THE MOTIF OF THE SERPENT IN ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND Thesis submitted for the degree of ...

263 Pages·2017·43.89 MB·English

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‘A CREEPING THING’:
THE MOTIF OF THE SERPENT IN
ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Thesis submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Leicester

by
Charlotte Ball
Department of History
University of Leicester

March 2017
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ABSTRACT
The image of the serpent is pervasive in the art and literature of Anglo-Saxon England.
In Old English medical literature the serpent is by far the most frequently represented
animal, often as an adversary of humans and human health. In poetry, too, the serpent
appears often; although it is primarily about the exploits of its outlandish hero, Beowulf
is littered with serpentine adversaries, including the dragon of the poem’s conclusive
battle. In scriptural poetry, the Anglo-Saxon understanding of the biblical serpent is
illuminated and elaborated upon, and in exegesis the serpent plays a key symbolic role
as tempter, diabolical agent and heretic. Anglo-Saxon visual art is populated by a
multitude of serpentine creatures, ranging from the snake-like zoomorphic interlace to
the winged dragons of the Sutton Hoo helmet. It is generally agreed upon that the
image of the serpent is symbolically charged, and there has been scholarly speculation
on how the image of the serpent operated symbolically in each of these contexts.
However, there has been no single study of the image across genres and across media.
This thesis aims to survey and interpret the symbolic role of the serpent in a number of
different, clearly defined contexts and look for common associations and continuities
between them. In finding these continuities, it will propose a underlying, fundamental
symbolic meaning for the image of the serpent in Anglo-Saxon England. It will argue
that this fundamental meaning is death; the transience of mortal life, physical decay
and transition.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This thesis is indebted to a number of different people without whom it would not exist.
Firstly, and most crucially, I owe many sincere thanks to my supervisor, Professor
Joanna Story. As well as benefitting from her continual support and guidance, I have
learned a great deal from her. She has not only been a sound academic mentor
throughout my research journey, but a firm and honest friend. Many thanks are also
owed to my second supervisor, Richard Jones, whose insights into landscapes and place
names have added tremendous value to this work. Equally, this thesis would not have
been possible without the love and support of my parents; my mother, Elizabeth Daly,
my father, Stanley Ball, and my stepfather, David Daly. All of them have been tirelessly
proud of me and have been ready and eager to give practical and emotional support,
even though I have often found it impossible to explain to them what I have been
doing all day. I am also grateful to my sister Eleanor Ball, fellow historian and best
friend. She has listened to my ideas and has given me several in return. More than this,
she too has been an invaluable source of support without which I could not have
completed this project. A great many thanks to Andrew Hughes, for his interest,
encouragement and enthusiasm, as well as for looking through digitised manuscripts
with me in the pub. Many thanks also to my friends and fellow PhD candidates
Stephen Ling and Renato Silva. Renato has been an inspiration and a great friend
whom I will always value. I was lucky enough to have Steve and his wife Lucy as
neighbours for a time, and a good deal of the work for this thesis was done over the
course of many an afternoon at their kitchen table, drinking tea and discussing ideas.
Finally, many thanks to all those individuals and institutions who have been so helpful
in providing the images reproduced here.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations 8

List of Abbreviations 12
Introduction 13
1.The snake and the eagle: gold and the grave
2. The serpent as a symbol
2.i. Approaches to the motif of the serpent
2.ii. Approaching meaning
3. The Old English wyrm: what makes a serpent?
4 The snaca: a notable absence
5. Key influences: some exemplary serpents
5.i. Pre-Christian influences
5.ii. The biblical serpent: positive and negative
6. Serpents in the Anglo-Saxon landscape
6.i. Written evidence: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
6.ii. Archaeological evidence
6.iii. Place-Name evidence
7. Methodology

Chapter 1: The Serpent in the Old English Medical Texts 36
1. Introduction
2. The texts
2.i. Translations from Latin: The Herbarium of Pseudo Apuleius,
Medicina de Quadrupedibus and Peri Didaxeon
2.ii. Old English compositions: Bald’s Leechbook and Lacnunga
3. The ‘Dark Age’: classical influences and modern scholarship
4. Medicine in Anglo-Saxon England
5. The serpents in the texts
5i. The wyrm in the Herbarium: an internal threat
5ii. The nædre in the Herbarium: bites and venom
5iii. The wyrm in Medicina De Quadrupedibus
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5iv. The nædre in the Medicina de Quadrupedibus
5v. The wyrm in the Leechbook
5vi. The nædre in the Leechbook
5vii. Lacnunga: ‘Lay of the Nine Herbs’ and ‘Lay of the Nine
Twigs of Woden’
6. Conclusion

