Re: Anglo-Saxon Plant-Name Survey

Plant Name Translations

Haenep = Hemp (Cannabis sativa)

Heradotus describes the Scythians making a
sauna by putting felt around a tripod like a tent
then throwing cannabis seeds on red hot stones
in a bowl when "the Scyths delighted shout for joy"

Apparently the seeds are the least intoxicating part
of the plant so it was possibly the flower heads
containing the seeds that were used.

It is thought that the Vikings used the fibre.
Hemp cultivation in england is said to have increased
between the 5th and 12th c. I don't know the
evidence for this but the founding of the hemp weavers
guild preceeded that of the linen weavers.

In the early medieval period hemp was used for fibre
and medicinally. It does not appear to have been
used as an intoxicant.
The warning was given that'it drieth up... the
seeds of generation ' in men ' and the milke of
womens' breasts.'

In the 16th c. it was called 'Anglers Weed' as
"poured into the holes of earth wormes it
will draw them forth"

Celia

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