Plants and Birds on Viðey Is­land

“Roseroot is good for many things. It shall be held with a clean cloth while it is dug up, and the foliage shall be cut away, for it is of evil nature. The root may not come into the open air; it shall be stored in hallowed ground. It shall be carried on the body during the day, and placed by the bed at night, and then one shall be free from all ills.”

Jónas Jónasson of Hrafnagil, Íslenzkir þjóðhættir/Icelandic Folkways (Reykjavík: Ísafoldarprentsmiðja 1961), p. 409.

“A broth of roseroot, taken by mouth, warms, dries and constricts, cures soreness in the mouth, cleanses the kidneys of particles that become kidney stones, stops diarrhoea, cures headache, and strengthens the head, and also hair growth if the head is rinsed with it. The liquor of the leaves cures fresh wounds well and staunches bleeding from them, cleanses them and heals them. Chopped, mashed and mixed with butter it dispels swelling, and eases pain in the back and joints, and other pains, especially if applied warm. The dried root eases swelling. It removes freckles from the skin, and fortifies the head if laid upon it. In tanning leather, instead of tree bark roseroot may be used, and the leather will then be yellowish. Greenlanders eat this root, and upland farmers in Norway have been advised to grow it for human consumption. It is believed to be beneficial for those with leprosy.”

Rit Björns Halldórssonar í Sauðlauksdal/Writings of Björn Halldórsson of Sauðlauksdalur, eds. Gísli Kristjánsson and Björn Sigfússon (Reykjavík: Búnaðarfélag Íslands 1983), pp. 241-242.