Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
When Assiepattle slew the Stoor Worm, its dying convulsions knocked out its teeth which became the islands of Orkney, Shetland and Faroe, while its body became Iceland – where its liver, set alight by a blazing peat, continues to generate fire through subsequent eras.
How do the Icelanders feel about their origin, and indeed do they share the same fireside stories that Walter Traill Dennison, born two centuries ago, recorded in Sanday of mermaids and selkies and kingdoms beneath the sea? Tom Muir introduced Prof. Terry Gunnell of the University of Iceland to an audience in the 2025 Orkney International Science Festival.
When Assiepattle slew the Stoor Worm, its dying convulsions knocked out its teeth which became the islands of Orkney, Shetland and Faroe, while its body became Iceland – where its liver, set alight by a blazing peat, continues to generate fire through subsequent eras.
How do the Icelanders feel about their origin, and indeed do they share the same fireside stories that Walter Traill Dennison, born two centuries ago, recorded in Sanday of mermaids and selkies and kingdoms beneath the sea? Tom Muir introduced Prof. Terry Gunnell of the University of Iceland to an audience in the 2025 Orkney International Science Festival.
