The Adder King
He guards the gate to he who walks the sea
Told by a farmer in Restrup, 1859:
My father told me that when he was in Kare, there were two karls who were on their way back to town after their conscription had ended. As they were walking home, they passed an inn. It looked like everyone inside was having a great time, so they decided to join them.
When they finally set out to walk the rest of the way home, they were quite drunk, and it was very late. They took a shortcut through a small forest, and as they were walking, the first man said to the second, “Don’t you want to see how many adders there are in this forest?” The second replied that he would.
They went over to the tallest tree in the forest, and the first man told the second to climb as high as he could, which he did. The first man then took a branch and etched a circle in the dirt around himself. As soon as the circle was complete, adders began crawling out of the bushes and placing their noses along its edge. More and more appeared, climbing over one another, until the writhing column of snakes rose high enough that the top ones reached the first man’s belt.
The first man then called up to the second in the tree and asked how low the sun was. The second replied that it was almost below the horizon. The first man said, “When the sun is beneath the hill, my grave will be revealed, and you must not move until the sun has risen again, or it will be yours as well.”
The sun then sank behind the hill, and the adders attacked the first man and devoured him. The second man remained in the tree until sunrise. When he finally climbed down, the adders were gone, and he had to return home to tell the first man’s parents of his death.
The adder king lives in a large hole in the heathland. He is completely white, with a black streak down his back. He is no larger than the other snakes, but he can be recognized as their king because he is always surrounded by a court. I have seen the hole many times, as well as the smaller holes around it. Adders can sing a beautiful song when they place their tails in their mouths, and they can run as fast as a horse and leap as high as a man is tall. Whoever eats the adder king can see into people, perceive the soul within them, and behold the one who walks upon the open sea.
