A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A small red snake raised in a hollow tree grows large, kills its keeper and devours a village. It subsequently produces many offspring in a banyan. Two principal young are Betawerai, who stays on a branch, and Walolo, who travels far in search of people or pigs. Codrington’s narrative explains Betawerai’s name through the spreading branch, rather than identifying that named offspring as the original parent.

Twin survivors attack the banyan’s snakes, and Betawerai sings for Walolo. The travelling snake returns end over end like a thrown stick, even from across the sea. Repeated arrows kill him; Betawerai is then pulled from the tree and killed. The pair preserve contrasting stationary and travelling roles, and remain separate from the unnamed red parent.

One stays on a banyan branchOne hunts across the seaSong summons the travelling snake
01

Origins & earliest records

R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter XIX, III.11, pp. 403–404. His introduction credits islanders’ written manuscripts for these translated tales; specific individual writers are not supplied here.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected tale read in the public primary transcription, with printed-page markers retained. Descriptive profile titles are identified where the being is unnamed. The original page images have not been visually collated in this pass.

In the literature

“his name was Walolo”
R. H. Codrington; island manuscript writer unnamed · The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
Chapter XIX III.11 About Betawerai a Snake, Aurora, pp.403–404; p.403; mobile snake named · R. H. Codrington

A boy disregards his mother and feeds a little red snake in a hollow tree until it becomes huge. It consumes the boy and village. A pregnant woman survives underground and bears twins. The snake produces many young; Betawerai stays on a banyan branch, while Walolo ranges far away for people and pigs. The named snakes are offspring, not the two human twins.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.11, pp. 403–404

    R. H. Codrington (English translation and presentation of islanders’ manuscripts) · 1891

    Chapter introduction, p. 356, identifies the manuscript basis. Local story headings retained; collector judgments are not present community consensus.

  2. 02

    The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore

    R. H. Codrington; selected island manuscript writer unnamed · 1891

    R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; University of Toronto scan/OCR. Selected complete Chapter XIX III.7, 8, 11 and 12 independently read. Interleaved footnote to the preceding Ro Som tale excluded from III.7.

Family, evolution & connections

The snake offspring in Codrington’s Betawerai episode

Aurora tale III.11, pp. 403–404; two named offspring and other unnamed young.

  • Unnamed original snake

The original snake brings forth many young, of whom Betawerai and Walolo are expressly the two chief ones. The snake parent is unnamed. The separate pregnant human survivor and her twin boys belong to a different household; neither human twin is a child of the snake. Historical translated narrative, not biological species ancestry.

Codrington (1891), The Melanesians, XIX III.11–13, pp. 403–407

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore

R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; University of Toronto scan/OCR. Selected complete Chapter XIX III.7, 8, 11 and 12 independently read. Interleaved footnote to the preceding Ro Som tale excluded from III.7.

  1. A boy disregards his mother and feeds a little red snake in a hollow tree until it becomes huge. It consumes the boy and village. A pregnant woman survives underground and bears twins. The snake produces many young; Betawerai stays on a banyan branch, while Walolo ranges far away for people and pigs. The named snakes are offspring, not the two human twins.

    Chapter XIX III.11 About Betawerai a Snake, Aurora, pp.403–404; Raised snake and its offspring

  2. The twins pelt snakes from the banyan. Betawerai calls Walolo back; he advances end over end like a thrown stick. Repeated arrows kill Walolo, and the boys pull Betawerai down and kill him. They burn the assembled snakes and return to the village with their mother. No additional personal names for the twins are supplied.

    Chapter XIX III.11 About Betawerai a Snake, Aurora, pp.403–404; Human twins defeat both named snakes

  3. Codrington describes all stories except the first as translations of manuscripts written for him by islanders. The first Florida tale was recorded by A. Penny. This selected story has no individually identified manuscript writer in the inspected heading or introductory statement.

    Chapter XIX introduction, p.356

Island-specific historical account. Unstated identities and present community consensus not assumed; songs and ceremonial formulas not excerpted. Facsimile not visually checked in this batch. Original island manuscript not independently inspected; general contributors named elsewhere are not automatically individual narrators here.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter XIX: Stories, III.11, pp. 403–404Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Primary provenance statementCodrington’s Chapter XIX collection and translation statementResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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