Assipattle and the Stoor Worm

Assipattle and the Stoor Worm is an Orcadian folktale about the fight between its title hero and a massive sea serpent called the stoor worm. The story was recorded by 19th-century antiquarian Walter Traill Dennison, and later retold by fellow Orcadian folklorist Ernest Marwick in a 20th-century version that combines Dennison’s writings with details from other oral storytellers.

Synopsis

Assipattle, the seventh son of a farmer, lives with his family on their farm in a valley beneath the hillsides of Leegarth. He is a lazy daydreamer, scorned by his older brothers and parents, though his sister—to whom he is deeply attached—is more tolerant of his idle ways. Often neglected and dressed in his brothers’ tattered hand-me-downs, he spends his days doing menial tasks but avoids work whenever possible. His brothers frequently tease him, and in the evenings he sprawls among the ashes by the fire, telling stories in which he is always the victorious hero.

Assipattle’s loneliness grows when his sister leaves home to work as a maid for Princess Gem-de-lovely, the king’s only daughter and sole heir. Soon after, the kingdom falls into turmoil when the evil stoor worm arrives. This gigantic, vile sea serpent can destroy entire villages. A sorcerer advises the king that the only way to appease the monster is to feed it seven virgins every Saturday.

Outraged that their daughters are being eaten, the citizens demand another solution. The king is then told the only way to make the monster leave is to sacrifice the princess, though he is given time to find someone to slay it first. One noble insists that if the princess is sacrificed and the serpent remains, the sorcerer should be the next victim, and the court agrees.

Desperate to save Princess Gem-de-lovely—loved by all except her evil stepmother—the king sends messengers to announce that he will give his kingdom, the magical sword Sickersnapper, and the princess’s hand in marriage to anyone who defeats the stoor worm. A messenger reaches Leegarth and delivers the news; Assipattle declares he will trounce the beast, drawing mockery from his father and brothers.

Many would-be heroes arrive but shy away upon seeing the monster. On the night before the princess is to be offered to the stoor worm, the despondent king orders a servant to ready a boat, intending to fight the monster himself with the magic sword.