Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Celtic Horned or Ram-headed Snake Was Really a Slug or Snail ?

I always wondered where this Celtic creature came from. It's mainly known from the Gundestrup cauldron, associated with what may be Cernunnos, the Horned God. Is it related to the germanic 'wyrm'?-- a large serpent or dragon without wings, as I've read the old Celtic dragon was. A few things I've come across lately gave me the idea that the horned/ram-headed snake was actually a slug or snail, at least originally. First, the Celtic snake is associated with healing springs and wells. But springs and wells are where slugs and snails are found because of the moisture and slimy growth to feed on. As for snakes, I don't know if they hang out around them. Slugs do look rather snake-like.* And slugs/snails sometimes have eye-stalks, if that's what they are, that look like horns. Also, there's a Celtic charm called a 'snake stone' which is an ammonite-shell fossil-- a snail shell-- but it is said to resemble a coiled-up snake, which gives it its efficacy-- snakes being magical. It's an odd juxtaposition of snake and snail, but does that imply anything more? Where the ram's head comes in could be the snail shell, which resembles a ram's coiled horns. A snail's shell might also be seen as an opening from the Otherworld-- which is why the Celtic spiral (actually pre-Celtic) was used so much? (or it's a coiled-up snake!).

Well, this is all speculation, but it makes you wonder how far back might this creature go. Is it pan-Indo-European? The Hindu snake is also associated with water and wells. As the Naga, a demon-god, it might even be the original of the Chinese dragon, which is water-loving. The Vedic demon-god Vritra was a hoarder of water. Forms of the Scandinavian wyrm were associated with water, too. The horned/ram-headed snake could even be pre-Indo-European/pan-Eurasian. It's a shame we don't know more about it. We can always improvise, though!

* It's possible that in ancient times, snakes, snails, and slugs were grouped together. In germanic languages, snake and snail are related etymologically-- snail being a diminutive of snake, says one etymological dictionary, at least in Old English. Slug is not related, though. In Irish, snail is snag-- rather like snake. But the word for snake is nathair-- oh well. In Welsh the two words are not etymologically related. Snake derives from Indo-European *(s)neg-os (= to creep), as probably does Sanscrit Nagas.

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