Nordic Plant Lore with Kari Tauring: Kvann (Angelica)

June 6, 10:30AM-12:00PM A plant so precious that you could pay your taxes with it. That’s what kvann has been to Norwegians into the Middle Ages. An arctic plant, kvann was given the Latinized name Angelica archangelica or the angel among all archangels. Such is the reputation of this beloved plant. A biennial, it grows from seed and takes two years to develop a seed stalk. Every part of it in every stage of growth is healing and heady with fragrance. When she read about kvann in Kathleen Stokker’s book, “Remedies and Rituals: Folk Medicine in Norway and the New Land” (2007) it became a research obsession. Kvann appears in Saga stories of late Iron Age kings. Export records during the Black Plague sho it was the first line of defense across Europe. In legal documents, heavy penalties were set for someone stealing it. There’s an ancient breed of kvann from Voss, Norway, but only the wild kvann stem can make the fadnu a flute that lasts two hours. Learn about this treasure and Kari’s coming July adventure into the Arctic to learn about the fadnu all while sipping kvann tea.