"The rising reptiles turned to stone, each one decapitated"

April 10, 2019 10:29 PM

Tales from English Folklore #1: St Hilda and the Snakes Whitby Abbey, on the coast of North Yorkshire, is the setting of a curious English legend. It is said that the curly ammonites that erode from the cliffs there are snakes, which were turned to stone after a local abbess prayed for God to banish them.

Admirers of Mrs Crocombe may recognize a familiar face.

posted by Lexica (1 comment total)

Hild of Whitby is a fascinating figure, and politically important. While the legend is hundreds of years later than the Synod of Whitby I do wonder if there is a link; Hild presided over the synod which decided against the Ionan/Irish method of calculating Easter in Northumbria, rather to use the Roman calculation. Dealing with snakes is of course associated with St Patrick, and I wonder if getting Hild into a more localised snake-removing role is important. But at this distance it could all be a coincidence.
posted by Vortisaur at 3:09 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]