Mistletoe

Celtic tradition

• Mistletoe appears in Celtic tradition.

  Pliny’s Natural History attests Gaulish Druids cutting mistletoe from oak. A Roman visitor’s report of Celtic rite, not oak the host-tree as this plant, and not a generic healing herb.

  from Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE

  appears in · sourced · documented

Norse tradition

• Mistletoe appears in Norse tradition.

  Snorri’s Gylfaginning has Höðr strike Baldr with a mistletoe dart. A named plant in that Norse death-tale, not Pliny’s Druid cutting, and not Mistilteinn the later sword.

  from Snorri Sturluson · Gylfaginning, c. 1220

  appears in · sourced · documented

• Mistletoe is used in Death of Baldr.

  Snorri’s Gylfaginning has the mistletoe become the dart that kills Baldr when Höðr casts it. A named plant used in that death episode, not mistletoe→appears_in→norse as tradition kind alone and not Mistilteinn as the named weapon id alone.

  from Snorri Sturluson · Gylfaginning, c. 1220

  used in · sourced · documented

• Mistletoe is used in Medicine.

  Pliny’s Natural History lists mistletoe (viscum) among drugs as well as among the Druid cutting. A Roman encyclopedic pharmacy use of the plant, not the Gaulish rite already stored, and not a later crystal-healing viscum.

  from Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE

  used in · sourced · documented