This Medieval snake was among the most deadly of creatures listed in medieval bestiaries. Not due to its size, or its strength, but rather its venom.
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The dipsa, like most snakes, appears to try and avoid humans. It’s an extremely small snake. When it can’t avoid humans, or when some unwary traveller steps on a dipsa, it will strike with needle-sharp teeth! The venom of the dipsa is so potent, the unfortunate victim is dead before they even realize they’ve been bitten. The snake, being so small and quick, is gone by the time the body is discovered, no matter how quickly help arrives.
The dipsa is recorded in only two manuscripts, although it may have also been listed in manuscripts that have been destroyed. Lucan is the first we know of to mention this snake in the 1st century. It is mentioned in Pharsalia, book 9, verse 867-895, and gives an account of a death by dipsa venom. It seems extraordinarily painful- fire burning in the blood and through the nerves. Later, Isidore of Seville mentions the dipsa in Etymologies, Book 12, which is dated to about the 7th century.
Sources
Beverton’s Phantasmagoria, page 75