from Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, compiled by Elias Lönnrot (1880)

When a serpent bit human flesh, the Finnish tietäjä (seer-shaman) did not apply a poultice. He opened a trial. The technique of the Finnish snake-bite charm is forensic: the charm-singer addresses the serpent directly, as a defendant in a cosmic court. He interrogates it — who sent you? Your father? Your mother? Your eldest brother, or your youngest sister? — and demands to know whether the bite was commanded or committed on the serpent's own wicked will. The answer determines the remedy: rebuke, negotiation, invocation of higher powers, or banishment.

The twelve variants collected here represent the full range of the tietäjä's repertoire against snake bite. Some are brief rebukes (a, e, k). Others are elaborate prosecutions: variant (d) is the theological masterpiece, in which the serpent is accused of having deceived all christened people, deceived our forefathers, and deceived God Almighty — a Finnish reworking of the Eden narrative in which the snake was given permission to crawl in the stubble but broke its covenant by biting human skin. Variant (g) declares kinship — "earth you, earth I, common earth we live upon" — and then catalogues every possible color the snake might wear. Variant (h) extends this into a pure litany of colors: Hiisi's color, cloud's color, wind's color, rain's color, snow's color, every substance in creation. Variant (i) tells the origin story: God made the snake at Peter's request, the snake bit Peter's finger, Peter begged God to destroy it, and God refused — "we shall not both give life and create death in one day's light." Variant (l) banishes the snake in escalating stages: first to the grass, then under the earth, then under a stone to scream forever.

These charms are the functional companion to the Birth of the Serpent (käärmeen synty) and the mirror image of the Healing Charms for Iron Wounds, both already in this archive. Where the iron charms address a material that became evil through contamination — the horsefly of Hiisi poisoned the tempering water — the snake charms address a creature that chose evil despite its covenant. Iron's sin was accidental. The serpent's was willful. Together they are the two faces of betrayal in Finnish cosmology.

These charms have never before appeared in English. The Blood Rule is satisfied: every line is translated independently from Lönnrot's Finnish, with no prior English translation known to exist.

a.

Black worm, earth-colored one,
Grub of Tuoni’s hue,
Crawler beneath the dry grass,
Wretch among the grass-roots,
Through-hillock goer,
Tree-root threader!
Who raised you from the stubble,
Woke you from the grass-roots,
To crawl upon the earth,
To wriggle upon the road;
Who raised your snout,
Who commanded, who urged you
To hold your head erect,
Your stiff neck-shaft
Against the commandment of God?
The Creator cursed you
To go upon the ground on your belly,
To go the ground, to scrape the stone.
Did your father command you
Or did your elders demand
This vile work,
This great evil-doing,
When you touched with your tongue,
You wicked one, with your fang,
Or did you do it of your own will,
By your own whim?
Bite, wretch, your own offspring,
Your own makings —
Not human skin,
Not the hair of one the Creator made!

b.

Black worm beneath the earth,
Grey one beneath the spruce,
One beneath the earth’s moss,
Leaf-love’s darling serpent,
Hair-braid of Hiisi’s maiden,
Devil’s beard-hair,
Meadow-dweller’s fence-switch,
Ugly one’s hip-bar,
Devil’s whip, Hiisi’s lash,
Evil spirit’s shirt-ribbon,
Flitting among the alders,
Bustling among the willows,
Through-fence driver,
Through-stump digger!
Who, mother-dear, raised you from the earth,
Who woke you from the grass,
To scramble in the yard,
To squirm among the rubbish,
To touch with your small tongue,
To taste with your low mouth?
Who commanded you to evil work,
Urged you to wretched work —
Your father or your mother,
Or the eldest of your brothers,
Or the youngest of your sisters,
Or the rest of your great kin —
When you came fire-colored
Or iron-hued,
Bit human skin,
The hair of one the Creator made?
Did you think you were biting wood,
Getting at willow-root,
When you bit human skin,
The hair of one the Creator made!

c.

Black worm, green adder,
Angry adder, coiling one,
Phantom, spirit-like,
Apparition by the fence,
Switch beneath the cairn,
Coil at the stump-root,
Through-turf comer,
Earth-surface crawler,
Tree-branch dropper,
Grass-top tosser!
Have you already eaten your fill,
Bitten as you pleased,
When you bit the poor creature,
Mauled the wretched beast,
Pinched the cow’s teat,
Tasted from beneath its belly?
What drove you to your wrath,
Stirred you to your shames,
Who raised you from the hollow,
Woke you from the grass,
From beneath the brow to walk,
Upon the earth to crawl,
Your wretched head to sway,
Your black mouth to mutter,
Who urged your tongue,
Who commanded the curved one,
When you came in fury,
In bristling rage,
Pinched the cow’s teat,
Mauled the wretched beast?

d.

