Lacnunga

The Lacnunga ('Remedies') is a collection of miscellaneous Anglo-Saxon medical texts and prayers, written mainly in Old English and Latin.

The title Lacnunga, an Old English word meaning 'remedies', is not in the manuscript: it was given to the collection by its first editor, Oswald Cockayne, in the nineteenth century.

[1] It is found, following other medical texts, in the British Library's Harley MS 585, a codex probably compiled in England in the late tenth or early eleventh century.

The Lacnunga contains many unique texts, including numerous charms, some of which provide rare glimpses into Anglo-Saxon popular religion and healing practices.

This instance takes the form of an extended litany of body parts for which the speaker seeks the protection of Christ and a multitude of angels from the assaults of demons.