Page "Lindworm" Paragraph 9

A " dragon " with the head of a " salamander " features in the legend of the Lambton Worm.

The dragon who was caught in the River Wear when it was young.

The fisherman who caught it only caught it because he skipped church to go fish.

The dragon was dropped in a well and after about 3 – 4 years became a beast and started terrorizing the countryside of Durham while the fisherman who caught it was away at the Crusades.

The villagers caught on and left a sacrifice of milk for the creature, and when the fisher returned home, it was prophesied that he would be the only one who could kill it.

He was given armor with bladed spikes to protect himself from the worm's crushing, coiling weight, but he had to kill the first living thing he saw.

His father arranged it so that after the lindworm was killed, he would blow a horn and a hound dog would be released and the son would kill that instead of a human.

Eventually the Son cut its head off but instead of releasing the dog the father ran to his son.

The prophesy also said if the son did not kill the first living thing he saw his family would be cursed for 9 generations ; however the son could not kill his father so his family was cursed.

Bram Stoker used this legend in his short story Lair of the White Worm.