This plant is grey, with a jointed stem and a bud on top. It grows earlier than any other plant, and is fully grown by 16 May. It shall be plucked that day and kept in a Bible until the 16th Sunday after Trinity Sunday. It is then to be finely chopped and mixed with Communion wine and ingested each morning on an empty stomach. This will stave off leprosy. If one takes a bite of it early in the morning while facing east, it will prevent all internal ailments. In that case, it shall also be plucked on that same day and kept in the same manner. If placed in one’s hair before going to sleep, the dreamer will be made aware of that which he desires to know.
Source: Jón Árnason, Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og ævintýri IV, p. 22.
Our Monster of the Month comes from the project Duldýrasafnið (“Hidden Beings Museum”) by Arngrimur Sigurðsson. He takes firsthand accounts of creature sightings, like the one above, from Icelandic historical texts, and creates a painting of each one. An Icelandic book is out now, and an English language book is coming soon. Read our interview with the artist here.
See more monsters here.
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