Monday, May 17, 2004
This is an article on the Swedish lake monster, Storsjöodjuret . On the surface, it looks like little more than a big fish story, but I thought this bit was intriguing:
The legendary creature, Storsjöodjuret, has fascinated people for hundreds of years. The phenomenon has made a deep impression on the people around the lake and there are a number of people who don´t doubt its existence for a minute. Storsjöodjuret has an ancient lineage and there is even an account of its mysterious birth."
The written statements on Storsjöodjuret in lake Storsjön date far back. The first one is from 1635. A person, Mogens Pedersen from Herdal, wrote down a legend. It tells of two trolls who were boiling a mixture in a large kettle on the shore of the lake. When they had boiled the mixture for years and years, the contents of the kettle began to groan and wail and there was a loud bang.
A strange animal with a black serpentlike body and a cat-like head jumped out of the kettle and disappeared into the lake. The monster enjoyed living in the lake, it grew unbelievably large and terrorised the people living on the shores of the lake. After some time it extended all the way around the island Frösön, and could bite its own tail.
I see in this legend both echoes of the Midgard serpent and the creation of mead from Kvasir's blood. Rather interesting, don't you think?
