#linnormr

Scandinavian Folk-Lore: Illustrations of the Traditional Beliefs of the Northern Peoples by William A. Craigie (1896)

-Live in waste-places [wastelands? Like places where people don't or can't live] -May wrap themselves around churches and not budge -Start out life small, indistinguishable from normal snakes -One had brindled scales -Grow very quickly by drinking milk. Will spare the person who gave them milk as a youngling when they're an adult -Eat cattle and horses and people -Dig up corpses from churchyards to eat -In addition to their usual fare, they may eat all sorts of plant material: young shoots, grass, wooden crosses, etc. [this one instance was done by a lindorm wrapped around a church, so perhaps it couldn't/wouldn't go out to hunt?] -Do not like tobacco -Strong enough to strike a stone with its tail and leave a furrow -Burrow underneath the ground, sometimes under churches [semi-fossorial, like most snakes] -Not immune to heavy ordnance or a mad, three-year old bull -Blood is poisonous and liable to kill their slayer if it's spilled heavily

Folktales of Norway by Reidar Thoralf Christiansen (1964)

KNOW YOUR DRAGONS

I lied, just a little tongue-in-cheek picture for Smaugust. It’s obviously supposed to be a jab at a very infamous picture I’m sure everyone looking at this is familiar with. When it comes to folklore and mythology, there is no set standard for what one thing is supposed to look like. Even when dealing with something as unique as the Fafnir there are different variations upon the central idea based on time, place, and the artist in question. 

The other game I've been playing is Pokemon Let's Go, because I'm a chump when it comes to Pokemon. Eevee and Pikachu are alright, I guess, but reptiles are where it's at! Walking along with my Arbok and Rhyhorn feels so awesome. It was cool in HGSS, but seeing them walk along with me in 3D (and getting to ride them!!) feels so much more fulfilling. (Even if the battle animations are a little stale). It'd be cool if they implemented it into Sword and Shield, but considering how much the company's whipping their employees into yearly releases, it's probably not going to happen any time soon. 

Anyways, why is that lass/lad walking with a lindworm? Firstly, because I wanted to draw a lindworm. I've been drafting their myth stuff entry, though I don't think I'll post it any time soon. They're the native dragons of Scandinavia and Germany, but are far from bog-standard snake-dragons. In their homelands they have tons of mystical traits, like the ability to sit on a pile of gold and multiply each piece, all the while growing in tandem. In Sweden, whiteworms, a morph of lindworm, are good luck when they're seen, and their shed skin has magical properties. In Norway they've also got some sort of relationship with sea serpents, possibly being the same species... Interestingly their name doesn't mean land-worm. It comes from Old High German lint "snake" and wurm "serpent". A lot of the time they're also just called ormur, or "serpent/worm", although in English it might be better to translate it as wyrm. They can also be called lyngormr, meaning "heath worm". Secondly because during quarantine I came up with an idea for a pokemon-esque game where you capture and bond with (and actually bond with, less fighting) mythical creatures. I will spare you the exhaustive details... I'm starting to think being cooped up for two weeks is doing stuff to my brain...

TyrantisTerror Prompt: Lindworm

The description given for the lindworm is a dragon with only forelimbs. But this appears to only be true where heraldry is concerned. The lindworm is of German and Scandinavian origin, and is usually serpentine. Some writings make a clear distinction between the Latin-derived drak and the native linnormr. 

These creatures are otherwise known as trollsnakes in some writings, not because of their relationship to trolls (though, both are connected to the jotnar of old), but for their nature as a mystical being. Troll, as a prefix, is often added to words as a means of communicating their magical connotations. For example, "trollmann" in English is wizard, as is the Swedish "trollkarl". It's no mistake to see that lindworms are often talked about in conjunction with trolls, being among the main forces of malevolent magic in Scandinavia. The Swedish lake serpent Storsjöodjuret was even said to be the product of a troll's cauldron.

But the most intriguing story which highlights their supernatural nature has to be "Driving Out The Snakes", paraphrased here fromFolktales of Norway: 

What's this, you say? RE-WORKING LINDWORMS WHICH YOU SAID YOU WERE MODERATELY HAPPY WITH???