ABSTRACT
THE explanation of this picture is that there was a king of Sweden, Heroth by name, who, troubled in mind about the guarding of his beautiful daughter’s chastity, was hard put to it to decide whether he should rely upon a beast to protect her, as was then the custom of certain princes, or whether he should trust her to human beings. But since 259he preferred the cruelty of wild animals to man’s fidelity, he soon chose something that would be more dangerous and harmful. 1 When he had taken himself off to the forest to hunt, his companions found some snakes there, which he brought back for his daughter to rear. She readily obeyed her father’s bidding and fostered these reptiles with her own maidenly hands. In case they should suffer by being deprived of suitable food, the careful father commanded that the whole carcase of an ox should be supplied for them to gorge on, not realizing that by his private feeding he was nourishing a public bane. When they reached maturity they scorched the whole neighbourhood with their venomous breath, and the king, repenting the useless pains he had taken, proclaimed that whoever would do away with this plague should gain his daughter.
Heroth, king of Sweden Custom of ancients in guarding chastity
Snakes to be reared as guardians
Private feeding, public bane