You old earthworm,
Earth’s dirt, death-world’s dirt,
Yard’s dirt, field’s dirt,
Dirt of all christened people,
Dweller beneath the fences,
Rotten-stump digger,
One beneath the golden stubble,
One beside the long woodpile,
Deceiver for all eternity,
You deceived us before all others,
You deceived our forefathers,
You lied to our elders,
You deceived the all-powerful Creator,
The Almighty God himself:
Permission was given to you,
Permission to travel in the stubble,
To crawl within the earth,
But no permission was given
To begin foul works,
To do vile deeds.
You did not travel in the stubble,
Did not crawl within the earth,
When you broke the tender skin,
Ruined the mother’s child!
Why did you raise your snout,
Why did you lift your head
Higher than the grass-root,
Than the grass-root, than the hillock,
Wriggled your coils,
Turned your snout about,
Bared your gums,
Held your mouth in evil fashion,
Did great evil,
Much vile work,
Ill for you, ill for me,
Ill for us both?
Why did you sting when I forbade it,
Why did you taste when I conjured you?
Your father did not command you,
Not your father, not your mother,
To do these deeds,
To break the baptised,
To fell the christened,
To slay the made.

e.

Black worm rose from the earth,
Slug from the water’s surface,
To bite, to sting
That human skin.
Hair-adder, scoundrel’s son,
Why did you do vile work?
Come now to know your work,
To silence your venom,
Draw your venom away,
Send your gall home,
Or I’ll call, I’ll cry
To my father Jesus,
To my mother Mary,
To see these deeds;
He would silence your venom,
Send your gall home,
Cast what you ate into the depths,
Undo what you bit,
Pinch shut your pincers,
And narrow your blade.

f.

Black worm, coiling one,
Coiling one, twisting one,
Come to know your work,
To heal your evil —
Whether the mottled one’s pain
Or the black one’s squeeze;
If you have laid it on, then heal it,
If you touched, then straighten it!
If you hacked with teeth
Or struck with gums,
Or darted with tongue,
Or jabbed with tail,
Or breathed upon it —
Take back your own pains,
Draw your venom as water,
As milk your evil deposits,
Beneath your venom-teeth,
Into your golden gullet,
Into your copper belly,
Send your gall back inside,
Beneath your five girdles,
Your six golden rings;
If you bit something red,
Into the red let it go,
If you rubbed the skin,
Into the skin let it melt;
Let the heartless one burst,
Let the one with a heart be spared!
When I seek your mother,
Search for your elder’s power,
Still you swell in your torments,
Bloat in your days of constraint,
In your agonies you writhe,
In your pangs you split —
And not the body a maiden bore,
Not the hair of one the Creator made;
You break, wretch, in two,
You villain, into three pieces,
Like an alder stick
Or a spruce pole.

g.

Worms are of many kinds:
There are blue, there are red,
There are yellow-colored,
Stone-speckled in appearance,
But none like that evil one,
Nor of that horror’s hue.
Well I know your lineage,
Your birth, you wretch:
From earth is the birth of the greater,
Of the greater, of the lesser,
From earth you too were born,
Earth your father, earth your mother,
Earth the power of your elders,
Earth you, earth I,
Common earth we live upon.
That was your lineage —
Let me look at your hide,
Let me count your markings.
Soon your hide is counted,
Whatever color you may be:
Blue or red,
Or yellow-colored,
Or pale and lively,
Crude-iron colored,
Blue-gleaming bunting’s color,
Or the color of all the air,
The blue color of heaven,
Color of every rumble,
Color of all creatures,
Hiisi’s color indeed,
Devil’s stubbornly clinging color,
Evil’s tightly binding color.

h.

Death-world’s grub, earthworm,
Angry adder, adder-being,
I know your lineage
But not, villain, your color:
Is it Hiisi’s color,
Devil’s color, cloud’s color,
Wind’s color, blizzard’s color,
Weather’s color, rain’s color,
Snow’s color, frost’s color,
Earth’s color, bedstraw’s color,
Tree’s color, heather’s color,
Willow’s color, bird-cherry’s color,
Alder’s color, love’s color,
Flower’s color, gold’s color,
Stubble’s color, yellow’s color,
Stone’s color, stump’s color,
Iron’s color, copper’s color,
Milk of the cow-of-the-depths,
Blue’s color, bunting’s color,
The color of the whole sky’s arc,
The color of the nine heavens —
And I care not for your colors,
Whatever color you may be,
Choose your own color!

i.

