Monday, August 28, 2017

Valerian/ Læge-Baldrian/ Baldrian




Valeriana officinalis


Valerian (Valeriana officinalis, Caprifoliaceae) is a perennial flowering plant, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers that bloom in the summer and can reach a height of 1.5 metres (5 ft). The fruits are nuts and the root system is a rhizome with numerous root tufts. Valerian flower extracts were used as a perfume in the 16th century. The flowers are frequently visited by many fly species, especially hoverflies and consumed as food by larvae of some lepidoptera, butterflies and moths.

Valeriana means "strong against diseases". The word valens means strong or fresh. The name might refer to a Roman herbal doctor named Valerianus who used the plant as a medicine. Other names used for this plant include Garden Valerian (to distinguish it from other Valeriana species), Garden Heliotrope (although not related to heliotropium Setwall and All-heal (which is also used for plants in the genus Stachys. Red Valerian, often grown in gardens, is also sometimes referred to as "valerian", but is a different species (Centranthus ruber) from the same family and not very closely related.




The valerian is spread in Minor Asia, Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia , Sibiria, East Asia and Europe. Valerian has been introduced into North America.  In Denmark it is spread in the eastern section but not seen in West- and North Jutland. The plant is found in shadowy or lightopen places with moist till wet or flooded soil - and is often seen in meadows or along water streams.

The plant and especially the rhizome contains several active substances: an etheric oil which together with valeren acid and isovalerian acid promote the very strong scent which is typical for valerian.  The plant contains also valepotriat and several alcaloids. The content of the valerian oil varies immensely in relation to the species, the age of the pant and the harvest time.



Folk Medicine


The rhizome contains valerian oil which is tranquillizing. The plant has been used against headache, muscle cramps, irritable colon and against wounds and exemia. Valerian tincture was used against bomb chok and other nerve strains during WWI.

The Valerian drops are used as a calming and somnolent means  and is sold as an OTC medicine. Laboratory studies point out that the plant might have anticancer effects. The root works calming and cramp loosening and can be used in nervous diseases and inner cramps.





Old herbal books recommend  to drink a glass of wine with valerian drops each day in order to maintain the health of the eyes and keep a sharp sight in old age; therefore the plant was named Eye root in the old days, which was due to observations of cats who had extended pupils when they had been rolling in the herb. An unusual feature of valerian is that valerian root and leaves are a cat attractant similar to, and as safe as, catnip. Valerian contains the cat attractant actinidine.  Stories describe the Pied Piper of Hamelin using both his pipes and valerian to attract rats.

Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb since at least the time of ancient Greece and Rome. Hippocrates described its properties, and Galen later prescribed it as a remedy for insomnia. In medieval Sweden, it was sometimes placed in the wedding clothes of the groom to ward off the "envy" of the elves. In the 16th century, the reformer  P. Marpeck prescribed valerian tea for a sick woman.


John Gerard's  Herball states that his contemporaries found Valerian "excellent for those burdened and for such as be troubled with croup and other like convulsions, and also for those that are bruised with falls." He says that the dried root was valued as a medicine by the poor in the north of England and the south of Scotland, so that "no broth or pottage or physicall meats be worth anything if Setewale [Valerian] be not there".

The seventeenth century astrological botanist Nicholas Culpeper thought the plant was "under the influence of Mercury, and therefore hath a warming faculty." He recommended both herb and root, and said that "the root boiled with liquorice, raisons and anisseed is good for those troubled with cough. Also, it is of special value against the plague, the decoction thereof being drunk and the root smelled. The green herb being bruised and applied to the head taketh away pain and pricking thereof."


                                         



From wikipedia:
Although valerian is a popular herbal medicine used for treating insomnia, there is no good evidence it is effective for this purpose, and there is some concern it may be harmful. There is no good evidence that valerian is helpful in treating restless leg syndrome or anxiety. There is insufficient evidence for efficacy and safety of Valerian for anxiety disorders.

The European Medicines Agency EMA approved the claim that valerian can be used as a traditional herbal medicinal product in order to relieve mild symptoms of mental stress and to aid sleep. The EMA stated that although there is insufficient evidence from clinical studies, the effectiveness of the traditional use of valerian is considered plausible when it has been used safely for this purpose for many years.

