The Great Lake Monster

This is my entry for starscoldnight.deviantart.com/… by starscoldnight.deviantart.com/

A fairy-tale from Sweden about the origins of my homeland's somewhat renowned lake-monster: Storsjöodjuret meaning "the Great Lake Monster/Beast".

According to the tale two trolls named Jata and Kata stood on the shores of Storsjön and practiced witchcraft. They swirled a huge ladle in a huge cauldron in the hopes that whatever the result of their brew would be, it would be a great step to unlock even greater arts of magic. But as to what they were brewing, they didn't even know themselves. As days passed, as weeks passed, as months passed, even as centuries passed, the contents of the cauldron exploded and spewed out a horrid serpent-like being which immediately sought to take refuge in the clear waters of Storsjön. Repulsed by the evil looks of this hideous creature, the two trolls ran after the beast and tried to grasp its tail and pull it back up unto shore. But the monster's scales were slippery and eventually it got out of their hands and disappeared into the depths of the lake. The two trolls understood that such a hideous creature would surely grow bigger and bigger and eventually come after them one day to swallow them whole. Therefore with their limited knowledge of magic they bound the monster with spells, forbidding it to ever walk on land and forever to roam beneath the waves of Storsjön. The beast grew bigger with each passing century and eventually it grew so big that it rounded the island Frösön and could bite its own tail.

According to another version of the story, the two trolls bound the monster within the picture of a nearby runestone which is still standing to this day and depicts a serpent biting its own tail. However the text on the runestone makes no references about the monster in the lake.