D&D 5E What is a petrified eye of a Newt?

[Umbran]

The audience at the time of writing weren't herbalists either.

The audience at the time didn't have CVS - they used herbal remedies on a regular basis. I would expect them to have been aware in general. Some folks have the idea that people of earlier periods, being ignorant of today's known science, were just... generally ignorant of everything in their worlds, which seems unlikely.

Shakespeare liked wordplay and puns, so I expect that played into the scene.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I've been wracking my brain for a really good Newt Gingrich joke, but all of them would cross the line into politics.

 

[Umbran]

The claim that the names of the ingredients in Macbeth's witches brew, including Eye of Newt, represent common plants appears to be a modern falsification: Are the ingredients listed in "Macbeth" common plants?

That link questions, an gives the (appropriate) critique that people don't cite primary sources, but provides no information other than that.

Meanwhile:
Hounds tongue: Cynoglossum officinale - Wikipedia
Adder's (Fork) Tongue: Ophioglossum - Wikipedia

"Blind worm" may actually be a reference to "Slow worm" a legless lizard that can shed its tail to escape predators. Slow worm - Wikipedia

And saying that it is against witches actually argues that the language could be deliberately chosen to misrepresent the actuality of women who happen to know a bit about herbalism.

 

[Scott Christian]

To find an actual petrified eye of newt would be like finding a mosquito, in sap, with dinosaur blood.

But maybe they just mean dehydrated eye of newt. One that has been out in the sun for a while.

 

[LordEntrails]

To find an actual petrified eye of newt would be like finding a mosquito, in sap, with dinosaur blood.

But maybe they just mean dehydrated eye of newt. One that has been out in the sun for a while.

Not necessarily, after all their is the petrification spell.

To me, I'd rather use the literal name for spell components (i.e. a petrified eyeball of a amphibian), more interesting than saying, oh, it's just an herb. But, regardless, no cost means it's not hard to come by and is included in a spell component pouch.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

To find an actual petrified eye of newt would be like finding a mosquito, in sap, with dinosaur blood.

But maybe they just mean dehydrated eye of newt. One that has been out in the sun for a while.

Or just cast Flesh to Stone on a newt. 11th level wizards usually pay back their students' loans by being the only known source of petrified eyes of newt, who are bought mainly by young and aspiring warlocking students (who take loans students to buy those components).


Idea for a Strixhaven side adventure: "help dismantle the effort of the Magical Animals student association who's intent to traffick a few cockatrices on campus (and non-magical newts of course) in order to derail the petrified eyes of newt cartel and make half the school of transmutation default on their student loans (savvy bankers do employ Inevitables)"

 

[Scott Christian]

Not necessarily, after all their is the petrification spell.

Or just cast Flesh to Stone on a newt.

While this is true, it is a 6th level spell. How many people are burning a 6th level spell so the apprentice can cast their 1st level spell? I guess it depends on the setting.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

While this is true, it is a 6th level spell. How many people are burning a 6th level spell so the apprentice can cast their 1st level spell? I guess it depends on the setting.

True. That depends on the availability of 11th level spellcasters in the setting. If they are archmage/advisors-of-kings rarity, probably can't be counted upon. If they are "old wizard who feels he has reached the point in his career where he needs to pass his knowledge onto a bunch of apprentices" then he would: compared to the time and effort to grade a student's essay, casting a six-second 6th level spell with no costly component is a trade-off I can totally see anyone taking. The petrified eye of newt isn't consumed by the spell, so he only needs one for the whole apprentice's life.

 

[Umbran]

Not necessarily, after all their is the petrification spell.

Flesh to stone is a 6th level spell, and it can target one creature. So, you get at most two eyes for each 6th level spell cast. That's not many. For a spell component that has no cost, that seems like a costly, bottleneck of a source.

 

[Teemu]

It’s definitely the eye of a beast in D&D. It says “eye of a newt”, and not “eye of newt”, and hex is a nasty warlock spell of death, so a nasty component makes perfect sense. Also, it’s not consumed, so it could be an heirloom that you’re carrying around. Now, the real question is how on earth the warlock can produce the eye from a spell component pouch and put in back inside in the span of a bonus action. I guess that’s magic.