# Snake pit

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Places of horror and torture with snakes

For other uses, see [Snake pit (disambiguation)](/source/Snake_pit_(disambiguation)).

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An [image stone](/source/Image_stone) on [Gotland](/source/Gotland), [Sweden](/source/Sweden), with imagery from the tradition of the *[Völsunga saga](/source/V%C3%B6lsunga_saga)* and *[Nibelungenlied](/source/Nibelungenlied)*. Note the slain [Sigurd](/source/Sigurd) with [Andvarinaut](/source/Andvarinaut) on the top of the stone, and a lady who puts snakes into a snake pit. This particular execution is described in *[Atlakviða](/source/Atlakvi%C3%B0a)* and *[Oddrúnargrátr](/source/Oddr%C3%BAnargr%C3%A1tr)*, and the murdered man is [Gunnarr](/source/Gunther), the [King of Burgundy](/source/King_of_Burgundy).

A **snake pit** is, in a literal sense, a hole filled with [snakes](/source/Snake). In idiomatic speech, "snake pits" are places of horror, torture and death in European legends and fairy tales. The [Viking](/source/Viking) [warlord](/source/Warlord) [Ragnar Lodbrok](/source/Ragnar_Lodbrok) is said to have been thrown into a snake pit and died there, after his army had been defeated in battle by King [Aelle II of Northumbria](/source/Aelle_II_of_Northumbria). An older legend recorded in *[Atlakviða](/source/Atlakvi%C3%B0a)* and *[Oddrúnargrátr](/source/Oddr%C3%BAnargr%C3%A1tr)* tells that [Attila the Hun](/source/Attila_the_Hun) murdered [Gunnarr](/source/Gunther), the [King of Burgundy](/source/King_of_Burgundy), in a snake pit. In a medieval German poem, [Dietrich von Bern](/source/Dietrich_von_Bern) is thrown into a snake pit by the [giant](/source/Giant) Sigenot – he is protected by a magical jewel that had been given to him earlier by a [dwarf](/source/Dwarf_(mythology)).[1][*[failed verification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability)*]

## See also

- [Narcisse Snake Pits](/source/Narcisse_Snake_Pits)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Coerrcion as Cure: A critical history of psychiatry". Author Thomas Szasz. 2007.](https://books.google.com/books?id=hYdLS6qyTwUC&dq=he+origin+of+the+term+%E2%80%9Csnake+pit%E2%80%9D+for+insane+asylum&pg=PA66)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Snake pit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_pit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_pit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.