Because the compounds in valerian produce central nervous system depression, they should not be used with other depressants, such as ethanol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, opiates, kava, or antihistamine drugs. Moreover, non-pregnant adult human hepatotoxicity has been associated with short-term use (i.e., a few days to several months) of herbal preparations containing valerian and scutellaria (commonly called skullcap). Withdrawal after long-term use in a male has also been associated with benzodiazepine-like withdrawal symptoms, resulting in cardiac complications and delirium.

The very limited animal and human data do not allow a conclusion as to the safety of valerian during pregnancy. Moreover, as a natural, unregulated product, the concentration, contents, and presence of contaminants in valerian preparations cannot be easily determined. Because of this uncertainty and the potential for cytotoxicity in the fetus and hepatotoxicity in the mother, the product should be avoided during pregnancy.


Source: Anemette Olesen Klosterurter, 2001, wikipedia 2017 
images: wikipedia

 

 

Valerian: Mechanism of action  (read information on wikipedia )






Danish information:
 Brøndegaard, Etnobotanik, Folk og flora bd. 4
Læge Baldrian/ Valeriana officinalis


Navne: Læge-baldrian, velandsurt (1546-1870) var vel opstået med allusion til sagnfiguren Vølund Smed; "katteurt" (1533-1789); "katterod" (1600t.) og "katteglæde" (1820), øjenrod (1648-1821), venderod/ vendelrod (1700t) den stærkt lugtende rod værnede mod hekseri, Danmarksgræs (1700t) plantens stængel med blomsterkvaster blev brugt af børn som slagvåben.

Saft af baldrian og pileblade blev brugt til salve på hævet strube, (begyndelsen af 1400t.)
Christiern Pedersen (1533): saft indgives mod epilepsi; vin- eller ølafkog af rødder var urindrivende, dekokt med fennikel og opiumvalmuefrø i vin eller øl drikkes mod lændesmerter.
Henrik Smid (1546): mellem de to fruedage 15/3 - 15/8 blev rødderne taget op og skyggetørret, den pulveriserede rod drukket med vin var urindrivende og hjalp mod gift og pest. Den friske urt knust og lagt på hoved stiller hovedpine. Øjne badet med vinafkog af rod og blomster bliver klare.
Simon Paulli 1648: den knuste rod indtaget med vin anbefales mod svagsynethed , heraf tilberedes også et øjenbadevand der blev solgt på apoteker. Nogle forfattere hævdede at planten eller en klud dyppet i dens saft kunne trække jern ud af hug- og stiksår.

Roden blev anført i farmakopeen in 1772. Den styrker senerne, er sveddrivende, fordeler svulster, lægges knust på sår og tørret i pose mod svage øjne. Roden har krampestillende, nervestyrkende, sved- og urindrivende og opløsende egenskaber, den modvirker hysteri og forrådnelse og anvendes mod indvoldsorm.  Den pulveriserede rod indgives for epilepsi. Mod hovedsmerter gnides panden med baldrianblade og krusemynte. Klog kone på Rømø gav den tørre, knuste rod som middel mod kvinders søvnløshed - eller de tørrede blade under hovedpuden. En te af bladene mod nervøsitet.
Roden indgik i en beskyttende pest-akvavit og et råd mod bl.a. feber og hjælper mod hudløshed. Indgik i øjenbadevand og "Herr Niels' dråber" = urteudtræk i brændevin


Husdyr


Baldrianrod er komponent i råd for oksens ondartede lungesyge og et røgemiddel mod kvægpest. Afkræftede kreaturer gnides med baldrian og tjære, "tjærespån og vendelrod - giver din ko god helsebod." Efter kælving skulle koen have baldrian. Roden af "katteurt" indgik i middel for hestens sygdomme. Får fik øldekokt af baldrian og stinkende kamille. Rod af baldrian, løvstikke og alant blev givet til syge svin. Baldrianrod blev brugt mod hundesyge. .  




Overtro
Baldrian eller St. Buldrian nævner ni andre helgener i flere signeråd fx "hil  dig San wenis urt = (Velands?) du er kommet af Jesu blod" (1692 og 1793) i lægeråd for at fremmane tyve , eller mod gæssenes forhekselse.  Hvis køerne omkring Mortensdag 11/11 fik baldrian i foderet, kunne de ikke forhekses. Rod af baldrian og mesterrod spises med kerner af pæon og nyserod mod trolddom.

