Gudrun Bjarnadottir Plants of Iceland: Traditional Uses and Folklore

When the first settlers arrived in Iceland from Norway and the British Isles in the 9th century, they had to use the local plants for many different purposes. Some of the plants were familiar to them from their homelands but others were completely new. This book discusses a few select species which have been used in Iceland through the ages as food, dye, for building, and for medicinal purposes. Various folk beliefs developed around some plants, as people had no understanding of the chemical properties of the plants and attributed their efficacy to superstition and magic. This book describes the folk beliefs and stories associated with the plants.