The story of the Lambton Worm

I blogged before about the Lambton Worm, this old English myth about a monstrous serpent which fascinated me when I was a child, way before the internet. I have always wanted to revisit the legend and discover more about it. Well, during our visit at the National Museum in Cardiff, I learned about a book titled The Curse of the Lambton Worm, in a section of the museum about... normal worms. I don't know how easy it is to find the book, but I will look for it, and indeed any book on the legend of the Lambton Worm and will add them on my reading list.

The Lambton Worm

I have first read about the legend of the Lambton Worm in All About Monsters, from which this image is taken from. It made me want to visit the village of Lambton. I have not done so yet, but I think this part of England might become a future holiday destination. Anyway, you can read the account of the legend with the image, taken from the book, but there are better versions online. I found this one, which I particularly enjoyed.

Something in this image, however schlocky it was (and from a schlocky book), really fired up my imagination as a child. You had the desperate hero in a fight to death against a terrible foe, using gadgetry to kill his adversary. You had a dragon more akin to a serpent. Reading the story going with it, and the story really took life. The monster's main characteristic was not a mean of attack, but of defense: its capacity to regenerate. It also has a river as a place of danger and the source of unnamed abominations. You have the morally flawed hero, whose lack of religious devotion made him and his fellow countrymen vulnerable to evil, put them in way of harm. It is a great local legend that deserves to be better known. So I thought I would contribute to spread it on Vraie Fiction. When/if I have time, I might write my own take of the legend one day.