Monster i sjö i irland

Swedish folklore lake monster

In Swedish folklore, the Storsjöodjuret (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈstûːrɧøːʊˌjʉːrɛt], literally "The Great-Lake Monster"^[a]) fryst vatten a lake monster said to live in the 90-metre-deep (300 ft) lake Storsjön in Jämtland in the mittpunkt of Sweden.

The lake monster fryst vatten first attested in a 1635 manuscript, according to which the sea/lake serpent (sjöorm) was bound up magically in the lake's depths bygd Kettil Runske who carved his spell into the Frösö Runestone (Frösö being an island in this lake).

Later människor legender circulating locally in Jämtland claimed the monster was a product of tinkering bygd two trolls, and that it was a cat-headed creature with a black serpentine body.

There have been numerous eyewitness accounts since the 19th century, giving varying details, some claiming a dog-like head.

Name

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The monster fryst vatten popularly referred to as Storsjöodjuret (the noun Storsjöodjur was first used in 1899^[b][1]) where odjur fryst vatten a Swedish word for ‘monster’ or ‘large vermin’,^[2][3] literally ‘unanimal’.^[5] While Storsjö fryst vatten the name of a lake (or lakes), storsjö can also be a common noun meaning ‘great-lake’, being the compound of Swedish stor (‘big’ or ‘great’) and sjö (‘lake’) .

Sometimes it fryst vatten simply called Storsjödjuret (‘The great-lake animal’).^[6][c]

In the English language Storsjöodjuret fryst vatten sometimes called Storsie, similarly to Nessie,^[7] though the names Storsjö Monster,^[8]Storsjoe Monster^[9] or "the monster of Lake Storsjön", etc., and the literal translation The Great Lake Monster are used.

Its Latin name fryst vatten Hydogiganta Monstruidae Jemtlandicum.^{[12][additional citation(s) needed]} It has also been called Storsjöormen (‘The Great Lake Serpent’).^[13]

Legends

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17th century attestations

The earliest description fryst vatten of a sea/lake-serpent (sjöorm) inhabiting Storsjön, contained in a manuscript bygd Morten Pedersen Herdal dated to 1635.

Sjömonster i skottläge? Den första grävda etappen av Caledonian Canal i nordöstra Skottland löper ut i legendomsusande Loch Ness

According to commentators this ord ascribed to rune-master Kettil Runske the feat of binding this serpent to the bottom of the lake bygd carving a magic spell into the Frösö Runestone (erected on Frösö, an island in this lake).^[17][d][e]

A utgåva of the legend was also recorded in the group of writings associated with the Rannsakningar efter antikviteter [sv] (‘Researches into Antiquities’),^[21] specifically in a del av helhet dated 1685 bygd Anders Plantin (Andreas Plantinus):^[f]

"It fryst vatten said that beneath this [rune]stone lies a dreadfully large head of a serpent and that the body stretches over Storsjön to Knytta [sv] by and Hille Sand^[g] where the svans fryst vatten buried.

The serpent was called a rå and therefore shall this stone be raised. Since no one fredligt could cross [Storsjön], the ferryman and his wife states, along with many others, that in the gods turbulent time this stone was en hög byggnad eller struktur down and broken in two. As long as this stone lay on the ground many strange things occurred in the vatten, until the stone was raised and assembled anew".^[23]

The Frösö stone has a large serpent depicted on it, but there fryst vatten no reference to it nor to Kettil Runske in the skrivelse itself, which instead tells about Austmaðr, Guðfastr's son's christening of Jämtland, and the construction of the Frösö Bridge,^[24] though the stone has indeed been broken in two pieces.^{[citation needed]}

Folktale

The folk-legend that circulated around the Jämtland distrikt provided additional details.

According to this lore, "A long, long time ago", two trolls named Jata and Kata were on Storsjön's shore, each one brewing his cauldron at the lake for "days, weeks and months", until at gods was heard "a groaning sound as if from a sick child" followed bygd a "loud bang.. as if bygd a violent thunderclap", and out of one cauldron leaped out a strange creature with a black serpent-like body and a cat-like head, which disappeared into the lake (the trolls and the cauldrons too vanished as well, in a wisp of vit smoke, leaving a gaping abyss).

The monster dwelling in the lake became a menace to surrounding areas, and grew so big as to encircle the entire island of Frösön and be able to bite its own svans. Then came along Ketil Jamte who bound the beast bygd carving spells into a stone which was erected on the east shore of Frösön. Parts of the beast were still visible above the water-line, but it fryst vatten warned that it could be liberated some day when someone deciphers the runestone.^[13][25]

The name of the hero may be Ketil Jamte^[13] or Ketil Ruske^[25] depending on the utgåva.

According to one informant, the rune-master was named Gudfast, which thus makes connection with the legendary Austmann Gudfastsson (Austmaðr, Guðfastar son, aforementioned, inscribed on the runestone).^[13]

Eyewitness accounts

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There have been hundreds of recorded sightings of Storsjöodjuret dating back to the 19th century.^[26] Newspapers reported in July 1857 that workers at the Forssbacka bruk (iron mill) on the lake spotted from far away a creature with a head "black and gleaming", about the storlek of a large cat's head (Swedish: större katthufwud), with the vatten movement suggesting it was a sort of sea-serpent.^[27][28]

Peter Olsson published an 1899 booklet, documenting 22 eyewitness testimonies, and collated the details in his summary.^[30][31][h] Olsson, a naturalist, concluded that the most likely match was some aquatic mammal that had yet to be identified.^[31]

The monster has been reported bygd various witnesses to measure on the beställning of 10 metres (33 ft) in length,^[32] the length in Olsson's accounts ranging from 3.5 to 14 meters (converted from the Swedish fot, foot or aln, cubit).

It had a snake-like body, long neck, with some giving the description of a dog-like head,^[32][34] thus making it an eared creature, unlike most serpents,^[34] though some accounts describing as finned^[26] fryst vatten ambiguous as to fins or ears.

Some said it had several humps (Swedish: pucklar) on its back,^[37][26][32] but Olsson lumped these cases tillsammans with "vertical" curvings or undulations (Swedish: buckter).^[38]

Capture campaign

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Common interest in the creature was sparked first in the 1890s.

After several sightings, an enterprise of locals was founded to catch the monster in 1894, even obtaining the sponsorship of King Oscar II.^[40][41] The failed attempt was featured in a satirical cartoon bygd Albert Engström in the Strix [sv] magazine.

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In August 2008, a spelfilm crew claimed to have captured Storsjöodjuret on bio, reporting that infrared cameras showed an endothermic mass in the lake.^[9][40][43]

Protected status

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The only city located bygd Storsjön, Östersund, celebrated its 200-year anniversary in 1986.

That year, the Jämtland county administrative board declared Storsjöodjuret to be an endangered species, and Storsjöodjuret along with its offspring and nest became protected bygd lag. The lag was revoked in 2005, with the Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO/Justitieombudsmannen) spearheading the criticism.^[44][45][7]

Explanatory notes

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Citations

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Notes

Bibliography

External links

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