TheSnake-witch (Swedish:Ormhäxan),Snake-charmer (Swedish:Ormtjuserskan) orSmiss stone (Swedish:Smisstenen) is apicture stone found at Smiss,Närsocken,Gotland, Sweden.
Discovered in a cemetery, it measures 82 cm (32 in) in height and depicts a figure holding a snake in each hand.[1] Above the figure there are threeinterlaced creatures (forming atriskelion pattern) that have been identified as a boar, an eagle, and a wolf.[2] The stone has been dated to 400–600 AD.[3] The scholars call it the "Snake-witch".
The figure on the stone was first described by Sune Lindquist in 1955. He tried unsuccessfully to find connections with accounts in Old Icelandic sources, and he also compared the stone with theSnake Goddess fromCrete. Lindquist found connections with the late CelticGundestrup cauldron, although he appears to have overlooked that the cauldron also shows a figure holding a snake.[4]
Arrhenius and Holmquist (1960) also found a connection with late Celtic art suggesting that the stone depictedDaniel in the lions' den and compared it with a depiction on a purse lid fromSutton Hoo, although the stone in question does not show creatures with legs.[4]Arwidsson (1963) also attributed the stone to late Celtic art and compared it with the figure holding a snake on the Gundestrup cauldron.[5] In a later publication Arrhenius (1994) considered the figure not to be a witch but a magician and she dated it to theVendel Period, although men are called witches also, and the legs spread clearly identifies this as a female, making her a witch who was a magician. Hauk (1983), who is a specialist onbracteates, suggested that the stone depictsOdin in the fetch of a woman, while Görman (1983) has proposed that the stone depicts the Celtic godCernunnos.[6]
It also has been connected to a nearby stone relief on a doorjamb atVäte Church on Gotland which shows a woman who suckles two dragons, but this was made five centuries later than the picture stone.[1]
The stone has also been interpreted as depicting Vitastjärna from theGutasaga, who dreamt of three entwined snakes symbolizing her future sons, the ancestors of the Gotlanders. This interpretation draws from the saga's account of Vitastjärna's dream, where three snakes intertwined around her, foretelling the birth of her sons who would populate Gotland.[7]
.JPG)
Snakes were popular as a motif on later picture stones which showsnake pits, used as a painful means of execution; this form of punishment also is known throughNorse sagas. Snakes are considered to have had an important symbolismduring the passage frompaganism toGermanic Christianity. They were frequently combined with images of deer, crustaceans, or supernatural beasts. The purpose may have been to protect the stones and to deter people who might destroy them.[1]