When the Lord had created the spirit,
The Creator had shaped the serpent
At the request of Peter,
Created teeth for the wretch,
Got a tongue into the vile one’s mouth,
Blessed eyes into its head,
So the great Creator spoke,
Said to Saint Peter:
"Try, Peter, with your finger —
What is this lump upon the hillock!"

Saint Peter went
To try with his finger,
Put his thumb into its mouth,
Stretched his hand to its brow.

So that wicked creature
Bit Peter’s finger;
Pain came upon Peter,
He began to pray to Christ:
"Take, Lord, the life from that one,
Let the villain die!"

So the great Creator spoke,
The steadfast God answered:
"We shall not both do
In one day’s light
Both grant life
And create death;
Already I told you:
From evil comes evil,
Pain from the wicked one’s bite,
Villain from villain’s retching."

Saint Peter speaks,
Urgently prays:
"Make it well then
With the Lord’s good spirit;
When you, Lord, gave it life,
Create also healing words —
What might serve as good counsel
In these villain’s touchings!"

A little time passed,
And that wretched earthworm
Bit Jesus’s horse,
Broke Christ’s gelding,
Through the wooden stable floor,
Through the copper-bottomed sledge.

So the great Creator speaks,
The pure God says:
"Black worm beneath the earth,
Death-world’s grub,
Why did you do vile work,
Broke the death-colored one?
In the grass your place,
Your dwelling beneath the fence —
Move yourself there between,
Down into the ditch go die,
To hide in your hiding places,
To be ashamed of your deeds!"

k.

Angry adder, adder-being,
Adder-being, serpent-thing!
Away I conjure you —
This is not your place.
Go, wretch, into the ditch,
Sway yourself into the grass,
Drop into the heather,
Into the brush beneath the fence;
Shove your head into the turf,
Rot within the hillock!
In the hillock your dwelling,
Beneath the turf your house;
If from there you raise your head,
I’ll grind your head in a mortar,
Thresh you with a club’s edge,
Grind your tongue on a stone.

l.

Black worm beneath the earth,
Coil beneath the stone!
There I send you —
To the tiny little boat,
The wide waters to roll,
The flowing waters to glide;
There is water for you to drink
If you be a water-snake.
But if you be an earthworm,
Go there, where I command:
Drag yourself like a woolen tow,
Travel like a bean-pod,
Rustling into the dry grass,
Tinkling into the meadow,
Threading into the grove,
Humping into the hillock,
Under the branch to brood,
Under the earth to lie;
There is earth for you to eat,
Brushwood for you to chew.
If that is not enough,
There I conjure you —
Under a stone to scream,
Under a boulder to wail.
Curse there, you stubborn one,
Howl there, you clinging one,
For all that long age!
If from there you raise your head,
Lift your snout,
Your head shall be cut off
On ten thresholds,
At the tip of a hundred logs.

Colophon

Source: Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People), Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880. Section 11: Käärmeen puremissa (For Snake Bites), variants a–l.

Translation: Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated independently from the Finnish source text. No prior English translation of these incantations is known to exist. Orthographic variants (Toisin:) are omitted for readability.

Note: These twelve charms form the functional complement to the käärmeen synty (Birth of the Serpent) already in this archive. Where the synty tells how the serpent came to be, these charms are what the tietäjä spoke over the wound — the knowledge deployed as power. They are also the mirror image of the Healing Charms for Iron Wounds (section 22 of the same collection): iron's evil was accidental, caused by the horsefly of Hiisi who poisoned the tempering water; the serpent's evil was willful, a covenant broken despite God's commandment. Variant (d) prosecutes the serpent as a cosmic deceiver who lied to our forefathers and to God himself. Variant (g) declares kinship — "earth you, earth I, common earth we live upon" — before cataloguing every possible color the snake might wear. Variant (h) extends this into a pure incantatory litany of twenty-one colors. Variant (i) tells a Finno-Christian origin narrative: God made the snake at Saint Peter's request; the snake bit Peter; Peter begged God to destroy it; God refused, saying "we shall not both give life and create death in one day's light." Variant (l) banishes the snake in escalating stages — first to the grass, then under the earth, then under a stone to scream forever. Together these twelve variants preserve the most complete surviving repertoire of Finnish snake-bite healing practice as it survived into the nineteenth century.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

🌲

Source Text: Käärmeen puremissa

Finnish source text from Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. Variant notations (Toisin:) are omitted for readability; the text preserves the original orthography.

a.

