Poisoned Arrows?

[Nathan Ross]

An excerpt of Sulpicius Alexander's history, quoted by Gregory of Tours (Book II.9), has a brief but vivid account of an invasion of Frankish territories across the Rhine by the Magister Militum Quintinus in cAD388. The expedition is a bit of a shambles, with the Romans getting drawn into a series of ambushes in the forests (a Germanic tactic going back to the days of Varus!), and few, apparently, surviving to tell the tale...

The following passage in particular caught my eye:

"...the enemy appeared here and there, and sheltered by trunks of trees or climbing about on the barricades as if on the ramparts of towers, they sent as if from catapults a shower of arrows poisoned by the juices of herbs, so that sure death followed even superficial wounds inflicted in places that were not mortal."

I don't think I'd heard before of Franks or other Germanic people using poisoned arrows (and in fact Procopius and other later writers claim they didn't use bows at all!).

So what might this 'herbal' arrow poison have been, what sort of effects would it have had, and over what time period, and how deadly might it have been in reality?

[Vindex]

Has this not been broached before ?

[Nathan Ross]

Has this not been broached before ?

I did have a look at that one - but it deals solely with Scythian arrows and poison made from snake venom. In this case, we have Frankish archers using a poison specifically made from a plant extract of some sort (presumably something native to north-western Europe!) so different, I thought...

[Alanus]

Interesting conception, perhaps similar to arrows used by South American natives today. But what kind of vegetable poison? Perhaps one of the deadly mushrooms, like the amanita? The symptoms are a form of paralysis, occasionally leading to death.

[Nathan Ross]

After a bit of a search, it seems most likely that the poison used by these Franks was aconite, produced by the aconitum napellus, aka monkshood, aka wolfsbane, the Greek lycotonum, a plant native to northern Europe and elsewhere.

Maud Grieve's 1931 A Modern Herbal has a suitably fearsome description of the effects of aconite, "one of the most formidable poisons which have yet been discovered... It is more powerful than prussic acid and acts with tremendous rapidity. One hundredth grain will act locally, so as to produce a well-marked sensation in any part of the body for a whole day. So acrid is the poison, that the juice applied to a wounded finger affects the whole system, not only causing pains in the limbs, but a sense of suffocation and syncope."

Aconite is still apparently used to concoct an effective poison used on hunting arrows by indigenous peoples in the Philippines and elsewhere today. Here's an older article about its use by native peoples living around the Bering strait:

Aconite Arrow Poison in the Old and New World

Does anybody know of other ancient accounts of the use of poisoned weapons by the 'barbarians' of western Europe? (i.e. not including Scythians, Slavs and others)

[Dan Howard]

Adrienne Mayor's book might have something. It is a pretty comprehensive text on the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Poison-Arrow...s+scorpion

[Nathan Ross]

Adrienne Mayor's book might have something.

Thanks - I'd seen that one mentioned before, but I might give it a look. It seems she does mention aconite a few times, but doesn't seem to have picked up the Sulpicius Alexander reference to Frankish arrows and their effects.

[Michael Kerr]

The author mentions that although there are lots of toxins world wide, in Europe hellebore was an arrow drug as well as a medicinal plant used by the ancient Gauls to hunt wild boars and other game as well as the one you mentioned aconite or monkshood (wolfbane). Although not related there are two types of hellebore plants, black hellebore or Christmas rose & white hellebore. The author mentions that the Gauls had at least two antidotes for hellebore which probably meant they were very worried about self-inflicted injuries when using it. Although not a herb she mentions that the bark of a yew tree was very poisonous. Scythians used mainly snake venoms mixed with faeces.
Regards
Michael Kerr

[Michael Kerr]

On the reference by Sulpicius Alexander on the use of poison arrows for warfare by the Franks, all I could find is a reference in a google book by Bernard S. Bachrach "Early Carolingian Warfare" where he mentions a fine for the use of poison arrows in the Lex Salica. Google book link below.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Is2W...ws&f=false
Regards
Michael Kerr

[Vindex]

Adrienne Mayor's book might have something.

Thanks - I'd seen that one mentioned before, but I might give it a look. It seems she does mention aconite a few times, but doesn't seem to have picked up the Sulpicius Alexander reference to Frankish arrows and their effects.

That's why I referenced the previous thread!

[Jon Pellett]

Payne-Gallwey records an Early Modern Spanish recipe for arrow poison made from roots of white hellebore (Veratrum album). The same genus was used for arrow poison by Native Americans. So it is a likely candidate.

[Epictetus]

THE LIMEUM: ONE REMEDY.

Limeum is the name given by the Gauls to a plant, in a preparation of which, known to them as "deer's poison," they dip their arrows when hunting. To three modii of salivating mixture they put as much of the plant as is used for poisoning a single arrow; and a mess of it is passed down the throat, in cases where oxen are suffering from disease, due care being taken to keep them fastened to the manger till they have been purged, as they are generally rendered frantic by the dose. In case perspiration supervenes, they are drenched all over with cold water.

Pliny, Natural History, 27.76

Note that Pliny is talking about Gauls, but perhaps this "limeum" was known to later peoples in that same general area. I tried to Google "limeum" and it seems to be a broad genus of flowering plants. Exactly what plant Pliny was referring to is beyond me.

[Epictetus]

P.S.:

After a bit of a search, it seems most likely that the poison used by these Franks was aconite, produced by the aconitum napellus, aka monkshood, aka wolfsbane, the Greek lycotonum, a plant native to northern Europe and elsewhere.

Pliny's Natural History talks quite a bit about aconite. Check out 27.2.

[Caratacus]

Another possibility might be the common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). Plants of the Scrophulariaceae and Asclepiadaceae genera contain steroidal heart poisons (cardiac aglycones) that have been used since forever as arrow poisons and in 'trials by ordeal'. Other species that contain similar compounds are the oleander and Lily of the Valley plants. Even today, foxglove extracts are used to treat heart problems (which used to be referred to as 'dropsy'). These plants extrude a milky sap (hence the common name - 'milkweeds'), which quickly becomes sticky and is therefore ideal for adding to the tips of weapons such as arrows. There are also closely related compounds that can be obtained from the skins of certain species of toad (hence the name 'bifodienolides'). Ainm't nature wonderful!

Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)

[Nathan Ross]

Thanks Mike! Do you have any handy reference on the effects of these plant poisons? The 'trial by ordeal' connection implies something fast acting and quite dramatic...