"Mand og kone at forene som altid kives og trættes, giv dem begge et krus Valeriana, så bliver de straks gode venner."


Danish source: Brøndegaard, Dansk Etnobotanik, Folk og flora bd. 4: Læge Baldrian. 
images: grethe bachmann and wikipedia







Sunday, August 20, 2017

Ebeltoft - one of the loveliest little towns in Denmark.........



Ebeltoft (earlier Æbeltoft) lies at Djursland in East Jutland - it is a popular tourist city, not least because of the old timbered houses in the middle of town. The old market town atmosphere reflects a piece of Denmark's history through centuries . It has a colourful shop- and museums life and the inhabitants are doubled in the summer period. Close to Ebeltoft is the Nationalpark Mols Bjerge with many fine beaches and summer houses.



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Ebeltoft was probably established around year 1200, and the name Ebeltoft is seen the first time in king Erik Menved's letter of 21 January 1301, where he gave the town its municipal rights. In the beginning the place was a village or a fishing village and an annex to the village Draaby up till the reformation. On  25 August 1317 the king issued a new letter where he gave the citizens laws and regulations like the cities Viborg and Aarhus.
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In 1558 was established a Latin school in Ebeltoft.The town suffered much during he  plague 1619-1620 and was damaged during the wars of the 17th century. The main business of the town was maritime trade, espcially in the second half of the 17th century with large merchants- and warehouses, ship buildings and profitable traffic, especially from Norway.  The large timber transport from the royal forests in the neighbourhod brought much life to the town.  In 1672 the town had 817 inhabitants, after Den Store Nordiske Krig 562 inhabitants in 1769. The latin school was abolished in 1739. The town developed little in the 19th century because of the wars. At the census in 1930 Ebeltoft had 1897 inhabitants , in 1945: 2.104 and in 1965: 2.485 inhabitants. Now in 2017: 7. 430.


Along the beach road and by the Fregat Jylland are still seen the rest of the old seaweed dikes. They were built as a protection of west-facing gardens against intrusion of sea water. The dikes are now listed.

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In the various shops in Ebeltoft are arts and crafts in a class of its own, lifestyle and fashions shops etc. In the streets are often music and entertainment in the summer period. Ebeltoft is a lively tourist town with several restaurants and cafés - and walking the old cobblestoned streets there is suddenly a wonderfull scent from the waffle bakery where they sell the most delicate ice cream cone, named Molbo Vaffel. In another old street is a sweet scent of sugar and fruit from the little Bolsjekogeri (candy factory Mols Bolsjer) ) where they make candy in various tastes and looks in the backyard.In Ebeltoft is one of Denmark's largest concentrations of small studio glass work shops.

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Glass Museum and the Fregat Jylland.  The fregat lies in the water and is connected to a museum on land, here is the history of the old fregat told in a factual and entertaining way. The Glass Museum lies nhttp://glasmuseet.dk/
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earby, it has various local and international exhibitions and its own glass workshop - and the museum arranges various activities for children and adults. The children can borrow a children's suitcase and go exploring the many halls of the glass museum. Ebeltoft houses numerous galleries and several renowned glass blowers are working in the town. 
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A large part of the medieval streets are listed, and Ebeltoft was in 2015 at the top of a list of the best preserved medieval towns in Denmark. It is one of the  most popular holiday towns with cobblestoned, narrow streets and crooked old houses with roses and hollyhocks.

The old town hall is a charming attraction. Many couple choose a wedding at the picturesque town hall, in 2017 have already been celebrated 300 weddings in Danish, German and English . It is is a small building with a tower and with a rich history since 1576, and here is also an old dungeon.

Close to the town hall is a funny little museum Siamese Samling. The museum was established by Rasmus Havmøller, who worked and lived in Siam (today Thailand) from 1914-1933. He opened in 1940 the exotic museum with lots of objects from his life in the East.

The vægterne (watchmen) of Ebeltoft walk the old streets in the summer period .They call in the night each night walking and singing the watchmann's song through the streets . They start at the old town hall at 20.00, 21.00 amd 22.00.


Since the 1890s Ebeltoft was a seaside resort for better-off people from Aarhus, and the fine holiday houses along the coast remind about a time where people went to the resort to bathe and take their vacation. From the 1960s common people could gradually afford to build summer houses -  and today are many large areas with lovely summer houses in and around Ebeltoft. Many can be rented in the summer period.