Mato musta, maan näköinen,
Toukka tuonen karvallinen,
Kuppelo kulon alainen,
Herja heinän juurehinen,
Läpi mättähän meniä,
Puun juuren pujottelia!
Kuka sun kulosta nosti,
Heinän juuresta herätti,
Maan päällä matelemahan,
Tiellä teukalehtamahan;
Kuka nosti nokkoasi,
Kuka käski, ken kehotti,
Päätä pystössä piteä,
Kaulan vartta kankeata
Vasten käskyä Jumalan?
Luojapa sinun kirosi
Mahallasi maata käyä,
Maa käyä, kivi kalua.
Käskikö sinun isosi
Tahi vaati vanhempasi
Tähän työhön törkeähän,
Paljolta pahantekohon,
Kun sä koskit kielelläsi,
Ilkeä ikonillasi,
Vainko teit omalla päällä,
Oman oikkusi perästä?
Pure kurko poikiasi,
Omia tekemiäsi,
Ele ihmisen ihoa,
Karvoja kavon tekemän!

b.

Mato musta maanalainen,
Harmaja havun alainen,
Maan on sammalen alainen,
Lehon lempi lierukainen,
Hivusletti Hiien immin,
Paholaisen partakarva,
Aholaisen aian vitsas,
Rumalaisen roukkupuola,
Pirun piiska, Hiien ruoska,
Pahan hengen paian nauha,
Lepiköissä lenteliä,
Pajustoissa puuhailia,
Läpi aitojen ajaja,
Läpi kannon kaivelia!
Ken sun, mammo, maasta nosti,
Kuka heinästä herätti,
Kartanolla kapsamahan,
Rikoilla ripuilemahan,
Kielin pienin koskemahan,
Suin matalin maistamahan?
Ken käski pahalle työlle,
Työlle kehnolle kehotti,
Isosiko vai emosi,
Vaiko vanhin veljiäsi,
Vai nuorin sisariasi,
Vaiko muu sukusi suuri,
Kun tulit tulen näköisnä
Vainko rauan karvallisna,
Purit ihmisen ihoa,
Karvoa kavon tekemän?
Luulitko puuta purrehesi,
Pajun juurta pannehesi,
Kun purit ihmisen ihoa,
Karvoa kavon tekemän!

c.

Mato musta, kyy viherä,
Kyy vihainen kyykeröinen,
Haamu haltian näköinen,
Aave aian vierellinen,
Raippa raunion alainen,
Kieppi kannon juurehinen,
Läpi turpehen tulia,
Maan päällä matelehtija,
Puun oksalta puotteleija,
Päälle heinän heitteleijä!
Joko söit syötäväsi,
Haukkasit halun perästä,
Kun purit elävä raukan,
Raavas raukan runnistelit,
Lehmän nänniä näpistit,
Maistelit mahan alusta?
Mik' on sun vihoihin viennä,
Häpeihin hämmentännä,
Ken sun konnusta kohotti,
Herätteli heinikosta,
Alta kulmun kulkemahan,
Maan päällä matelemahan,
Pään kurjan kujertamahan,
Suun mustan mutelemahan,
Ken se kieltäsi kehotti,
Kuka käski käyriölle,
Kun tulit kovin vihaisna,
Äreänä ärtelihet,
Lehmän nänniä näpistit,
Raavas raukan runnistelit?

d.

Sinä vanha maan matonen,
Maan rikka, manalan rikka,
Pihan rikka, pellon rikka,
Rikka kaiken ristikansan,
Alla aitojen asuja,
Lahokannon kaivelia,
Kulon kultaisen alainen,
Pinon pitkän vierehinen,
Pettäjä ijän ikuinen,
Petit meitä ennen muita,
Petitpä esi-isämme,
Valehtelit vanhempamme,
Petit Luojan kaikkivallan,
Itse julkisen Jumalan:
Lupa sulle annettihin,
Lupa kulkea kulossa,
Mataloita maan sisässä,
Vaan ei annettu lupoa
Ruveta rumille töille,
Käyä töille törkeille.
Ethän kulkenut kulossa,
Mateloinut maan sisässä,
Kun rikoit ihon imeisen,
Turmelit emosen tuoman!
Miksi nostit norpoasi,
Kuksi päätäsi kohotit,
Ylemmäksi heinän juurta,
Heinän juurta, maan mätästä,
Liikuttelit liiroasi,
Kärseäsi käännyttelit,
Irvistit ikeniäsi,
Suutasi pahoin pitelit,
Teit paljolta pahoa,
Äijältä tihua työtä,
Pahoin sulle, pahoin mulle,
Pahoin meille kummallenki?
Miksi pistit, kun ma kielsin,
Miksi maistit, kun manasin?
Ei sua käskenyt isosi,
Ei isosi, ei emosi,
Tekemähän näitä töitä,
Ristittyiä rikkomahan,
Kastettua kaatamahan,
Tehtyä teloamahan.

e.

