The Snake's Pass by Bram Stoker

Name: The Snake's Pass
Author: Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker's "The Snake's Pass" follows Arthur Severn, an orphaned young Englishman newly come into an inheritance, as he tours the west of Ireland after a period of European travel. Sheltering from a violent storm at Widow Kelligan's shebeen near Carnaclif, he hears the local men recount legends of nearby Knockcalltecrore ("The Hill of the Lost Gold" or "Lost Golden Crown"): the tale of St. Patrick banishing a snake-king who hid his jeweled crown in the mountain before fleeing through the cleft called Shleenanaher (the Snake's Pass), and the rumor that French invasion money from General Humbert's failed 1798 expedition lies buried there too. The company also warns of "Black" Murdock, the local gombeen man (usurer), who is said to be held to the hill by his obsessive search for the treasure. That night Phelim Joyce arrives, injured, revealing that Murdock has fraudulently foreclosed on his prosperous farm while he was raising money to repay a loan, forcing an exchange for Murdock's inferior land containing a dangerous "shifting bog." Murdock himself appears and is struck by Joyce after taunting him; the priest, Father Peter, denounces Murdock in biblical terms as a modern Ahab. Arthur helps drive the injured Joyce home and, in the darkness, hears but does not see Joyce's daughter Norah — her voice captivates him. Weeks later, returning via Carnaclif, Arthur reunites with his old schoolfriend Dick Sutherland, now an engineer secretly employed by Murdock to search the mountain (with a magnet) for hidden metal, ostensibly the lost treasure. Exploring nearby Knocknacar hill, Arthur meets a beautiful peasant girl and falls in love without learning her name. Dick, meanwhile, confesses his own love for Norah Joyce, whom he has seen but never spoken to. Both men realize, through their driver Andy's teasing, that they may be pursuing different women — Arthur reassures Dick his beloved is not Norah. Arthur assists Dick's magnetic surveys and also helps him investigate the shifting bog scientifically, learning Dick's theory that underground springs, limestone erosion, and clay banks cause the bog to migrate and could one day catastrophically engulf anything in its path — including Murdock's new house, built in the bog's likely track. Hoping to help Dick's prospects with Norah, Arthur secretly purchases Murdock's landholding (including the treacherous house site) through a solicitor, to be transferred to Dick later. After days of failing to find his unknown love again on Knocknacar, Arthur unexpectedly discovers her on the Joyce family's remaining "Cliff Fields" land — she is revealed to be Norah Joyce herself. They declare their love, but Norah, torn by devotion to her father and now aware Dick has also shown her attention, asks for time before answering Arthur's proposal. Arthur is left in an agony of divided loyalty toward his friend as the narrative breaks off mid-conversation, with Norah beginning to explain her hesitation regarding her father's situation.

By Bram Stoker · First published 1900 · Genre: Adventure, Romance, Fantasy · 18 chapters · 111,904 words

First lines

Between two great mountains of grey and green, as the rock cropped out between the tufts of emerald verdure, the valley, almost as narrow as a gorge, ran due west towards the sea. There was just room for the roadway, half cut in the rock, beside the narrow strip of dark lake of seemingly unfathomable depth that lay far below between perpendicular walls of frowning rock. As the valley opened, the land dipped steeply, and the lake became a foam-fringed torrent, widening out into pools and miniature lakes as it reached the lower ground. In the wide terrace-like steps of the shelving mountain there were occasional glimpses of civilization emerging from the almost primal desolation which immediately surrounded us-clumps of trees, cottages, and the irregular outlines of stone-walled fields, with black stacks of turf for winter firing piled here and there. Far beyond was the sea-the great Atlantic-with a wildly irregular coast-line studded with a myriad of clustering rocky islands.

What this Textopian page supports

The Snake's Pass is listed on Textopian as a novel by Bram Stoker, dated 1900 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Novel
Author: Bram Stoker
Date: 1900 CE
Language: English
Genres: Adventure, Romance, Fantasy, Folklore, Mystery
Length: 111,904 words
Structure: 18 chapters, 2,009 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Work identity for The Snake's Pass by Bram Stoker
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Discussion starters

What should a reader notice first when entering The Snake's Pass?
How does this novel by Bram Stoker fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Adventure first become important in the reading?

Similar titles

Genres

Adventure — Primarily, the book revolves around an audacious journey and pursuit of treasure, similar to classic adventure novels.
Romance — The plot also includes a love story between the protagonist, Arthur Severn, and Esse Elstree.
Fantasy — The book introduces elements such as the fabulous treasure of the Snake's Pass and layers of local lore and myth.
Folklore — The narrative brings to life the local legend of the King under the Mountain and introduces ancient symbols.