for bestiary: the worm of lagarfljót
hugleikur dagsson is a talented illustrator who has a cult following in his native iceland and is responsible for one of the most demented collection of comics that i have read at the gym. he also works with the reykjavík grapevine drawing up creepy crawly beasts from icelandic folklore. here, we get to see the origin and nature of the lagarfljótsormurinn—the loch ness monster of lagarfljót.
the story goes that a young girl from the Lagarfljót area received from her mother a fine golden ring. When asked how to best keep it, the mother responded that she should place the ring in a chest underneath a worm, something which would cause the gold to grow as the worm did. When checking on her stash shortly after, the girl saw that the worm had grown to such a gargantuan size that the chest could barely fit it. Growing frightened, she tossed the chest, gold and all, into Lagarfljót.
The worm apparently took a liking to the cold, cold lake, stayed there and kept on growing. After a while, it started making a name for itself, wreaking havoc on the entire region, spewing poisonous bile on passers-by, killing men and sheep that ventured close to the lake and generally being a big nuisance. The local farmers wouldn’t have it, so they summoned the help of two Finnish Saami shamans …to kill the beast and retrieve the gold. They fought the thing for a long time, but ultimately failed in their quest. However, they did manage to neutralize the risk it posed by tying the worm’s head and tail to the bottom where it would remain harmless for the rest of eternity. Its midsection was still free to flex and roam and bulge above the surface from time to time, and that’s apparently what people have been seeing every now and then since 1345.
here are more of dagsson’s beasts. other favourites are grýla (a she-troll with goat hooves for feet who dines on naughty neighbourhood kids who act up) and the huldufólk (hidden people that watch you as you are bandying about in sexual union).
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source: this
I suspect this might be appealing to both Annie (Photographic Queen of Iceland) and Travors (Geek*King of the Internet) Together they would rule a Tron style world of Ice and lava.
*Geek is the highest compliment I know.
