Fly Agaric
30 November 2008 Filed in: Wildlife
It's been a grand autumn for fungi and on our
various forays we've discovered a fair few gems.
Sifting through some photographs the other day we
uncovered this one of fly agaric; a mushroom long
held to have potent hallucinogenic properties.
The fungus is just starting to unfold and in a
little while will form a toadstool much loved
by fairy tale authors. Further research led to
the way the fungus was used by Sami people in
northern Scandinavia — they fed it to reindeer
and collected the urine to drink. Under its
effects the reindeer appeared to 'fly' and
this may be an explanation of Santa's method
of transport at Christmas time.
And the link with
Iceland? Well, the folklore is tenuous because
Santa doesn't visit here instead the tradition is
for children to be visited on the days leading up
to Christmas by the Yule Lads. However, there's
mention in many of the old tales of ‘berserkur', prized warriors of
great strength who had a penchant for doing
crazy things fuelled, perhaps, by fly agaric.
Ah, the things you learn on an autumn ramble in
Iceland!