Note 47 — Chapter II · TREE AND SERPENT WORSHIP.
Reading edition
The Nîm tree is also connected with snake worship, as its leaves repel snakes. In this it resembles the Yggdrassil of Europe, the roots of which were half destroyed by the serpents which nestled among them. The leaves and wood of the ash tree, the modern successor of the mystic tree of Teutonic mythology, are still regarded throughout all Northern Europe as a powerful protective from all manner of snakes and evil worms.47 In Cornwall no kind of snake is ever found near the ashen tree, and a branch of it will prevent a snake from coming near a person.48 Nîm leaves are, it may be noted, useless as a snake scarer unless they are fresh.49