Serpents and Werewolves (10 page)

The Laidly Wyrm

Northumbrian legend

Above the long golden beach at Bamburgh, a castle stands proud on a hill.

Once upon a time, the King of Northumbria lived in that castle. He had a queen and two children: a boy called Wynne and a girl called Margaret. The two children played together in the castle and on the beach, the little sister often annoying her big brother by dancing round him, getting in his way, giggling and
smiling
and being hard to dislike however irritating she was.

The King's children grew up happily, and soon Wynne was old enough to learn how to be a king. He decided the best way to learn was to go on a quest, with a ship, a crew and a long sharp sword, to find and defeat as many monsters as he could.

On the day he left, his little sister didn't annoy him at all. She just kissed him on the cheek, wished him an exciting quest and said goodbye.

The King continued to rule Northumbria with the Queen's help, and Margaret learnt to play on her own.

One winter, the Queen died. The King was left with only Margaret to help him. She had to grow up fast. She became her father's advisor, wise and kind. She took control of the keys of the castle: the keys to every chamber and the keys to all the treasure.

One spring, the King went hunting in the forest, where he met the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He fell instantly in
love
and married her on the spot.

They rode back to the castle, the King smiling because he thought he'd found someone wonderful to share his life with, the new Queen smiling because she thought she'd soon have complete power over the King, the castle, the kingdom and the treasure.

Then she saw the slim figure of Margaret, waiting on the steps of the castle. As they rode closer, the new Queen saw Margaret's cheerful clever face and the heavy bunch of keys on her belt. The new Queen realised she would never have complete power over the King or the kingdom while Margaret was by the King's side.

So the new Queen decided to get rid of Margaret.

She took a few days to gather what she needed, then one night she crept down to the basement, to cast a spell.

From her left pocket, she took a long white bone. “The rib of a dragon,” she whispered. From her right pocket, she took a long dark hair. “The hair of the daughter,” she whispered.

She
knotted the hair around the bone and circled the palm of her hand over it nine times. As she passed her hand over the bone, she thought about how to make this the strongest spell ever.

Every spell has a weakness, and it's wise for the spellmaker to choose what its weakness will be. To make her spell strong, the new Queen chose the most unlikely way to break it.

“You will stay in the loathsome form I give you, annoying child, until you are kissed, not by a lover or a friend, but by a boy who is far overseas, learning to kill your kind. You will stay in this shape until you are kissed by the King's son, Wynne!”

The new Queen snapped her fingers. And upstairs in her bedroom, Margaret turned into a...

...dragon!

Margaret didn't know she'd become a dragon, of course, because she was asleep. She found out early the next morning when her maid came in to help her brush her hair.

The
maid saw a huge green serpent coiled on the bed and she screamed.

Margaret woke up, sat up, looked at herself and saw her green scales. She screamed too. But she didn't have the right throat for a scream any more, so the scream came out as a roar.

The maid screamed, the dragon roared and the castle shook.

Margaret slid out of the window, slithered down the castle wall and hid in the darkest hole she could find. She didn't want to be a dragon. She didn't want anyone to see her.

But she grew hungry, so after a week of hiding, she crept out to search for food.

She tried to catch a sheep, but when she chased the flock, the shepherd ran off, shouting, “Dragon! That dragon wants to eat me!” But the dragon didn't eat him, the dragon ate a sheep. She tried to catch a goat, but when
she
chased the flock, the goatherd ran off, shouting, “Dragon! That dragon wants to eat me!” But the dragon didn't eat him, the dragon ate a goat.

She tried to catch a cow, but when she chased the herd, the farmer ran off, shouting, “Dragon! That dragon wants to eat me!” But the dragon didn't eat him, the dragon ate a cow.

The people ran to the castle and demanded to see the King. “Help us, your majesty! There's a dragon trying to eat us! Please kill the dragon for us!”

The new Queen was about to say, “Yes, let's kill the dragon,” when the King asked, “A dragon, trying to eat you? Really? How many people has it eaten?”

“Erm... none. No people at all actually...”

“So what has it eaten?”

“Sheep. Goats. Cows.” They told the King exactly what had happened.

And the King, who was a wise king in most matters, even when he was distracted by his new queen and his missing daughter, said, “If
it
had wanted to eat you, you'd be chewed up and swallowed by now. It's not a dangerous dragon, just a hungry one. If you feed it every day, it will leave you alone.”

So the dragon coiled round a tall rock called Spindleston Heugh, and the bravest of the local people delivered a big bucket of milk and a dozen large loaves to the foot of the rock every day. The dragon was full, the people were safe, and so were the sheep and goats and cows.

But the people weren't happy. They didn't like having a great long serpent of a dragon wound round a rock so close by, with its bright green scales, long white teeth and sad eyes watching them as they farmed and fished. The locals called the dragon the Laidly Wyrm, or loathsome worm, and went on long detours so they didn't have to walk too close to it.

After a few weeks of dragon-feeding and dragon-avoidance, they went back to the King and said, “It may not be hungry, but we still don't feel safe with a dragon coiled
round
a rock so close to our homes and the castle. We'd still like you to kill it.”

The King nodded. “The best person to rid us of a dragon is the boy who went off to learn to kill them. I miss having my children around me, since Margaret vanished, so I shall summon young Wynne home again.”

A short message was sent: “Wynne, come home urgently.” Soon Wynne, who had killed almost enough dragons, manticores and basilisks to feel qualified to be a king, started the journey back to Bamburgh.

The new Queen was furious. She'd just got rid of the daughter, now here was the son heading home. She had to get rid of him too, so she would be the only one with influence over the King.

Late one night, she crept to the basement and conjured up ninety-nine spiky black imps. She gave each of them a bowl of water and a fishbone spoon, and ordered them to stir up a storm.

As each of the ninety-nine imps stirred, the water began to swirl and splash, and the
water
in the basement called to the water in the sea.

The water near the castle shivered and swirled. Waves reached up to grab air, then smashed down and shattered. The breezes near the castle shifted and whirled, and became winds, which surged and howled.

The imps were stirring in different directions and at different speeds, so the waves and winds were arriving from all angles, crashing into each other, battling and building a massive storm at sea.

The magical storm roared around Wynne's ship as he approached home. But it didn't sink him. While he'd been away, Wynne had learnt to kill monsters, and he'd also learnt to keep himself safe from dark magic, so he was returning in a ship of rowan wood, the only tree that resists magic.

Wynne's ship floated calmly on the top of the soaring waves, and drove a straight line through the gusting winds.

The new Queen screamed in frustration. She kicked over the imps' bowls and yelled,
“
Hide yourselves on the beach and when that boy comes ashore, tear him to pieces!”

The imps scuttled down to the beach, buried themselves in the sand and waited for Wynne to land.

But when the ship approached the beach, there was a sudden splash, as the dragon leapt from her rock and landed in the water between the ship and the shore.

The dragon flicked at the ship with her tail, the dragon danced in the waves, the dragon coiled round the ship, and the dragon made it impossible for the ship to land.

Wynne said, “What an annoying creature.” He and his men tried to kill the dragon with arrows and spears. But her scales were too thick, and she was moving too fast. The dragon kept dancing and coiling and generally making a nuisance of herself so the ship couldn't land on the long, golden beach.

The golden beach that was hiding ninety-nine imps...

Eventually,
Wynne said, “This irritating dragon won't let us land here, so let's try the bay to the north.”

As soon as the ship turned away from the beach below the castle, the dragon stopped bothering the sailors and coiled back round her rock.

Once Wynne had landed safely, he said to his men, “Before I go to the castle to greet my father, I must deal with that annoying green wyrm.” He drew his long sword, now tempered with the hot blood of dozens of monsters, and he strode up to Spindleston Heugh.

The dragon was coiled round the rock with her tail at the top and her head at the bottom. She hung there, upside down, and watched Wynne approach. Wynne stepped right up to the rock and stared at the dragon's throat, searching for a soft patch he could pierce with his sword.

The dragon tipped her head to one side and smiled.

Wynne thought, “That's unusual. I've
killed
many dragons, and not one of them has smiled at me just before I attack.”

He looked at the dragon, hanging upside down, with its head on one side, smiling at him. He thought of the dragon dancing and bouncing in the waves, and annoying him by getting in his way.

He said, “How strange, dragon, you remind me of my little sister.”

The dragon grinned even wider.

He lowered his sword. “I can't kill something that reminds me of my little sister.”

He laid his sword on the ground.

The dragon's head darted forward and kissed Wynne on the cheek.

Wynne laughed. “What a friendly dragon. I suppose one kiss deserves another.” He leant forward and kissed the dragon on her scaly green snout.

The dragon changed into his little sister, Margaret.

She landed in a heap at the bottom of the rock. Wynne helped her up and wrapped her in his cloak.

“
Margaret! Who did this to you? Who turned you into a wyrm?”

“The new Queen, who replaced our mother.”

“Then I will go and finish her, the way I nearly finished you.” He picked up his sword.

Margaret said, “No, there are better ways to deal with her.”

She led him along the shore towards the castle. As they passed his ship, still seaworthy, but a bit battered by the whirling water and the dancing dragon, Margaret prised off a splinter of rowan wood.

When they reached the castle, the new Queen was trying to leave with as much silk and treasure as she could carry. Margaret tapped the new Queen over the heart with the rowan wood, and the new Queen returned to her true form. A toad. A squat, warty, damp-looking toad.

The toad hopped off, with no treasure at all, leaving Margaret and Wynne to enter the castle to meet their father, then live happily and wisely for many years.

And
that is why Spindleston Heugh still bears the marks of a serpent's scales coiling around it, and why you can sometimes hear a toad croak in the grounds of Bamburgh Castle. But don't worry, you'll be quite safe if you carry a bit of rowan wood with you...