The name Ebeltoft comes from apple/abel/abild. The apple tree is seen in the oldest seals of the town (Latin: pomagrina and pomagrium).The first "Ebelfestival" (Apple Festival) started in 2004, and it has since become an established part of the cultural life of Ebeltoft. It is held each year in week 42. The vision is to give some good experience and knowledge about appless and about the history and culture of Ebeltoft.
http://ebelfestival.dk/


Den europæiske Filmhøjskole in Ebeltoft is one of the world's best basic film schools and it takes students from all over the world (always 50 % Danish). Among the most famous former students in the Nordic countries are actor Pilou Asbæk ('Borgen'/'The Fortress', 'Lucy'), director/screenwriter Nikolaj Arcel ('A Royal Affair', 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'), director Joachim Trier ('Reprise', 'Louder Than Bombs'), cinematographer Charlotte Bruus ('The Hunt', 'Far From the Madding Crowd'), director Michael Noer ('R' and 'Northwest'), cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck ('The Killing', 'A Highjacking') and cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen ('Victoria', 'Rams').
http://kurser.hojskolerne.dk/hoejskoler/hoejskole-soeg/den-europaeiske-filmhoejskole


Safari Park/photo:gb

The big animal park : Ebeltoft Safari is finansed by the Karsten Ree.
http://www.reepark.dk/










photo: 
grethe bachmann
and from wikipedia.
Source: 
Danmarks købstæder, Søren Olsen, 2000
Politikens Danmarksbog , Søren Olsen, 2003



Tuesday, August 08, 2017

The Huldremose Woman

Huldremose Woman, or Huldre Fen Woman, is a bog body recovered in 1879 from a peat bog near the village Ramten in Jutland. Analysis by carbon 14 dating revealed the woman had lived during the Iron Age, around 160 BCE to 340 CE. The mummified remains are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark (in Copenhagen). The elaborate clothing worn by Huldremose Woman has been reconstructed and displayed at several museums.

                                                                                                                                                            
Huldremose dress, front/wikipedia
Over 2000 years ago the body of a woman was put into an old peat bog in Huldremosen at Ramten village on Djursland, Jutland. The special oxygen poor conditions in the bog meant that the woman was preserved as a bog body with skin clothes and stomach contents. She was found in May 1879 by a worker, Niels Hansen, who was digging turf for a schoolteacher in Huldremose. In one meters depth he hit the body with his shovel and cut off its right hand. The schoolteacher was interested in archaeology and stopped the digging, and he kept guard by the body for the next couple of days until the district-medical from Grenaa arrived with a pharmacist and a police chief. The first theory was that the body had been the victim of a crime. At that time there was little knowledge about how to handle a situation like this, and the body of the woman was brought to the nearest farm where she was undressed and got a good bath! In connnection to this cleaning her hair fell off.  The criminal proceedings were given up and the body of the mysterious woman was buried in the church yard by the parish church Ørum nearby.



Huldremose woman, wikipedia
The doctor washed her clothes and dried them in his yard - and he wrote to the National Museum in Copenhagen from where they sent a telegram that they wanted both the body of the woman and her clothes - so the body was dug up and sent with her clothes on steamship to Copenhagen. In spite of the rough treatment of the 2000 year old clothes they hadn't suffered any damage - and they belong to the best preserved Danish textiles from antiquity.   Like most mummies found in Denmark the woman from Huldremose was fully dressed. Her dress is incredibly well preserved although it is 2000 years old.

She was more than 40 years old when she was  placed in the bog which was a high age at that time, in fact an old woman of Iron Age. The find has brought nutrition to various discussions and interpretations during times. A possible interpretation is that she was killed and following this sacrificed in the bog.The body was found with the legs bent behind the back, with a nearly severed right arm. Supposedly the arm was damaged by a shovel during excavation. Apart from this, the corpse was well intact.The dead lay with head west. The body was identified as a grown woman, probably rather slender built. The left thighbone had been broken and grown crookedly. She must have been limping.  


spergula arvensis/ wikipedia


According to science exist many informations about what had happened to people who later became bog bodies. The stomach contents can reveal the person's meal before death. It is known from the Huldremose woman's stomach contents that her last meal was rough grinded ray with a big content of seeds from the weed spergel (spergula arvensis). In her stomach were also animal hairs and rests of animal tissue. This indicated that she also had meat in her dish.

