Okay, forget for a minute that the whole series is a mix of legend and 9th century(?) history. Forget that it's just a historical fiction TV series.
Where in the hell did they find all those snakes? Yeah, they were mostly constrictors so let's not focus on the biting, etc. I'm just curious how a king could apparently have a breeding program for snakes in sunny ol' England. There has to be one since I can't see finding volunteers to crawl down into that pit to retrieve them to use in the pit back at the castle. And why multiple pits? Greater seating capacity at the outdoor venue??
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The artist formerly known as AllenInWV
Posts: 16300 | Location: Harrison, AR | Registered: February 05, 2004
I haven't watched since season 2, so not sure of the reference. But the legend was the English threw Ragnar into a pit of vipers and his sons took vengeance.
My daughter can deflate your daughter's soccer ball.
Posts: 12031 | Location: Eagle River, AK | Registered: September 12, 2006
Originally posted by 2000Z-71: I haven't watched since season 2, so not sure of the reference. But the legend was the English threw Ragnar into a pit of vipers and his sons took vengeance.
That's pretty much it. Except the snakes in question were pretty obviously boas and pythons. I'm just wondering where they got "vipers" from. Europe is not really a hotbed for snakes!
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The artist formerly known as AllenInWV
Posts: 16300 | Location: Harrison, AR | Registered: February 05, 2004
The name 'adder' is derived from nædre, an Old English word that had the generic meaning of serpent in the older forms of many Germanic languages. It was commonly used in the Old English version of the Christian Scriptures for the devil and the serpent in the Book of Genesis.[5][9] In the 14th century, 'a nadder' in Middle English was rebracketed to 'an adder' (just as 'a napron' became 'an apron' and 'a nompere' changed into 'an umpire').
In keeping with its wide distribution and familiarity through the ages, Vipera berus has a large number of common names in English, which include:
Common European adder,[3] common European viper,[4] European viper,[10] northern viper,[11] adder, common adder, crossed viper, European adder,[12] common viper, European common viper, cross adder,[13] or common cross adder.[14] In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the snake is known as hugorm, hoggorm and huggorm, roughly translated as 'striking snake'. In Finland, it is known as kyykäärme or simply kyy, in Estonia it is known as rästik, while in Lithuania it is known as angis.
In the sagas, Ragnar is thrown into a pit of vipers by king Aella. While this species of snake isn't as venemous as some others, if you were tossed into a pit of them and received multiple bites and had nowhere to go without stepping on a snake, I can't imagine one would survive back in those days.
______________________________________________ Endeavoring to master the subtle art of the grapefruit spoon.
