Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.05.2008, Qupperneq 29

Article | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 05 2008 | 29
Opposite page, left: Helgi Hallgrímsson, right: Valdimar Benediktsson. This page: The Worm as displayed by a local artist. Photos by GAS.
“That fall we started the project. I had a
very capable group of men working on this, and
we had been working on furrowing cables all
summer around East-Iceland. We used boats and
prams with special cable trestles to do the job.
When the job was done and we tested the connec-
tion through the cable, it turned out it was broken.
We had the instruments to locate the failure, and
it turned out to be where we had witnessed the
mysterious mass earlier.”
When the cable was pulled up, it became
clear that something was out of the ordinary. “This
cable that was specially engineered so it wouldn’t
kink was wound in several places and badly torn
and damaged in 22 different places,” Bendiktsson
says. “I believe we dragged the cable directly over
the belly of the beast. Unless it was through its
mouth.”
The Hidden Worm
Helgi Hallgrímsson is 73 years old. He is a biolo-
gist, educated at the University of Göttingen in
Germany and in Edinburgh, Scotland. As an ex-
pert on Lagarfljót, he is a reliable as they come.
He has spent years researching and studying the
lake and the river and recently published a book
on the subject. We met with Hallgrímsson in his
home to learn the basics of Lagarfljót wormology.
He talks slowly, and occasionally pauses to smoke
his pipe. “Centuries ago, when people first started
referring to the Worm, the word had a wider defi-
nition. It was used in much the same way as we
use the word ‘monster’ today,” he explains. “There
are different descriptions of the thing. It is usually
depicted as being long and narrow, but sometimes
it is described more like a dragon.” Hallgrímsson
says that the Worm often draws comparison to
the Loch Ness monster, which is obviously the
most famous lake monster of them all. “There are
some similarities between Lake Lagarfljót and
Loch Ness. Both lakes are long and narrow, about
equal in size, and both are very turbid, so visibility
is very limited.”
In Hallgrímsson’s opinion, we should draw a
distinction between the urban legends surround-
ing the Worm, and actual accounts of Worm sight-
ings. “We should be careful not to confuse the two.
The legends are just that, legends. The sightings
however, are actual occurrences that need expla-
nation. People see a lot of things in the lake, and
when there is no obvious explanation for what it
is, people will use the Worm as an explanation.”
As it happens, Lagarfljót is full of natural
phenomena that might require explanation. The
bottom is a rich source of methane gas, which is
formed when plants and biodegradable matters
rot in the oxygen deprived conditions. The gas is
trapped under thick layers of silt on the bottom
and when the silt breaks, the gas rises from the
bottom in large quantities and when it does, it can
blow columns of water up in the air, raise giant
bubbles, thrust up a lot of material from the bot-
tom, and even break the light in a different way
than the air around it, forming optical illusions.
Ice from the surrounding mountains, tree
trunks and vegetation from the neighbouring for-
est, Hallomrsstaðarskógur, and other physical ob-
jects are also known to find their way into the river
and gather in big tangles where the currents shift
and where the river meets the lake. These tangles
can easily take a mysterious shape or the form
of a mythical creature. Hallgrímsson says these
phenomena could explain many of the reported
sightings. But not all. He believes that the myth of
the Worm can be divided into three categories. 1)
Legends drawn from urban myths of dragons and
witchcraft. 2) Natural phenomena such as gas and
vegetation, which are facts. 3) Paranormal phe-
nomena, sightings that are beyond the scope of
scientific understanding.
“There are sightings that cannot fully be ex-
plained by reason,” Hallgrímsson contends. “My
opinion is that these are paranormal activities,
much like people who claim to see ghosts, elves
and hidden people. That is why some sightings
can’t be explained, and why only some people
can see the Worm. As a scientist, I have at least
not been able to fully explain this” I ask how this
opinion adheres to his scientific training, if this is
something he believes as a biologist. “I think there
are a lot of things that we can not explain by sci-
ence. I’ve not found any conclusive explanation
for life for example. I don’t believe this to be all
just a big coincidence.”
After some consideration, and a few puffs
of the pipe, he adds: “If I am right, and this is a
paranormal activity, I think we would be better off
by forming a good relationship with it. I think we
need to treat it with proper respect and we should
certainly not use its legacy to make a profit.”
The Brotherhood of the Worm
Skúli Björn Gunnarsson heads the Gunnar Gun-
narsson Institution in Skriðuklaustur, a cultural
institution that preserves the legacy of author
Gunnar Gunnarsson. He does not share Hall-
grímsson’s concerns. He has led a group of stake-
holders in the area that have formed an unoffi-
cial companionship called The Worm’s Shrine.
The group mostly consists of people who work
in tourism or related fields. Gunnarsson explains
that historical and cultural tourism is a growing
industry, and every area must capitalize on its
particular distinction.
“This is a company of people who want to
maintain testimony and preserve the heritage of
the Worm,” he says. “We want to market it with
dignity. It would be easy order a container full of
cheap artefacts and pass it on as Worm memora-
bilia. That’s not what we want to do. We want to
approach this with respect and create a unique
experience for visitors.”
Gunnarsson admits that many inhabitants in
the area feel that this should be approached with
caution. “They feel that we need to be careful,” he
explains. “There is a certain fearful respect for the
Worm here. Why do people believe that there is
little fish in the lake? You could operate a trawler
here; there is so much fish. Why do people believe
that the waves and the currents on the lake are
stronger than anywhere else? Why do people here
believe that fish caught in the lake are inedible?
People’s belief in the Worm is still quite tangible.
Many have seen mysterious objects on the lake.
Not all of them have been fully explained,” he
points out.
Worms: a User’s Manual
It is easy to imagine how seemingly inexplicable
natural phenomena could have been attributed to
a mystical being or a monster in more primitive
times. Superstition can be a powerful force and
easily maintained when there is something unex-
plained to support it. But there is still a mystical
character surrounding Lake Lagarfljót. Whether
it is superstition or a serpent-like monster, all has
not been laid to rest. As Valdimar Benediktsson
stated, “I would like to see if there is ever going
to be full explanation of what people have been
seeing all this time. I find it hard to believe that
people would lie about witnessing something in
Lagarfljót for centuries.” I not sure I fully agree
with him. Perhaps some things should not be fully
explained away. There is added value in travelling
through East-Iceland in the off chance of witness-
ing the monster.
By Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
FLIGHT PROVIDED BY:
ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED BY:
Egilsstaðir Guesthouse
700 Egilsstaðir
Tel: 4711114, www.egilsstadir.com
www.airiceland.is