She wore a dress with a checkered skirt and a checkered scarf in sheep wool and two skin capes. The skirt was held around the waist with a narrow leather strap woven into a waistband. The scarf was tied around her head and fastened under the left arm with a needle from a bird's bone. On the upper body she wore outermost a cape made from several dark brown sheep skin with a collar of light sheep skin, the curly fur turning out. Under this she wore another cape with the fur side inwards. This was made from 11 small dark lamb skin. The cape was well used and had 22 sewn on patches. They did not cover a hole but contained a finely made bone comb, a narrow blue hair band and a lether strap, all wrapped in a bladder. This was obviously not a pocket, since the patches had to be cut up to get out the things. The insewen things possibly functioned as  amulets.


Huldremose woman, exhibition, National Museum/ wikipedia
Around the woman's long red hair was bound a woolen strip, winded several times around her neck. around the neck she wore another woolen strip with two amber pearls.  An imprint upon her left hand revealed that she had worn a finger ring, but there is no trace of a ring today - it was probably removed in connection to the finding of the body in 1879. Deep inside she wore a cloth made of plant fibres, maybe nettle or flax. There are only a few traces of this on her skin and the main part of the material was decomposed in the bog. The checker of the skirt and the scarf was alternately light and dark wool, and the long stay in the bog made the fabric brown. Colour analyses have shown that the skirt originally was dyed blue and the scarf dyed red.


Huldremose, Djursland, photo:gb
When the Huldremose Woman was killed more than 2000 years ago and was put into a bog/moor at Djursland, the moors were important ressources for people of Iron Age. In the moors were dug turf which was used as a building material and as fuel. Some moors contained bog iron ore, a raw material, which after processing could be made into iron.  The moors had a great importance for the daily life,  but the moors and wet areas were also a gate between two worlds -  the world of humans and the world of the gods. Humans sacrificed to the gods by putting gifts down into the water. The gifts were killed livestock, clothes, jewelry, tools and clay pots filled with food. The sacrifical gifts were meant to secure a good and abundant harvest. The greatest sacrifice was another human.

Tollund man, photo: stigbachmannnielsen, Naturplan foto
It is not known what happened in connection to the death of the Huldremose woman. She was fully dressed, had a ring on her finger, amulettes in one skin cape and two amber pearls around her neck, so she was not robbed of her possesions by her killers. Across her breast was a staff of willow wood. These features more reminds about care for the dead like in a funeral and not about a simple getting rid of a body after a crime. Maybe she died as the part of a ritual and was then placed in a sacred moor. Or she had abused the laws and had to fine for this with her life. But her burial was not a usual burial like a funeral pyre or a burial service of the Iron Age people. 

Forensic analyses have shown that the Huldremose woman had got a violent cut in her right upper arm. The theory was earlier that the cut of the arm was the reason for her death, and that she died from blood loss. Later investigations could not verify this theory, and it is possible that the damage might have happened later, fx in the turf digging of the bog. While she was alive she broke her right leg, but this fracture healed before her death. Her hair was bound with a long woolen cord laid several times around her neck. There are no marks on the neck which might indicate strangulation. Maybe the cord had a symbolic meaning. Strangulated people are known from other Danish bog bodies, like the bodies from Elling and Borremose and the famous Tollund Man.

About one hundred Danish bog bodies are preserved up till today because of the special good preservation conditions in the peat bogs. The mummified bog bodies where skin, hair and stomach contents are preserved count about a fourth, while the rest of the bog bodies are only skeletal parts. The most well preserved bodies like the Huldremose woman,  the Grauballe man and the Tollund man are found in raised bogs, where the necessary sour and oxygen poor condition is present.


source: National Museum, museumsinspektør Flemming Kaul
source: wikipedia

photo: grethe bachmann/ stig bachmann nielsen, Naturplan foto.
photo: wikipedia

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Dill / Dild - a useful and pretty spice herb




Anethum graveolens


Dill is an annual herb in the celery family apiaceae, and it is the only species in the genus Anethum. Dill is widely grown in Eurasia where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring food. Dill is related to fennel and parsley and its leaves are very similar to fennel. The Danish name Dild comes from a Nordic word meaning pjalt (rag), which might indicate that the plant has a Nordic relation from origin, contrarily to all other spice- and kitchen herbs.

