The Grass Snake and the Basilisk: From Pre-Christian Protective House God to the Antichrist (2014)
Lenders, H. J. Rob (Author)
Janssen, Ingo A. W. (Author)
Environment and History
Volume: 20, no. 3
Issue: 3
Pages: 319-346
Publication date: 2014
Language: English
The grass snake owes its far northern distribution in Europe to the production and hoarding of dung from stock breeding. Dung heaps appear to be perfect breeding sites that surpass `natural' reproduction sites in quality. Here we point out that the grass snake's dependency on manure goes back to Neolithic times and that it had a reciprocal cultural effect. Moreover, the positive influence of humans on the species not only resulted from physical opportunities offered by agriculture, but also from the fact that grass snakes were considered to be chthonic deities not to be harmed. The conversion of Europe to Christianity, however, marked the turning of the cultural tide for the species. From being a divine creature originally, the grass snake evolved into the number one symbol of the Anti-Christ: the basilisk. In spite of the subsequent witch-hunt motivated by Christian belief, the overall historical human influence on the species was certainly not detrimental as regarded geographical distribution opportunities. This historical perspective on grass snake-human relationships adds to the discussion of whether nature conservation is better served by a strategy of land sparing or of land sharing. It also makes clear not only that co-dependency of species is a matter of mutual biophysical advantages but that metaphysical considerations may also play a role. In this case it leads to the conclusion that bringing back the grass snake into our direct everyday surroundings is both favourable to the grass snake and reinstates the species in our own cultural environment. KEYWORDS: Natrix natrix, religion, folk tales, agriculture, nature conservation strategies
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Pastoureau, Michel;
(2012)
Les cornes, les poils, les oreilles et la queue. Se déguiser en animal dans l'Occident médiéval
Chapter
Meadow, Richard H.;
Patel, Ajita K.;
(2003)
Prehistoric Pastoralism in Northwestern South Asia from the Neolithic through the Harappan Period
Chapter
Fuller, Dorian Q.;
(2003)
Indus and Non-Indus Agricultural Traditions: Local Developments and Crop Adoptions on the Indian Peninsula
Article
Bērziņ<s->, Valdis;
Brinker, Ute;
Klein, Christina;
Lübke, Harald;
Meadows, John;
Rudzīte, Mudīte;
Schmölcke, Ulrich;
Stümpel, Harald;
Zagorska, Ilga;
(2014)
New Research at Riņņukalns, a Neolithic Freshwater Shell Midden in Northern Latvia
Book
Hoffmann, Richard C.;
(2014)
An Environmental History of Medieval Europe
Book
Karen R. Jones;
(2025)
Beastly Britain: An Animal History
Book
Obermaier, Sabine;
(2009)
Tiere und Fabelwesen im Mittelalter
Book
Ron Broglio;
(2017)
Beasts of Burden: Biopolitics, Labor, and Animal Life in British Romanticism
Book
Marsha L. Weisiger;
(2009)
Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country
Article
Bello, David A.;
(2014)
Relieving Mongols of Their Pastoral Identity: Disaster Management on the Eighteenth-Century Qing China Steppe
Book
Shahal Abbo;
Avi Gopher;
Gila Kahila Bar-Gal;
(2022)
Plant Domestication and the Origins of Agriculture in the Ancient Near East
Book
Margaret E. Derry;
(2022)
Made to Order: The Designing of Animals
Book
Weber, Steven A.;
Belcher, William R.;
(2003)
Indus Ethnobiology: New Perspectives from the Field
Book
Laura A. Ogden;
(2011)
Swamplife: People, Gators, and Mangroves Entangled in the Everglades
Article
Jennifer Daniels;
Charles Mather;
(2017)
Conserving Atlantic salmon ‘after nature’ on Newfoundland's Gander river
Chapter
Possehl, Gregory L.;
(2003)
The Indus Civilization: An Introduction to Environment, Subsistence and Cultural History
Book
Brooke, John L.;
(2014)
Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey
Book
Michael Classens;
(2021)
From Dismal Swamp to Smiling Farms: Food, Agriculture, and Change in the Holland Marsh
Book
Kowtko, Stacy;
(2006)
Nature and the Environment in Pre-Columbian American Life
Thesis
Newman, Megan Haley;
(2001)
The Vermin-Killers: Pest Control in the Early Chesapeake
Be the first to comment!