COUNTRY FILE · EUROPE
Cryptids of Iceland
What cryptids are in Iceland? The best-known are Lagarfljót Worm and Kraken.
Iceland’s landscape of glaciers, lava fields and silty rivers is famously alive with hidden folk, trolls and ghosts, and its lakes have their own monsters. The most celebrated is the Lagarfljót Worm, the serpent of the long glacial lake beside Egilsstaðir in East Iceland. Its record is remarkably old: Icelandic annals note a strange “wonderful thing” in Lagarfljót in 1345, and a 1585 map of Iceland engraved by Abraham Ortelius marks the lake as home to a serpent of unusual size that appears before momentous events. A folk tale tells how a tiny “heath worm” placed on gold grew into the monster.
Cryptids reported in Iceland
LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1345
Lagarfljót Worm
Lagarfljót lake, near Egilsstaðir, East Iceland
Iceland’s glacial-lake serpent, recorded since 1345 and made famous by a 2012 farmhouse video that a local “truth committee” later endorsed.
REGIONAL LEGEND
LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1752
Kraken
Norwegian Sea, off the coast of Norway
The island-sized sea monster of Norwegian fishermen’s lore, made famous by Bishop Pontoppidan in 1752 – and probably inspired by the giant squid.
FOLKLOREThe legends of Iceland
The Worm went global in February 2012, when farmer Hjörtur Kjerúlf filmed a long, snaking shape in the icy river from his home and the video spread around the world. Analysts argued it was a frozen fishing net flapping in the current, but in 2014 a 13-member local “truth committee” announced, with a straight face, that it saw no reason to doubt that some being lived in the lake. Medieval writers also linked Iceland’s seas to the hafgufa, a vast sea monster later merged with the Norwegian kraken.
Icelanders tend to treat their monsters with affection and irony. A sightseeing boat named after the Worm sails Lagarfljót, and the forest at Hallormsstaður, Iceland’s largest, makes a fine base for watching the water – especially on the long, bright evenings of summer.
Hotspots
The glacial lake where the Worm has been reported since 1345 and filmed, perhaps, in 2012.
Iceland’s largest forest, on the eastern shore of Lagarfljót, scene of several modern sightings.
The valley at the head of the lake where the famous 2012 video was shot.
Sightings timeline
- 1345A “wonderful thing” in the lake Lagarfljót Worm
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 Lagarfljót Worm
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 Lagarfljót Worm
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 Lagarfljót Worm
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 Lagarfljót Worm
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.
Latest from Iceland
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Videos
▶ 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.