Common Toad - Cultural Significance

Cultural Significance

The toad has long been considered to be an animal of ill omen or a connection to a spirit world. This may have its origins in the fact that it is at home both on land and in the water. It may cause repugnance because of its blackish, wart-like skin, its slow movements and the way it emerges from some dark hole. In Europe in the Middle Ages, the toad was associated with the Devil, whose coat-of-arms has three toads emblazoned on it. It was thought that the toad could poison people and, as the witch's familiar, possessed magical powers. Even ordinary people made use of dried toads, their bile, faeces and blood. In some areas, the finding of a toad in a house was considered as evidence that a witch was present. In the Basque Country, the familiars were believed to be toads wearing elegant robes. These were herded by children who were being trained as witches. Between 1610 and 1612, the Spanish inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías investigated withcraft in the region and searched the houses of suspected witches for dressed toads. He found none. These witches were reputed to use undomesticated toads as ingredients in their lineaments and brews.

An English folk tale tells how an old woman, a supposed witch, cursed her landlord and all his possessions when he demanded the unpaid rent for her cottage. Soon afterwards, a large toad fell on his wife and caused her to collapse. The toad was thrown into the fire but escaped with severe burns. Meanwhile, the old witch's cottage had caught fire and she was badly burnt. By next day, both toad and witch had died, and it was found that the woman's burns exactly mirrored those of the toad.

The saliva of the toad was considered poisonous and was known as "sweltered venom" and it was believed that it could spit or vomit poisonous fire. Toads were associated with devils and demons and in "Paradise Lost", John Milton depicted Satan as a toad when he poured poison into Eve's ear. The First Witch in Shakespeare's Macbeth gave instructions on using a toad in the concoction of spells:

It was also believed that there was a jewel inside a toad's head, a "toadstone", that when worn as a necklace or ring would warn the wearer of attempts to poison them. Shakespeare mentioned this in As you like it:

Sweet are the uses of adversity
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

Mr. Toad Esq. is one of the main characters in the children's novel The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. This has been dramatized by several authors including A. A. Milne who called his play Toad of Toad Hall. Mr. Toad is a very conceited, anthropomorphic toad and in the book he composes a ditty in his own praise which starts like this:

The world has held great heroes,
As history books have showed;
But never a name went down to fame
Compared with that of Toad!

The clever men at Oxford
Know all there is to be knowed.
But none of them know half as much
As intelligent Mr. Toad!