What a wonderful book this was! I enjoy my fiction but I also crave for well documented books filled with interesting facts, research and in depth analysis. This is one of those books that left me captivated by the subject and wanting to know more about it. Old English Medical Remedies takes a new look at Bald’s Leechbook III and Lacnunga, two ancient compilations of healing remedies from Britain’s Middle Ages. The aim of this book is to explore the content of these old texts, bringing new insights and interpretations that help us understand more about that time of humanity; their traditions, believes and of course, healing practices. I thoroughly enjoyed that the remedies are analyzed from different areas of expertise like psychology, history, biology, mythology, religion, philosophy, etc. Some remedies are meant to cure well known diseases while others deal with entities such as elves, evil spirits and nighwalkers. This book is not meant to be used for healing, but rather as an approachable guide to understanding medieval folklore and the remedies used at that time.
At first glance, most (if not all) of the cures seem like outdated remedies drowned in mysticism and superstition, but when contemporary research is presented side by side, it is impossible to disregard these manuscripts as merely outdated information. Moreover, the historical and scientific background makes them easier to understand and brings you closer to this intriguing time period. For example, a remedy involving eating sheep’s dung sounds crazy and pointless, but when the author explains how it is specially rich in nitrogen and potassium and the healing properties these two have, it doesn’t sound as crazy anymore (still yucky though). The directions included that the healer should not to reveal the contents of the remedy to the patient… and I can totally understand why.

Spearing makes use of her vast knowledge (specially in psychology) and diverse analysis to question previous interpretations and submit her own alongside relevant context material. The remedies include the original Old English text, which I tried to read at the beginning because of the novelty, but ended up skipping for the rest of the book. Maybe some day, when I learn some ninth century English, I would go through them again. It was specially interesting to know about the important, yet forgotten, role of women in ancient healing, as well as the way mind and body were treated as a whole when curing an illness, a view that has recently gained renewed attention. This seemingly outdated manuscript might be more relevant today than what we thought at first, but if the medical side of it doesn’t interest you, its Dark Ages historical appeal is undeniable.

*I requested an eArc from Pen & Sword, Thank you! ( )

Many thanks to Pen and Sword History and Netgalley.
This is a very interesting book, recommended to people who are interested in both ancient remedies and history. ( )