Icy Nessy

According to a recent article for “Iceland Review Online,”

Lagarfljótsormurinn, the giant serpent rumored to inhabit the lake Lagarfljót near Egilsstaðir in East Iceland truly exists, as announced on Saturday by the majority of a 13-person truth commission established in 2012 by the Fljótsdalshérað municipal council. The commission was given the task of determining whether a video of the alleged monster shot by Hjörtur E. Kjerúlf, which went viral, was authentic and whether he was entitled to a prize of ISK 500,000 (USD $4,300). Hjörtur shot the footage through his kitchen window at farm Hrafnkelsstaðir in Fljótsdalur early one morning in February 2012. The video was originally posted on the website of national broadcaster RÚV and, after Iceland Review reported on it, reposted multiple times. The video has now been watched approximately 8 million times and has prompted film crews from abroad to come to the lake in search of the serpent

So there you have it: according to at least seven people (out of 13 on the panel) the monster officially exists, based upon a shaky video of what is almost certainly a fishing net caught in a stream. The quasi-official endorsement of the Lagarfljot monster marks a break from the past when the existence of the beast was generally dismissed.
 
The 1980 book Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World notes that “an enquiry addressed to the Icelandic Museum of Natural History about the Lagarfljot monster… produced a very vinegary response to the effect that Lagarfljotsormur has never been anything but a legend. According to the museum, this monster was just leaves, tree branches, and other vegetative remains brought together by the strong currents in the Lagarfljót river.”

Indeed that description very closely matches the most likely explanation. The announcement is sure to spur even more “cryptotourism,” and the area has already had hundreds of visitors coming from around the world to look for the monster.

It’s not clear whether the “truth commission” was originally a serious study or a tongue-in-cheek stunt, but in the end it doesn’t matter. The local government paid out about $4,000, but it’s a tiny fraction of the money that monster tourism will bring — just ask the people of Inverness, on the shore of Ness, Scotland’s most famous loch.