (cf. 1917,130), a discussion which is taken up again by Sauer (1992,405 and n.28).

  For the LB the meaning Stachys officinalis (= →betonice) can be ruled out because āttorlāþe and →betonice occur several times in the same recipe (8/8; 32/10; 33/40). The same argument can be applied to LA for at least the occurrences 120/4 (giþhrofan, attorlaþan, betonican) and 122/20. It neither is a tenable possibility for HA where āttorlāþe translates GALLICRUS.

  Pollington (2000,98) generally dismisses this identification on basis of the parallel occurrences.

  Etymology: according to Hoops (1889,16f) and Förster (1917,130) the OE lemma is a loan translation of ML UENENIFUGA.

• Comment on (B): ? Echinochloa crus-galli P. Beauv., cockspur, Gewöhnliche Hühnerhirse

  Identification based on HA þeos wyrt þe man galli crus 7 oþrum naman attorlaþe nemneþ (Cockayne 1961,I,148) and the glosses GALLICRUS attorlaþe (Dur 181, Laud 715). A detailed discussion can be found in Cockayne (1961,II,370). Stracke (1974,76: note on Laud 199) explains: "GALLICRUS is normally called atterlaþe. Cockayne, therefore, identifies atterlaþe as GALLICRUS, Panic, Panicum crus galli."

  It could be associated with all occurrences of the HA and those passages in LA where āttorlāþe is prescribed for oral use (e.g. 120/4) and where it does not denote Stachys officinalis.

  M.L. Cameron (1993,112) argues strongly against this identification. D'Aronco (1998,51) referring to André suggests Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop., hairy finger grass, Gewöhnliche Fingerhirse. Pollington (2000,98), and Van Arsdall - at least for the HA (2002,170) - accept this identification.

• Comment on (C): ? Solanum nigrum L., black nightshade, Schwarzer Nachtschatten

  The meaning Solanum nigrum L., black nightshade; Schwarzer Nachtschatten, which is indicated by Laud 1507 and the Dresden gloss MORELLA QUAM GRECI VACANT STRIGNUM atterloþe (Manitius 1901,434; STRIGNUM, MORELLA = Solanum nigrum L., cf. Marzell 2000,IV,362), is hard to explain: the lit. translation of āttorlāþe is 'venom fiend, antidote, Giftfeindin, Gegengift' and S. nigrum itself is a poisonous plant. Moreover, āttorlāþe is used against 'poisoning' caused by animal bites and in such cases the use of S. nigrum as an emetic would probably be ineffective. Stracke nevertheless (1974,76: note on Laud 199) argues: "SOLATRUM is associated with the plant-names STRIGNOS, UUALUPINA, MORELLA, and nihtscada." He dismisses the argument that STRIGNOS, MORELLA etc. denote poisonous plants with a reference to the ME Macer Floridus (Frisk, 1937,35b,4-6) where S. nigrum is applied externally (against HERPETA a form of lichen which is characteristic for the appearance of blisters on the skin). Based on the observation that OE āttor (ātr) can denote 'poison' as well as 'bile' (e.g. WW 194/29: BILE, FELLE, attre; 9/7: BILE, atr) he suggests (78) that it was not only used as antidote but also as cure for illnesses associated with a surplus of bile.

  The identification with Solanum nigrum might be possible in those cases where it is applied cortically and where an identification with Stachys officinalis can be excluded.

  Pollington (2000,98) accepts this identification.

• Comment on (D): ? Cyclamen purpurascens Miller, cyclamen, Sommer-Alpenveilchen

  Identification based on L CYCLAMINOS. ATRILLA may be a synonym of CYCLAMINOS: cf. Dief. 1857, s.v. BETONICA: "ATRILLA Dun., ASTRILLA ł CYCLAMINOS Sloane attorlathe."

• Comment on (E): Fumaria L., fumitory, Erdrauch

  Based mainly on the plant description (deduced from the ML equivalents and the reference to →āttor-lāþe, sīo smale) and medical indications Cameron (1992,27-34) suggests this identification for āttorlāþe. Also cf. Petitt (2001,I,214), who accepts all identifications and adds a suggestion of his own: "possibly a member of the fumitory family Fumariaceae."

• Etymology: Etymology-Comment:
• Word-Formation:
• Word-Formation-Comment: