Monday, June 11, 2012

Icelandic Worm Monster - a misunderstanding


So we woke up today to hear about new footage claiming proof of the existence of the legendary beast Lagarfljótsormurinn, or Iceland's version of Scotland's Loch Ness Monster. Follow the link below to see this for yourself.

The notorious 'snake-like' creature is said to live in the Lagarfljót lake, which is 25 miles long and 367 feet deep - and it has been the subject of many a supposed sighting since reports of it first emerged in 1345.



Not sure if it’s just me but this monster hardly looks fluid, rather robotic, contrived and hoax’ie. What really captured my attention is not so much the new vision - rather the way a misunderstanding and/or a mistranslation through the ages can lead to people seeking [finding] a monster that looks more like the error in translation.

For instance, the phrase 'Icelandic Worm Monster' was coined in the 21st Century and comes from a mistranslation of Lagarfljótsormurinn simply as Lagarfljót worm. This is instead of the more correct Lagarfljót Würm or Wurm - a phrase which harks back to dragon folklore. It’s just possible that perhaps someone has decided to take the phrase 'worm' too literally.

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