Dill originates from Central Asia and the plant grows wild in the Middle East. It was known in ancient Egypt, and from here it spread to Greece, Rome and the rest of Europe. Today dill is first of all used in northern, middle and eastern Europe while it used to a minimum in the Mediterranean.

Dill grows up to 40–60 cm with slender hollow stems and alternate, finely divided, softly delicate leaves.  The flowers are white to yellow, in small umbels. Fresh and dried dill leaves (sometimes called "dill weed" to distinguish it from dill seed) are widely used as herbs in Europe and Central Asia.

Culinary

Dill is a commonly cultivated spice herb and medical plant. It is a magnificent  culinary spice and also used in tea. The young fresh leaves are used in salads and fish dishes and as a ganiture. Later in summer the ripe dill umbels are used as a spice in fx cucumber pickling. Like caraway, the fernlike leaves of dill are aromatic and are used to flavor many foods such as gravlax (cured salmon) and other fish dishes, borscht and other soups, as well as pickles. Dill is best when used fresh as it loses its flavour rapidly if dried; however, freeze-dried dill leaves retain their flavor relatively well for a few months.

Dill seeds, having a flavor similar to caraway but also resembling that of fresh or dried dill weed, is used as a spice. Dill oil  is extracted from the leaves, stems and seeds of the plant. The oil from the seeds is distilled and used in the manufacturing of soaps.

In central and eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Baltic states, Russia and Finland dill is a popular culinary herb, used in the kitchen along with chives or parsley. Fresh, finely cut dill leaves are used as topping in soups, especially the hot red borscht and the cold borsht mixed with curds, kefir, yoghurt, or sour cream, which is served during hot summer weather and is called okroshka. It is also popular in summer to drink fermented milk (curds, kefir, yoghurt, or buttermilk) mixed with dill (and sometimes other herbs).In Scandinavia dill is a common spice/kitchen herb.



In the same way, prepared dill is used as a topping for boiled potatoes covered with fresh butter – especially in summer when there are so-called "new", or young, potatoes. The dill leaves can be mixed with butter, making a dill butter, which can serve the same purpose.


The etheric oil is used in the perfume industry and in some liqueors.

Folk Medicine


Dill was recommended for breastfeeding women, since it stimulates the milch production and secures that the baby will get a better sleep. Dill seeds were often used as a laxative, and dill-water was drunk against nausea, acid reflux, flatulence and other stomach trouble. Henrik Smid warns against the use of dill since it makes people lazy and incapable of sex.  If the flower umbels were hung up by the bed they worked somnolent. Dill in oil was said to be effective against ear ache - and it was recommended as the best means against hickups. The etheric oil has a driving and calming effect. Abscesses from the plague were rubbed with dill.

Dill Snaps

The dill seeds were written in the pharmacopoeia in 1772.

Medicine for livestock:
Dill was used as a prevention against rinderpest. Calves with tympania were given dill-tea. Dill was also used in diseases of the horse.


Superstition:
A young girl should wear dill, when walking in the woods. At her wedding the bride should have dill seeds in her shoes, and the groom should have dill seeds in his pocket. This would make a happy wedding. Valborg-evening 30/4 or Midsummernight 24/6 the cattle was given dill with garlic as a protection against witchcraft. If the dill plant was placed upon the brewing tub the beer was not bewitched. On Christmas night dill and honey were given the cows as a protection against witchcraft. 


History:

Dill has a long history and  is mentioned already ab. 1500 BC in the Egyptian papyrus-rolls . Dill was also used in the Roman Empire and is mentioned here in a collection of recipes Apicius from ca. year 400 BC. The Romans brought the plant with north - later it was also spread with the monks up to Scandinavia.


In Anglo Saxon England, as prescribed in Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England (also called Læceboc, many of whose recipes were borrowed from Greek medicinal texts), dill was used in many traditional medicines, including those against jaundice, headache, boils, lack of appetite, stomach problems, nausea, liver problems, and many other ills. Dill seeds can also be used to prepare herbal tea. In ancient Greece fragrance was made from the leaves of dill. Also, athletes used to spread essence of dill all over their body, as muscle toner.


In 1967 were at the market of Copenhagen sold 1.125.375 bundles of dill.


images from wikipedia 

Source: Klosterurter, Krydderurter i haven, Køkkenurter, Brøndegaard: Folk og flora.