Chapter 2: The Serpent in Old English Literature I: Hero versus
serpent in Beowulf 72
1. Introduction
2. ‘The Beowulf Manuscript’ or ‘Nowell Codex’: London, British
Library, Cotton Vitellius A.xv
3. Beowulf in context: the monstrous theme of the Nowell Codex
4. The origin of Beowulf and its serpents
5. The two types of serpent in Beowulf
5.i. What is a Nicor?
5.ii. The nicor in Beowulf
5.ii. The draca
6. Conclusion

Chapter 3: The Serpent in Old English Literature II: Life, Death
and Beyond in the poems of Junius XI 117
1. Introduction
2. ‘The Junius Manuscript’: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius XI
2.i. Date, codicology and cohesion
2.ii. Content and composition
3. The image of the serpent in Junius XI
3.i. Genesis

3ia. The tempter and the tree of death: darkness,

mortality and loss

3.ib. Temptation and poison

3.ic. The confession of Eve: the genesis of the snake

3.ii. Exodus
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3.iia. The subterranean serpent: Hell and death
3.iii Christ and Satan
3.iiia. Inhabitants of Hell: the serpent as part of the
landscape
3.iiib. The serpent and the body at war
3.iiic. The serpent and the body again: fire
3.iiid. Recalling Genesis: the confession of Eve part II
4. Conclusion

Chapter 4: Serpents in the Anglo-Saxon Past, Present and Future:
Bede’s exegesis and the image of the serpent 148
1. Introduction
2. Symbolism, scripture and reality
3. The image of the serpent for Bede: heresiology
4. In Genesim
4.i. The serpent as one of God’s creatures
4.ii. The serpent as tempter: animal and symbol

4.iia. God’s judgment on the serpent: the limbless snake as a

spiritual sign

4.iii. The enemy of mankind in Bede’s day

5. Historia Ecclesiastica
5.i. Driving out serpents in Historia Ecclesiastica
5.ii. The serpent and sin: Genesis again
5.iii. The draco in Historia Ecclesiastica: the spiritual wilderness
6. Explanatio Apocalypseos
6.i. Serpents in Explanatio Apocalypseos: heretics and Hell
6.ii. The members of the draco’s flesh: locusts, scorpions and
vipers
6.iii. The draco and the woman: heresy versus the Church
7. Conclusion

Chapter 5: Warfare, Metalwork and the Serpent: The
Staffordshire Hoard 185
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1. Introduction
2. The Staffordshire Hoard: the find and its impact
3. Serpents and the zoomorphic art of the Staffordshire Hoard
4. The inscribed strip (item K550)
4.i. The inscription
4.ii. Text and image: identifying the serpent
4.iii. The protective value of the serpent
4.iv. ‘Faciae Tua’: the face of the serpent
5. Six model gold serpents: Items K128, K700, K816, K883, K943
and K1014
5.i. The gold snakes in context
5.ii. The snake, eel, wyrm and nicor: the identification of the
‘snakes’
5.iia. Eels: visual similarities
5.iib Eels in Anglo-Saxon England
5.iic. Eels and Serpents: the connections
6. Chapter 6: conclusion 236
1. Revisiting the problem
2. The meaning of the image of the serpent

Bibliography 242
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig1: Eagle and Snake Mount. Portable Antiquities Scheme: WMID-E4F0C5. ©
Birmingham Museum and Art gallery (CC-BY 2.0)

Fig2: Roman Eagle Sculpture discovered by MOLA archaeologists at Minories in
2013. Museum of London Archaeology: MNR12 [569] <118>, © MOLA

Fig3: Spalangiones illustration from The Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius. London, British
Library, Cotton Vitellius C.iii, f. 50 r, © The British Library Board.

Fig4:, Serpent and scorpion illustration from The Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius. London,
British Library, Cotton Vitellius C.iii, f. 40r, © The British Library Board.

Fig5: Næderwyrt and basiliska illustration from The Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius. London,
British Library, Cotton Vitellius C.iii, f. 57r, © The British Library Board.

Fig6a: The tempter giving Adam and Eve the fruit in Genesis. Oxford, Bodleian
Library, MS Junius XI, p. 28, © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Fig6b: The tempter watches as Adam and Eve repent in Genesis. Oxford, Bodleian
Library, MS Junius XI, p. 31, © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Fig6c: The punishment of the serpent in Genesis. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius
XI, p. 41, © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Fig7a: Doorjamb from the west porch of St Peter’s Church, Monkwearmouth,
Sunderland, last quarter of the seventh century. © Copyright Corpus of Anglo-Saxon
Stone Sculpture, photographer T. Middlemass.

