| Abstract: | Distinctive accounts of the origin of snakestone beads occur in the folklore of Britain. The beads, usually formed of glass, were believed to be generated by the action of a knot of living snakes. This work considers snakestone bead folklore and explores when it may have developed—evaluating theories ranging from direct descent from the first century ad to early modern reinvention. Accounts of the creation of the snakestone bead from Scotland, Cornwall, and Wales are examined and compared, resulting in the identification of features unique to the folklore of each region. |
