Talk:Snake Physiology/@comment-76.11.24.19-20120715181649

Yamato no Orochi - Japanese Mythology. It was an Immense snake with eight heads and eight tails, that devoured the daughters of a rice farmer couple. They were down to there last daughter when the fallen Shinto God of Storms and Sea Susanoo found them and fell in love with the last daughter, Kushinada-hime (Rice Patty Princess). He hid her as a comb in his hair and fought the Orochi (in some tales he got it drunk with eight barrels of rice wine). Susanoo cut off the heads of the Orochi and while cutting the tails, he found a mystic sword (Kusanagi - Sword of the Snake) which he gave to his sister Amateratsu as an apology for teasing her. She gave it to her descendent who used it not only to defend himself, but stop a grass fire (slicing the burning tips from the grass with one swipe). Hence it's other name - Grasscutter.