Fig7b: Doorjamb from the west porch of St Peter’s Church, Monkwearmouth,
Sunderland, last quarter of the seventh century. © Copyright Corpus of Anglo-Saxon
Stone Sculpture, photographer T. Middlemass.

Fig8a: Silver Gilt Strip. Staffordshire Hoard K 550. © Birmingham Museums Trust

Fig8b: Silver Gilt Strip. Staffordshire Hoard K 550. © Birmingham Museums Trust

Fig9: Serpent with a barbed tongue illustration from The Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius.
London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius C.iii, 48v, © The British Library Board.

Fig10: ‘Serpent with a barbed tongue illustration from The Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius.
London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius C.iii, f. 56v, © The British Library Board.

Fig11: Serpent with a forked and barbed tongue illustration from The Herbarium of
Pseudo-Apuleius. © The British Library Board. London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius
C.iii, f. 57r.
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Fig12: Cheek Plate showing two serpents on the forward-facing edge. Staffordshire
Hoard K453. © Birmingham Museums Trust.

Fig13a: The Coppergate Helmet. York Museums Trust: YORCM:CA665, © Image
courtesy of York Museums Trust :: http://yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/ :: CC BY-SA
4.0

Fig13b: Nasal detail of The Coppergate Helmet. York Museums Trust:
YORCM:ca665, © Image courtesy of York Museums
Trust :: http://yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/ :: CC BY-SA 4.0

Fig14a: The Sutton Hoo Helmet. British Museum 1939,1010.93.C.1, © Trustees of
the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Fig14b: Nasal detail of the Sutton Hoo Helmet. British Museum 1939,1010.93.C.1, ©
Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Fig14c: Crest detail of the Sutton Hoo Helmet. British Museum 1939,1010.93.C.1, ©
Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Fig15a: Gilt Silver Zoomorphic Fitting. Staffordshire Hoard K678 © Birmingham
Museums Trust.

Fig15b: Gilt Silver Zoomorphic Fitting. Staffordshire Hoard K678. © Birmingham
Museums Trust.

Fig16a: Gold Pommel side a. Staffordshire Hoard K457. © Birmingham Museums
Trust.

Fig16b: Gold Pommel side b. Staffordshire Hoard K457 © Birmingham Museums
Trust.

Fig16c: Gold Pommel side a, Zoomorphic Elements. Staffordshire Hoard K457. ©
Birmingham Museums Trust. Drawing after G. Speak and G. Fern, Beasts, Birds and
Gods: Interpreting the Staffordshire Hoard (London, 2014), p.17.

Fig16d: Gold Pommel side b, Zoomorphic Elements. Staffordshire Hoard K457. ©
Birmingham Museums Trust. Drawing after G. Speak and G. Fern, Beasts, Birds and
Gods: Interpreting the Staffordshire Hoard (London, 2014), p.17.

Fig17: Small Gold Snake. Staffordshire Hoard K128. © Birmingham Museums Trust.

Fig18a: Small Gold Snake. Staffordshire Hoard K700. © Birmingham Museums
Trust.

Fig18b: Small Gold Snake underside detail. Staffordshire Hoard K700. ©
Birmingham Museums Trust.

Fig19a: Small Gold Snake. Staffordshire Hoard K816. © Birmingham Museums
Trust.
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Fig19b: Small Gold Snake. Staffordshire Hoard K816. © Birmingham Museums
Trust.

Fig20: Small Gold Snake and head. Staffordshire Hoard K883 and K1365. ©
Birmingham Museums Trust.

Fig21: Small Gold Snake. Staffordshire Hoard K943. © Birmingham Museums Trust.

Fig22: Small Gold Snake. Staffordshire Hoard K1014. © Birmingham Museums
Trust.

Fig23a: Sarre quoit brooch. British Museum: 1893,0601.219. © Trustees of the
British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Fig23b: Profile of Sarre quoit brooch. British Museum: 1893,0601.219. © Trustees of
the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Fig24: Fish Escutcheon from Sutton Hoo Hanging Bowl. British Museum:
1939,1010.110.a. © Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Fig25a: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.1. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig25b: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.1. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig25c : Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.1. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig26a: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.2. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig26b: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service:1981.89.2. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig25c: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.2. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig26d: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.2. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig26e: Copper Alloy Snake. Bury St. Edmunds Museum Service: 1981.89.2. © St.
Edmundsbury Heritage Service.

Fig27: Zoomorphic Gold Mount b. British Museum: 1939, 1010.31. © Trustees of the
British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Fig28: Zoomorphic Gold Mount a. British Museum: 1939, 1010.30. © Trustees of the
British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).