A theme of #MonsterSlaying for #MythologyMonday.

Most people know the tale of the Lambton Worm from Co. Durham, but fewer people seem to be aware that NE England and the Scottish Borders have a plethora of similar worm stories. The Longwitton Worm in Northumberland lived in a burn that rose from a healing spring, and could only be killed when drawn out of the water. The Linton Worm in the Borders was killed by a local laird, using a burning peat on the end of a lance (the same method used in the legend of the Stoor Worm, all the way up in Orkney), and is commemorated by a medieval (said to be 12th Century) stone carving of the event above the door of Linton Kirk.

My favourite one to tell is cheating on the theme, because the Laidly Worm of Spindlestone Heugh, near Bamburgh in Northumberland, isn't slain at all, but to tell you what happened to it would be to spoil the story...

#mythology #folklore #Northumberland #ScottishBorders #DragonFolklore #stories #storytelling #legend

@folklore