The Dragon of Whorl Hill

 The Wyrm of Whorl Hill

Whorl Hill is a wooded, dome shaped hill between Faceby and Whorlton in North Yorkshire.North Yorkshire has many tales of wyrms or dragons as does most of the north east of England . Handale, Nunnington, Sockburn, Lambton, Slingsby, Wantley, Loschby all claim to have had dragons or worms.

For more on the Lambton Worm read here :

 https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2009/10/was-lambton-worm-lake-cryptid.html

The story of the Sexhow or Whorl Hill dragon appeared in a book in 1888.

. Thomas Parkinson wrote in “Yorkshire legends and traditions” of 1888.

“Sexhow is a small hamlet or township in the parish of Rudby, some four miles from the town of Stokesley, in Cleveland. Upon a round knoll at this place a most pestilent dragon, or worm, took up its abode; whence it came, or what was its origin, no one knew. So voracious was its appetite , that it took the milk of nine cows daily to satisfy its cravings; but we have not heard that it required any other kind of food. When not sufficiently fed , the hissing noise it made alarmed all the country roundabout; and, worse than that, its breath was so strong as to be absolutely poisonous, and those who breathed it died. This state of things was unbearable, and the country was becoming rapidly depopulated. At length the monster’s day of doom dawned. A knight, clad in complete armour, passed that way, whose name or country no one knew, and, after a hard fight, he slew the monster, and left it dead upon the hill, and then passed on his way. He came, he fought, he won; and then he went away. The inhabitants of the hamlet of Sexhow took the skin of the monster-worm and suspended it in the church, over the pew belonging to the hamlet of Sexhow, where it long remained a trophy of the knight’s victory, and of their own deliverance from the terrible monster.”

(The skin was said to be hung in the church at Hutton Rudby and later destroyed in  the reformation.)

With so many similar stories and legends one has to wonder if there is some truth in it. Could some creature ,perhaps a huge snake or lizard lived in those times ? 

                             

Yorkshire legends and traditions, as told by her ancient chroniclers, her poets, and journalists  (1888) Parkinson, Thomas, Rev . Reprint Published by Pranava Books, 2018 Delhi

 

Claimed Extinction of Ancient Sharks Never Happened?

 

Claimed Extinction of Ancient Sharks Never Happened, Says Study

BY WILLIAM MCGEE, ZENGER NEWS ON 12/18/21 AT 9:00 AM ES

Amassive shark die-off 19 million years ago that was reported in the prestigious journal Science and made headlines the world over did not actually happen, according to new research.In June, two U.S. scientists reported a decline in shark diversity with a decrease of more than 90 percent in the abundance of deep-ocean sharks all those years ago.

However, researchers at the Natural History Museum Vienna and others have now cast doubt on the event, saying it probably did not happen.The Austrian researchers say that due to the relative stability of the deep sea, such an enormous decline in deep-ocean sharks would be surprising.In several projects financed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), we examined marine deposits of the same age in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Tanzania, India, Sri Lanka and Oman. Nowhere was there any evidence of an extinction event 19 million years ago," Mathias Harzhauser, who heads the museum's Geology and Paleontology Department, said in a statement.

Read rest here:

https://www.newsweek.com/claimed-extinction-ancient-sharks-never-happened-says-study-1660653

Could it be Megladon  or other large sharks are still around? Food for thought.

Giant Sea Worm

 

Divers discovered a horrifying 26-foot sea worm that only comes out at night

 

Divers off the coast of New Zealand came face to face with a giant sea worm that was almost 30-foot long.The creature is called a pyrosome, and while it might look intimidating, it’s actually perfectly safe to approach. Pyrosomes are part of a family of sea creatures known as tunicates or “sea squirts”. They’ve also been called cockroaches of the sea, National Geographic notes, due to their ability to pull food from even the most inhospitable environments.

See photos and read rest here:

https://bgr.com/science/divers-discovered-a-horrifying-26-foot-sea-worm-that-only-comes-out-at-night/

 

Legendary Horned Water Serpents

 

 Horned Water Creatures

Some sightings of lake creatures such as Ogopogo  or Nessie describe them as having horns or protuberances on their heads. Many countries have legends about horned freshwater serpents .It is a common belief among many native indigenous people  of the  United States and Canada. Horned serpent stories vary  but they are usually describe a large dragon-like creature with horns . Sometimes seen on  land, they tend to live in rivers and lakes. They are often depicted in the art works of tribal people.

In Greek  mythology the Cerastes is a creature like a  snake with either two large horns or four pairs of smaller horns. Isidore of Seville described it.

In Mesopotamian the legendary  Ningishzida, is described  as a serpent with horns.

Cheyenne people believe that there are two names for the water monsters,some believe in two different types. Mehne is always described as a horned serpent, while Axxea is sometimes described as a worm.  They may be placated  by making offerings.

 The indigenous people that lived near Lake Champlain were the Abenaki and the Iroquois. Both  had legends concerning a serpent in the lake. The Abanaki called the creature Tatoskok. They made offerings to the creature.

There have been about 300 reported sightings of Champ over the years. Read more here:

https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2011/11/champthe-lake-champlain-creature.html

I feel legends should not be ignored and often contain some truth. Whether it is because the creatures were seen or because of finds of prehistoric creatures’ fossils, no one knows. The fact that there are still sightings today would tend to confirm the former, that there were sightings. What do you think?