Northern Plant Lore: A Field Guide to the Ancestral Use of Plants in Northern Europe Paperback – May 11, 2012

I can't keep this book!!! I keep getting copies of this book for my lobby. It is so beautiful I thought that my patients would enjoy flipping through while waiting for me. Well, they really do enjoy this book as I keep having to replace it.This book is wonderful in so many ways. There is a wealth of information laid out into a easy to find and deadly accessible manner. With this great information goes some amazing and beautiful pictures. The pictures really bring this book to life. When I take walks around hear in California, we live in a farm area settled by northern Europeans I take this book along with me in the kindle version. I am always finding plants from the book. It is a great teaching experience with my four year old. We try to find new plants every time and this book is our tour guide. Then we get to 'investigate' the plant. I learn along with my son.I am so glad that I purchased this book (over and over again). I recommend everyone get a copy. This book is useful in so many different ways. The only improvement I can suggest is a lock and chain so I can keep a copy in my lobby. Thank you for such a great gem.

I was disappointed in this book because it wasn't what I was expecting. In the introduction it is honest about what it is: primarily a compilation from three sources - "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs Grieve, "Leechcraft" by Stephen Pollington, and the German Commission E Monographs. If I had known that when I ordered it, I wouldn't have bought it, because I was hoping for some original Northern European ancestral herb lore from Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon traditions.

Its manly a refrence book but has allot of interesting material only book of it kind i have come across as of yet, anything else of its like has had allot of discredit against it.

I was expecting something different than what this book contained. It's basically a small Materia Medica of herbs from resources that I already have access too all to easily. I was really searching for Northern Plant Lore that would have offered me something new, such as some of the teachings of the Sami or the Vikings. Some of the customs or beliefs they held would have been nice, but it really doesn't seem to be there. Maybe I'm missing it, but it just lacked what I hoped to find.

This is a really nice guidebook. Part history book, part modern day herbal, this book offers relevant information about growth conditions and medical uses for each plant,and also offers some really interesting history and lore about each plant as well. More than just a "what this plant is used for" book, the addition of history and lore really helps the reader to get to know the plant in a more complete way. The reproduced colored plates of each plant are also very lovely,and show close up details of different parts of the plants that are quite useful in modern day identification while retaining the "lore" focus of the plants. Well done for quick,general info and history of many common plants.

In the early part of the book "Northern Plant Lore", author Eoghan Odinsson states that his goal was to review the lore related to plants used in England during the Anglo Saxon period and to determine which of these herbal remedies actually work. The book achieves these goals very well, in an encyclopedic volume based on original Anglo Saxon medical texts, on additional folklore provided by "A Modern Herbal" first published by Maud Grieve in 1931, and on the modern safety and efficacy evaluations of herbs in "The Complete German Commission E Monographs".The book features tables of plants by physiological categories (such as dermatological and respiratory) and by specific complaints (eg, itching and coughing) to make it easier to identify plants that may be helpful for particular conditions. The bulk of the text consists of profiles of 55 useful Northern plants from agrimony to yarrow. Each individual plant monograph is illustrated with an attractive color drawing or photograph. The illustration is followed by an average of 6-7 pages of descriptive text including various names by which the plant is known (Latin name, Old English names, and any alternate common names), the medical and other uses of the plant, a description, basic cultivation information, and historical notes and folklore. There is an emphasis on traditional medicinal uses, but the book also covers other traditional uses such as food, drink, dyes and pigments, crafts, tanning, insect repellant, lumber and woodworking, fertilizer/compost aid, fiber for making cloth or paper, and aromatic ingredients for incense or perfume. The basic cultivation information in the monographs provides enough details to evaluate whether the plant is likely to grow in your area and to determine where to plant it within your landscape. The book also provides cautions regarding cultivation of potentially invasive species such as buckthorn (alder), dandelion, and stinging nettle as well as additional warnings for plants with parts that may be toxic or irritating to the skin. Both common and obscure plants (from the perspective of North America) are featured. Many of the plants are readily available for cultivation as seeds, cuttings, or live plants. You can learn the background behind common plants such as garlic, rose, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme and also be introduced to less well known plants such as tormentil and red soapwort. Many of the plant monographs include food or beverage recipes or specific instructions for medicinal usage, so you can get started right away in practicing traditional plant lore.The major shortcoming of the book is that it is sometimes difficult in the plant profiles to determine what details are coming directly from the historical work by Grieve and what information is a modern interpretation. The extensive reliance on Grieve's work also resulted in the occasional use of archaic language in the text, such as the use of the term "negro" to describe the 18th century herbalist and healer Doctor Caesar in a passage that probably comes from Grieve but was not identified as a direct quote. Also, although all of the plants were chosen based on their inclusion in medical texts known in England prior to the Norman Conquest, the historical profiles do not always clearly identify the specific uses in Anglo Saxon England but may instead reference traditional practices from many cultures and times. Interested readers can get around this concern easily enough by searching the original Anglo Saxon medical documents such as Bald's Leechbook and the Lacnunga; a translation from the 1800s is available for free online. There are a few inconsistencies in the monographs, as when the origin of the word "cowslip" is first described as coming from the Old English terms for "cow dung" and then a few pages later as being derived from the Old English words for "cow's plant." Perhaps there is genuine controversy among linguists, but it would have been helpful to present the two alternatives in one place. The book could have used some additional copy editing to correct the occasional minor grammatical or typographical errors and to improve the citation references for the public domain illustrations.The book is an excellent reference from which to select plants for an Anglo Saxon heritage garden or other historical garden. Most of the profiled plants are adaptable to a wide range of environments, not just "Northern" climes, so readers in many places will be able to start their own heritage gardens. I have successfully grown many of the profiled plants in the southern United States. Many readers will use "Northern Plant Lore" primarily as a reference source to browse, but with its colorful illustrations and engaging writing style, it is also enjoyable to read cover-to-cover as I did. I highly recommend "Northern Plant Lore" to anyone interested in herbal lore, whether modern or historical.

Not a great book and a few mistakes - for example under the chapter yarrow is a picture of a totally different plant.