Lagarfljót Worm
| Sub grouping | Lake monster |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Lagarfljótsormur |
| Country | Iceland |
| Habitat | Lagarfljót |
The Lagarfljótsormur, Lagarfljót worm, (or simply Iceland Worm Monster) is an Icelandic lake cryptid which is purported to live in the lake Lagarfljót in the town of Egilsstaðir. Sightings have been logged since 1345 and continue into the 21st century, including a 2012 video supposedly showing the creature swimming.
An origin of the creature is given in Jón Árnason's collection of Icelandic folktales and legends published in 1862.
The serpentine creature is said to live in Lagarfljót, a freshwater, below-sea-level, glacial-fed lake which has very poor visibility as a result of siltation. It is described as longer than a bus, or 39 feet (12 m), and has also been reported outside the water, lying coiled up or slithering into the trees. It is a "many humps" type of lake monster, rather than the simply serpentine type of, for example, the Loch Ness Monster.
The Lagarfljót Worm has been sighted several times in modern times, including in 1963 by the head of the Icelandic National Forest Service, Sigurður Blöndal, and in 1998 by a teacher and students at Hallormsstaðir School. In 1983, contractors laying a telephone cable measured a large shifting mass near the eastern shore when performing preliminary depth measurements, and when they later retrieved the non-functional cable, found that it was broken where it had lain over the anomaly:
"This cable that was specially engineered so it wouldn’t kink was wound in several places and badly torn and damaged in 22 different places . . . . I believe we dragged the cable directly over the belly of the beast. Unless it was through its mouth."
In February 2012, the Icelandic national broadcaster, RÚV, published a video thought to show the Lagarfljót Worm swimming in snow-covered icy water. Subsequently this was explained as probably being an inanimate object moved by the rapid current, since it was making no progress through the water. A truth commission reported in August 2014 that members were divided about the video but saw no reason to doubt the existence of the creature, and an expert panel later judged the video genuine.
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