Mato musta maasta nousi,
Etana ve'en emiltä,
Puremahan, pistämähän
Tuota ihmisen ihoa.
Jouhikyy, kanaljan poika,
Miksi teit tihua työtä?
Tule nyt työsi tuntemahan,
Myrkkysi mykäisemähän,
Veä myrkkysi välehen,
Saata sappesi kotia,
Tahi huuan huijahutan
Isälleni Jesukselle,
Muorilleni Maarialle,
Näkemähän näitä töitä;
Se sun myrkkysi mykäisi,
Sappesi kotia saatti,
Syösti syömäsi syvähän,
Puremasi purkaeli,
Pihisti sun pihtimesi,
Ja kavensi kalpimesi.

f.

Mato musta, kyykeröinen,
Kyykeröinen, kääkeröinen,
Tule työsi tuntemahan,
Pahasi parantamahan,
Oisiko kirjavan kipeä,
Tahi mustan muikkoama;
Jos olet pannut, niin paranna,
Jos sa koskit, niin kohenna!
Lienet hampahin hakannut
Tahi iskenyt ikenin,
Eli kielin keipatellut,
Eli purstoin puikkaellut,
Tahi hengin huokununna,
Ota pois omat kipusi,
Veä myrkkysi vetenä,
Maitona pahat panosi,
Alle haikuhammastesi,
Kupuhusi kultaisehen,
Vaskisehen vatsanasi,
Saata sappesi sisähän,
Alle viien vyöllisesi,
Kuuen kultarenkahasi;
Kun lienet punaista purrut,
Punaisehen puuttukohon,
Lienet hieltänyt hipiän,
Hipiähän hiutukohon;
Syämetön pakahtukohon,
Syämellinen säästyköhön!
Kun ma etsinen emosi,
Haen valta vanhempasi,
Vielä turvut tuskihisi,
Paisut pakkopäivihisi,
Äksyihisi äksyelet,
Halkielet haikuihisi,
Eikä ruumis immen tuoma,
Ei karva kavon tekemän;
Katkeat häjy kaheksi,
Konna kolmeksi muruksi,
Kuin on leppäinen kalikka,
Tahi kuusinen korento.

g.

Matoa on monen näöistä,
On sinistä, on punaista,
Ompi kellan karvallista,
Kirjavan kiven näöistä,
Vaan ei tuon pahan tapaista,
Eikä kammon karvallista.
Kyllä mä sukusi tieän,
Sinun, sykkä, synnyntäsi:
Maast' on synty suuremmaisen,
Suuremmaisen, pienemmäisen,
Maastapa sinäki synnyit,
Maa isosi, maa emosi,
Maa on valta vanhempasi,
Multa sinä, multa minä,
Maata yhteistä elämme.
Se oli sinun sukusi,
Annas katson karvojasi,
Luettelen luomuksesi.
Koht' on karvasi luettu,
Minkä karva lienetkänä,
Sininenko vai punainen,
Vai on kellan karvallinen,
Vainko valkean verevä,
Räkkirauan karvallinen,
Sinervöisen sirkun karva,
Vainko kaiken ilman karva,
Taivahan sinervä karva,
Karva kaiken jyttynäinen,
Kaikkien kavetten karva,
Hiien karva kaiketikki,
Pirun karva pinnahainen,
Pahan karva pannahainen.

h.

Tuonen toukka, maan matonen,
Kyy vihainen kyymeläinen,
Tieän mä sinun sukusi,
Vaan en konna karvojasi,
Onkohan se Hiien karva,
Pirun karva, pilven karva,
Tuulen karva, tuiskun karva,
Sään karva, satehen karva,
Lumen karva, luskan karva,
Maan karva, mataran karva,
Puun karva, kanervan karva,
Pajun karva, tuomen karva,
Lepän karva, lemmen karva,
Kukan karva, kullan karva,
Kulon karva, kellan karva,
Kiven karva, kannon karva,
Rauan karva, vasken karva,
Maholehmän maion karva,
Sinen karva, sirkun karva,
Kaiken ilman kaaren karva,
Karva taivahan yheksän,
Enkä huoli karvoistasi,
Minkä karva lienetkänä,
Itse karvasi valitse!

i.

