Stoorworm
The Stoorworm, or Mester Stoorworm, is a colossal sea serpent of Orkney folklore whose poisonous breath threatened the land until the boy Assipattle burned it from the inside, its teeth becoming Orkney, Shetland, and the Faroes.
| Also known as | Mester Stoorworm, Stoor Worm, Master Stoorworm, Assipattle and the Stoorworm |
|---|---|
| Type | sea serpent |
| Tradition | Orcadian (Scottish) |
| Category | Folklore |
| Associated with | Orkney Islands, Scotland |
| Earliest source | Walter Traill Dennison, "Orkney Folklore: Sea Myths," The Scottish Antiquary, 1891 |
| Wings | No |
| Breathes fire | No |
| Guards treasure | No |
| Nature | Hostile |
The Story
The Mester (master) Stoorworm was the biggest and worst of all sea serpents. When it lay off the coast and yawned, its breath blighted crops and killed people and animals. A wizard advised the king that it could be kept quiet only by feeding it seven maidens every week, and later that it would leave for good if it were given the king's own daughter, Gem-de-lovely. The king offered his kingdom, his daughter, and his magic sword Sickersnapper to any champion who could kill it. Many came, and all lost their nerve.
The hero was Assipattle, the youngest son of a farmer, mocked as a lazy dreamer who lay by the fire raking the ashes. Before dawn he took a small boat and a pot holding a live peat. When the Stoorworm yawned, he sailed right into its mouth and down its throat until he reached its liver. He cut a hole in it and pushed in the burning peat. The liver caught fire, and the dying worm thrashed so hard that the world was reshaped. Its teeth fell out and became the islands of Orkney, Shetland, and the Faroes. Its body curled up and became Iceland, where the burning liver still feeds the volcanoes. Assipattle married the princess.
Appearance and Powers
The Stoorworm is a serpent of unimaginable length, with a forked tongue and a deadly, poisonous breath. It is a creature of the sea, not the land, and it has no wings.
Origins and Sources
The story was collected in Orkney by the folklorist Walter Traill Dennison, who published it in The Scottish Antiquary in 1891 as part of a series on Orkney sea myths; it was reprinted in later collections such as George Douglas's Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales. The Orcadian folklorist Ernest Marwick retold it in the 20th century. The name probably means "great worm" (Old Norse stórr ormr), a reminder of Orkney's Norse heritage, and the giant world-encircling serpent recalls Jörmungandr of Norse myth.
Legacy
Assipattle is the classic underdog hero, a male Cinderella who wins by cleverness. The tale is a favorite of Scottish storytellers and children's books. See dragons in Celtic mythology and dragon legends for related tales.
Related
- Jörmungandr: Jörmungandr is the Midgard Serpent of Norse mythology, a child of Loki so huge that it encircles the world under the ocean and bites its own tail, and Thor's destined enemy at Ragnarök.
- Linton Worm: The Linton Worm is a serpent-dragon of Scottish Borders legend that lived in a den on Linton Hill and was killed by a Somerville who thrust a burning, pitch-soaked peat on his lance into its throat.
- Lambton Worm: The Lambton Worm is a giant serpent of County Durham folklore, fished from the River Wear by young John Lambton, which grew huge, coiled around a hill, and could rejoin its body whenever it was cut apart.
- Dragons in Celtic Mythology
- Dragon Legends
Sources and Further Reading
- Walter Traill Dennison, "Orkney Folklore: Sea Myths," The Scottish Antiquary, or Northern Notes and Queries 5 (1891)
- Ernest W. Marwick, The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland (Batsford, 1975)
- Jacqueline Simpson, British Dragons (Batsford, 1980; Wordsworth, 2001)
Cite this entry: “Stoorworm,” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/stoorworm.