Viper, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

The viper, notorious for its violent birthing process, is named after its gruesome reproductive methods. When the viper's belly groans with labour pains, its young burst out prematurely, tearing through the mother’s sides and causing her death. Lucan famously described how “the knots of vipers break the body when mating,” highlighting the creature's brutal nature. During mating, the male viper inserts his head into the female's mouth to deposit his seed. In a frenzy of lust, the female bites off the male's head, leading to their mutual demise—him during the act, and her in childbirth. Saint Ambrose condemned the viper as the most vile and cunning of beasts. The viper’s courtship is equally sinister: when on heat, it seeks out the moray eel at the seashore with its hiss. Despite the viper’s venom, the moray eel does not shy away. Yet, sensing its approach, the viper expels its venom as if to share timidly the union it desires. Once mating is complete, it retrieves the venom it had expelled. With regard to their behaviour, it seems that female vipers and moray eels are even more malevolent today; a woman, like the viper, does not seek her husband in his absence but unleashes her bitterness upon him upon his return. Thus, the viper symbolises demons or individuals of a poisonous and perverse nature.

In medieval Christian thought, the viper's deceptive nature was also seen as a metaphor for hypocrisy. Just as the viper could hide its true intentions until it struck, individuals who were outwardly pious but inwardly corrupt were likened to vipers.

Some medieval bestiaries used the viper to symbolise those who opposed or sought to undermine Christian teachings and values. Its venomous nature and its hostile actions were used to represent the contempt and hostility of those who reject or attack the faith.

Vipera dicta quod vi pariat. Nam et cum venter eius
ad partum ingemuerit; catuli non expectantes
maturam nature solutionem corrosis eius lateribus
in erumpunt cum matris interitu. Unde lucanus.
Viperei coeunt abrupto corpore nodi. Fertur autem
quod masculus ore inserto vipere; semen expuat.
Illa autem ex voluptate in rabiem versa; capud ma-
ris ore recepto; precidit. Ita fit ut parens uterque pe-
reat. masculus cum coit; femina cum parit. De
vipera dicit sanctus ambrosius quia nequissimum
genus bestie est. et super omnia que serpentini sunt ge-
neris; est astutior. Dicunt quidam quod cum cupi-
ditate habet. progreditur ad litus maris.
et sibilo evocat murenam maritimam. Murena cog-
noscens vipere; adest. et cum vipera venenata; con-
iunctionem non abhorret. Sed cum murenam adven-
tare cognoscit; venenum evomit. ut marito ve-
nienti verecundata nuptialem gratiam deferat. Post
completum autem comunctionis offitum venenum
quod evomerat; assumit. Multo peiores

The viper is named so, for it gives birth violently[1]. When its belly groans with labour pains, the snakelets do not wait for the natural time of birth but burst out, tearing through the mother’s sides, resulting in her death. As Lucan says, “The knots of vipers break the body when mating.”[2] It is also said that the male viper inserts its head into the female’s mouth to deposit its seed. In the pleasure of the act, the female maddens out of lust and bites off the male’s head. Thus, both of them perish: the male during mating, the female when giving birth. Saint Ambrose says of the viper that it is the vilest kind of beast and, among all snakes, the most cunning. Some say that when the viper is on heat, it slithers to the seashore and calls the moray eel with its hiss. Recognising the viper, the moray eel comes close and despite the viper’s venom, it does not demur thereat. However, when the viper senses the moray approaching, it expels its venom, sharing timidly with its mate the union it craves. After their mating is complete, the viper takes back the venom it had expelled.

vipera aut murena video esse hodie coniuges;
Mulier enim virum suum absentem non querit.
sed venena verborum pauorum in eum ef-
fundit; cum venit. Nomine igitur vipere signifi-
cantur demones. sive venenati et perversi ho-
mines.

I notice that the female vipers and moray eels are far worse nowadays: a woman does not seek her husband when he is absent but utters venomous words against him instead, when he arrives. Therefore, the viper represents demons or poisonous and perverse people.

Further Reading

David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Viper, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast267.htm

Josh Goldenberg (BA 2012) and Matt Shanahan (BA 2014, Logeion, November 2022, https://logeion.uchicago.edu/

Castiglioni, L. and Mariotti, S. (1996). Vocabolario della Lingua Latina: Latino-Italiano Italiano-Latino. Terza Edizione. Loescher Torino

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Wikipedia: The Elephant, 28 November 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant

Matthews, J. and Matthews C., (2010), The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, HarperCollins UK, London

Curley, M. J., Physiologus: A Medieval Book of Nature Lore (University of Chicago edition 2009)

Rackham, H., M.A., Pliny Natural History Volume III, Libri VIII-XI (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1949)

Collins, A. H., M.A., Symbolism of Animals and Birds (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913)

Henderson, C., The Book of Barely Imagined Beings (London: University of Chicago Press, 2013)

White, T. H., The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts (New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1960)

Barney, S. A., Lewis, W. J., Beach A., Berghof O., The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Endnotes

[1] Vi from vis means with force/violence and părĭo means to give birth.

[2] Lucan, Pharsalia Book 9 Line 563: "Viperei coeunt abrupto corpore nodi." That translates as “The knots of vipers break the body when mating”.