Kun oli Herra hengen luonut,
Luoja käärmehen kuvannut,
Pyynnön Pietarin perästä,
Luonut hampahat häjylle,
Saanut kielen keion suuhun,
Silmät päähän siunannunna,
Niin tuo lausui suuri Luoja,
Sanoi santta Pietarille:
"Koita Pietar sormellasi,
Mik' on mytty mättähällä!"
Santta Pietari paneikse
Koittamahan sormellansa,
Pisti suuhun peukalonsa,
Kätens' otsahan ojensi.
Niin se ilkeä itikka
Pani sormen Pietarilta;
Tuli tuska Pietarille,
Alkoi Ristusta rukoilla:
"Ota Herra henki tuolta,
Luoppa konna kuolemahan!"
Niin sanovi suuri Luoja,
Vastasi vakaa Jumala:
"Emmähän molemmin tehne
Yhen päivän valkeuella,
Sekä hengeä suvanne
Että luone kuolemahan;
Jo minä sanoin sinulle:
Pahasta paha tulevi,
Kipu ilkeän kinosta,
Konna konnan oksennosta."
Santta Pietari sanovi,
Rutosti rukoelevi:
"Tee nyt sitten terveheksi
Herran hengellä hyvällä;
Kun sa Herra hengen annoit,
Luo kanssa katsesanoja,
Mikä neuvoksi hyväksi
Näissä konnan koskemissa!"
Olipa aikoa vähäisen,
Niin se raukka maan matonen
Pani Jesuksen hevosen,
Rikkoi ruunan Ristukselta,
Puhki puisen tallin sillan,
Läpi ruuhen vaskipohjan.
Niin sanovi suuri Luoja,
Puhuvi puhas Jumala:
"Mato musta maanalainen,
Toukka tuonen karvallinen,
Miksi teit tihua työtä,
Katkoit tuonen karvallista?
Heinissä sinun sijasi,
Asuntosi alla aian,
Sinne siirräite välehen,
Alas kursohon kuoite,
Piilojasi piilemähän,
Töitäsi häpeämähän!"

k.

Kyy vihainen, kyymeläinen,
Kyymeläinen, käämeläinen!
Pois minä sinun manoan,
Ei täällä sinun sijasi.
Kule kurja kursikkohon,
Heilahuta heinikkohon,
Kaaloa kanarvikkohon,
Risukkohon aian alle;
Tunge pääsi turpehesen,
Mätä mattahan sisähän!
Mättähässä sun majasi,
Alla turpehen tupasi;
Jospa tuolta pääsi nostat,
Pääsi survon huhmaressa,
Pieksän petkelen terällä,
Kielesi kivellä jauhan.

l.

Mato musta maan alainen
Kiemura kiven alainen!
Tuonne ma sinun lähetän
Venosehen pienosehen,
Veet väljät vieremähän,
Virtaveet vilajamahan,
Siell' on vettä juoäksesi,
Kun lienet vesimatonen.
Vaan kun lienet maan matonen,
Mene tuonne, kunne käsken,
Veäite villakuontalona,
Pavun palkona kuleksi,
Kuhaiten kulon sisähän,
Helähellen heinikkohon,
Pujotellen puistikkohon,
Mäkeltäiten mättähäsen,
Haon alle hautumahan,
Maan alle makoamahan;
Siell' on maata syöäksesi,
Hakoa havutaksesi.
Kun ei siitä kyllin liene,
Tuonne ma sinun manoan,
Kiven alle kirkumahan,
Paaen alle parkumahan.
Kiro siellä kinnahainen,
Paru siellä pannahainen,
Sinä pitkänä ikänä!
Jospa sieltä päätä nostat,
Kohottelet kuonoasi,
Pääsi poikki leikatahan
Kymmenenällä kynnyksellä,
Sa'an salvamen nenällä.

Source Colophon

Finnish source text from Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People), Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia 62 (Helsinki: SKS, 1880). Section 11: Käärmeen puremissa, variants a–l. Digital text from the Project Gutenberg human-proofread transcription (PG #48751, transcribed by Jari Koivisto). Public domain. Orthographic variant notations (Toisin:) are omitted; the verse text preserves Lönnrot’s original orthography.

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