FIELD FILE · LAGARFLJOT-WORMLAKE & SEA MONSTERREGIONAL LEGEND
Lagarfljót Worm
Also known as Lagarfljótsormurinn, Iceland Worm Monster
Iceland’s glacial-lake serpent, recorded since 1345 and made famous by a 2012 farmhouse video that a local “truth committee” later endorsed.
Lagarfljót is a long, narrow, glacier-fed lake in East Iceland, running past the town of Egilsstaðir and the country’s largest forest at Hallormsstaður. Its water is thick with glacial silt, so cloudy that visibility is close to nil – ideal conditions for imagining what might move beneath the surface. Icelanders have done so for nearly seven centuries.
Medieval annals record that in 1345 a “wonderful thing” was seen in Lagarfljót, like a row of islands or humps hundreds of fathoms apart, with no head or tail visible. Later Icelandic chronicles mention the creature repeatedly, and a 1585 map of Iceland engraved by Abraham Ortelius notes beside the lake that “a serpent of unusual size” lives there and appears when something momentous is about to happen. A folk tale collected by Jón Árnason in 1862 explains its origin: a girl put a gold ring under a tiny “heath worm” to make the gold grow, but the worm grew instead, until in terror she threw both into the lake.
Reports continued into modern times, including a 1963 sighting by Sigurður Blöndal, head of Iceland’s Forest Service, and a 1998 sighting by a teacher and pupils at Hallormsstaður. Then, in February 2012, farmer Hjörtur Kjerúlf filmed a long, snaking shape moving in the icy river at the head of the lake from his home. The clip, shown by the national broadcaster RÚV, spread around the world and drew TV crews in pursuit.
The local municipality set up a 13-member “truth committee” to decide whether the Worm exists. In August 2014 it announced, with a straight face, that it saw no reason to doubt some kind of being lived in the water, and seven of its members agreed the Worm could be seen in Kjerúlf’s video. Many observers took the verdict as tongue-in-cheek promotion for a quiet corner of Iceland – which, in its way, is exactly what the Worm has become.
- Status
- Regional legend
- First reported
- 1345
- Best-known location
- Lagarfljót lake, near Egilsstaðir, East Iceland
- Also called
- Lagarfljótsormurinn, Iceland Worm Monster
- Reported in
- Iceland
What witnesses describe
A long, serpentine creature with many humps, often said to be longer than a bus – 12 metres or more – and sometimes reported coiled on the shore or slipping into the trees. In the 2012 video it appears as a dark, undulating, snake-like shape in grey, icy water.
Where and when it’s seen
The silty, glacier-fed Lagarfljót lake and river in East Iceland, especially the upper reaches near Fljótsdalur and the forest at Hallormsstaður.
Notable sightings
- 1345A “wonderful thing” in the lake Lagarfljót
Icelandic annals record a strange sight in the lake: something like islands or humps far apart, with no head or tail seen. It is usually taken as the first record of the Worm.
- 1585On the map of Iceland Antwerp (map publication)
Abraham Ortelius engraved a map of Iceland attributed to Bishop Guðbrandur Þorláksson, with a Latin note beside Lagarfljót describing a serpent of unusual size that appears before momentous events.
- 1963The Forest Service chief’s sighting Near Hallormsstaður
Sigurður Blöndal, director of the Icelandic Forest Service, reported seeing the creature – one of the most frequently cited modern accounts.
- February 2, 2012The kitchen-window video Fljótsdalur, at the head of the lake
Hjörtur Kjerúlf filmed a long, snake-like object moving in the ice-choked river. The footage, aired by RÚV and uploaded to YouTube, became an international sensation within days.
- August 2014The truth committee’s verdict Fljótsdalshérað, East Iceland
A 13-member committee set up locally concluded there was no reason to doubt that some creature lived in the lake; seven members agreed the Worm was visible in the 2012 video.
What could explain it?
- Frame-by-frame analysis of the 2012 video by researcher Miisa McKeown suggested the object never actually travels forward, but flaps in place in the swift current – consistent with a frozen fishing net or other debris snagged in the river.
- Lagarfljót’s silty water, floating ice, logs and gas bubbles from decaying vegetation can easily produce humps and wakes.
- The legend appears in annals and folklore centuries before it was linked to a specific animal, and fits the wider Icelandic tradition of lake monsters growing from “heath worms.”
- Tourism has an interest in keeping the Worm alive, and many saw the committee’s endorsement as good-humoured marketing.
Legend, culture and tourism
The Worm is East Iceland’s best-known legend. A sightseeing boat named Lagarfljótsormurinn began cruising the lake in 1999, the Gunnar Gunnarsson Institute at Skriðuklaustur helps preserve the lore, and the creature features on local signs, souvenirs and in Icelandic folk-tale collections.
Places to visit
Iceland’s largest forest lines the lake’s eastern shore, with paths and campsites overlooking the water where many sightings have been made.
Watch
▶ VIDEO
The Iceland Worm Monster (Lagarfljóts Worm) Caught on Camera [Original]
ViralNews2012A copy of Hjörtur Kjerúlf’s February 2012 footage that made the Worm world-famous – watch closely and decide whether it moves forward or just flaps in the current.
Where it’s reported
Iceland East Iceland
Lagarfljót Worm in the news
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Sources
First published · Updated
