In Swedish folklore, the Storsjöodjuret (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstûːrɧøːʊˌjʉːrɛt], literally "The Great-Lake Monster") is a lake monster said to live in the 90-metre-deep (300 ft) lake Storsjön in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. The lake monster is first attested in a 1635 manuscript, according to which the sea/lake serpent (sjöorm) was bound up magically in the lake's depths by Kettil Runske who carved his spell into the Frösö Runestone (Frösön being an island in this lake). Later folk legends circulating locally in Jämtland claimed the monster was a product of tinkering by two trolls, and that it was a cat-headed creature with a black serpentine body. There have been numerous eyewitness accounts since the 19th century, giving varying details, some claiming a dog-like head.
Name
The monster is popularly referred to as Storsjöodjuret (the noun Storsjöodjur was first used in 1899) where odjur is a Swedish word for ‘monster’ or ‘large vermin’, literally ‘unanimal’. While Storsjö is the name of a lake (or lakes), storsjö can also be a common noun meaning ‘great-lake’, being the compound of Swedish stor (‘big’ or ‘great’) and sjö (‘lake’) . Sometimes it is simply called Storsjödjuret (‘The great-lake animal’). In the English language Storsjöodjuret is sometimes called 'Storsie', similarly to Nessie, though the names 'Storsjö Monster', Storsjoe Monster or "the monster of Lake Storsjön", etc., and the literal translation "The Great Lake Monster" are used. Its Latin name is Hydogiganta Monstruidae Jemtlandicum. It has also been called Storsjöormen (‘The Great Lake Serpent’).
Legends
17th century attestations The earliest description is of a sea/lake-serpent (sjöorm) inhabiting Storsjön, contained in a manuscript by Morten Pedersen Herdal dated to 1635. According to commentators this text ascribed to rune-master Kettil Runske the feat of binding this serpent to the bottom of the lake by carving a magic spell into the Frösö Runestone (erected on Frösö, an island in this lake). A version of the legend was also recorded in the group of writings associated with the Rannsakningar efter antikviteter (‘Researches into Antiquities’), specifically in a piece dated 1685 by Anders Plantin (Andreas Plantinus):
"It is said that beneath this [rune]stone lies a dreadfully large head of a serpent and that the body stretches over Storsjön to Knytta village and Hille Sand where the tail is buried. The serpent was called a rå and therefore shall this stone be raised. Since no one peacefully could cross [Storsjön], the ferryman and his wife states, along with many others, that in the last turbulent time this stone was torn down and broken in two. As long as this stone lay on the ground many strange things occurred in the water, until the stone was raised and assembled anew".
The Frösö stone has a large serpent depicted on it, but there is no reference to it nor to Kettil Runske in the text itself, which instead tells about Austmaðr, Guðfastr's son's christening of Jämtland, and the construction of the Frösö Bridge, though the stone has indeed been broken in two pieces.
Folktale The folk-legend that circulated around the Jämtland region provided additional details. According to this lore, "A long, long time ago", two trolls named Jata and Kata were on Storsjön's shore, each one brewing his cauldron at the lake for "days, weeks and months", until at last was heard "a groaning sound as if from a sick child" followed by a "loud bang.. as if by a violent thunderclap", and out of one cauldron leaped out a strange creature with a black serpent-like body and a cat-like head, which disappeared into the lake (the trolls and the cauldrons too vanished as well, in a wisp of white smoke, leaving a gaping abyss). The monster dwelling in the lake became a menace to surrounding areas, and grew so big as to encircle the entire island of Frösön and be able to bite its own tail. Then came along Ketil Jamte who bound the beast by carving spells into a stone which was erected on the east shore of Frösön. Parts of the beast were still visible above the water-line, but it is warned that it could be liberated some day when someone deciphers the runestone. The name of the hero may be Ketil Jamte or Ketil Ruske depending on the version. According to one informant, the rune-master was named Gudfast, which thus makes connection with the legendary Austmann Gudfastsson (Austmaðr, Guðfastar son, aforementioned, inscribed on the runestone).
Eyewitness accounts There have been hundreds of recorded sightings of Storsjöodjuret dating back to the 19th century. Newspapers reported in July 1857 that workers at the Forssbacka bruk (iron mill) on the lake spotted from far away a creature with a head "black and gleaming", about the size of a large cat's head (Swedish: större katthufwud), with the water movement suggesting it was a sort of sea-serpent. Peter Olsson published an 1899 booklet, documenting 22 eyewitness testimonies, and collated the details in his summary. Olsson, a naturalist, concluded that the most likely match was some aquatic mammal that had yet to be identified. The monster has been reported by various witnesses to measure on the order of 10 metres (33 ft) in length, the length in Olsson's accounts ranging from 3.5 to 14 meters (converted from the Swedish fot, foot or aln, cubit). It had a snake-like body, long neck, with some giving the description of a dog-like head, thus making it an eared creature, unlike most serpents, though some accounts describing as finned is ambiguous as to fins or ears. Some said it had several humps (Swedish: pucklar) on its back, but Olsson lumped these cases together with "vertical" curvings or undulations (Swedish: buckter).
Capture campaign Common interest in the creature was sparked first in the 1890s. After several sightings, an enterprise of locals was founded to catch the monster in 1894, even obtaining the sponsorship of King Oscar II. The failed attempt was featured in a satirical cartoon by Albert Engström in the Strix magazine.
Film footage In August 2008, a film crew claimed to have captured Storsjöodjuret on film, reporting that infrared cameras showed an endothermic mass in the lake.
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