Origin of Snake

by Nina Pommelin

Syöjätär on the water spat, let drop the slaver on the waves.
Wind rocked it to and fro, the swell of the sea kept swaying it on the hollow waves.
The water stretched it out in length, air twisted it into a “spinning staff”.
A wind then wafted it ashore, the water drew it to a cape, a current flung it on a rock.
Wind blew it hard, a chill wind dried it up, sun baked it into a spiral form,
in the cliff’s cave upon the beach, at the side of the speckled stone, in the bosom of an evil stone.
Hiisi gave life to it, by spells Piru gave it eyes, the jawbones Lempo formed, the wretch brought together the teeth.
Hence birth was given to the snake, a name was given to the bane.

In Finnish mythology the snake has many origin stories, most of them of evil descent. Syöjätär is a character in Finnish folklore. She is associated with the origin of some diseases, as well as unpleasant creatures such as the snake, lizard, or wolf. This story also features other characters with dark associations, such as Hiisi, Piru and Lempo, all of which played a part in the origin of the snake. The venomous adder was hated but the snakes – both the adder and the non-venomous grass snakes – were also respected and they were said to ward off evil so people often kept and fed snakes in or near their settlements.

This painting is from my “Old Gods – Origins” series in which I explore various origin myths and how animals are involved in them.

Painted in ink and gold medium on 300 g/sqm Lanaquarelle hot press watercolour paper. The painting is unframed.

Product Width: 23 cm / 8,6''
Product Height: 31 cm / 12''

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Nina Pommelin

Nina Pommelin, appearing online as ShinonArt, is an artist based in Finland who specializes in creature design and creating realistic and visually believable illustrations.

Nina works flexibly in digital and traditional media and her traditional work is done in watercolours and inks. Nina's work is inspired by nature, fantasy and folklore, especially Finnish mythology and its animistic features, which she explores a lot in her work.