A ninth-century remedy from Bald’s Leechbook instructs the healer to place a live raven’s eyes on the neck to cure swelling in the human eye. Behind this unsettling prescription lies a symbolic medical tradition rooted in folklore, sympathetic healing, and a worldview where body and spirit were never separate.

'Nightshade and wormwood grow wild in my garden. Borage and chamomile pop up in strange places — chamomile in particular forms clumps around

To read this book is to enter the arcane world of Anglo-Saxon medicine, where a drink of ale containing egg and sheep's dung was the cure..