The amphisbaena is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. The creature is alternatively called the amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, amfivena, amphivena, or anphivena, and is also known as the "Mother of Ants". Its name comes from the Greek words amphis, meaning "both ways", and bainein, meaning "to go".
These early descriptions of the amphisbaena depicts a venomous, dual-headed snakelike creature. However, Medieval and later drawings often show it with two or more scaled feet, particularly chicken feet, and feathered wings. Some even depict it as a horned, dragon-like creature with a serpent-headed tail and small, round ears, while others have both "necks" of equal size so that it cannot be determined which is the rear head. Many descriptions of the amphisbaena say its eyes glow like candles or lightning, but the poet Nicander seems to contradict this by describing it as "always dull of eye". He also says: "From either end protrudes a blunt chin; each is far from each other." Nicander's account seems to be referring to what is indeed called the Amphisbaenia.
Habitat
The amphisbaena is said to make its home in the desert.
Folk medicine
In ancient times, the supposedly dangerous amphisbaena had many uses in the art of folk medicine and other such remedies. Pliny notes that expecting women wearing a live amphisbaena around their necks would have safe pregnancies; however, if one's goal was to cure ailments such as arthritis or the common cold, one should wear only its skin. By eating the meat of the amphisbaena, one could supposedly attract many lovers of the opposite sex, and slaying one during the full moon could give power to one who is pure of heart and mind. Lumberjacks suffering from cold weather on the job could nail its carcass or skin to a tree to keep warm, while in the process allowing the tree to be felled more easily.
Origins
In The Book of Beasts, T.H. White suggests that the creature derives from sightings of the worm lizards of the same name. These creatures are found in the Mediterranean countries where many of these legends originated.
In media
In John Milton's Paradise Lost, after the Fall and the return of Satan to Hell, some of the fallen angelic host are transformed into the amphisbaena, to represent the animal by which the Fall was caused, i.e. a snake. The amphisbaena is mentioned in the first book of Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher series, i.e. The Last Wish, when The Witcher's protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, is recalling past events when he meets an old acquaintance named Irion. The amphisbaena was endangering the region of Kovir until the beast was slain by Geralt's hand. Brandon Sanderson's novel Skyward has a character whose name is Arturo Mendez. His call sign is amphisbaena. In the 1984 Scandinavian animated filmGallavants, an amphisbaena appears as a minor antagonist. The two heads, a red one named Edil and a blue one called Fice, frequently disagree and argue, and sing a song about their miserable plight. Amphisbaena appears in some editions of the tabletop roleplaying gameDungeons & Dragons. The Amphisbaena appears in the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Battle Nexus: New York." This version is one of the known champions of the Battle Nexus. Big Mama had Michelangelo and Meat Sweats compete to feed each of it's heads in order to satisfy. They managed to work together to pull it off.
