Before the Creator Goddess made humans, there was Aido-Hwedo, the Rainbow-Serpent, older than any of the Goddess's children.
The Serpent carried the Goddess in its mouth everywhere. The curves of the earth, high and low, are from the Serpent's movements. Mountains are its excrement.
The Goddess realized the earth bore too much weight: trees, mountains, elephants, everything was so heavy. So she told the Serpent to coil into a circle, making a pad on which the earth could rest.
The Goddess poured water to keep the Serpent cool; that is the sea.
Whenever the Serpent is moving, there are earthquakes.
Inspired by: "Serpent as Headrest for an Overburdened Earth (Fon)" in A treasury of African folklore by Harold Courlander, 1975.
Notes: You can read the original story online. This is a Fon story from Benin. The original story refers to Aido-Hwedo with male pronouns, but this serpent is also worshiped as female in Vodou, so opted for it as the pronoun, not choosing one way or the other.
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