History Literature / TheLambtonWorm

* KnightsVersusDragons: Several knights are usually described as coming to Durnham to try to slay the Worm, but fail. Ultimately, John, now a battle-hardened knight himself, comes and puts down the beast for good.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The worm is definitely in the range of draconic monsters, being huge, horrifying, and reptilian, and needing to be killed by a hero. It doesn't fly or [[BreathWeapon breathe fire (although, in some versions of the story, its breath is poisonous enough to pollute the whole district)]], and it doesn't show much sign of intelligence, being strictly a ravening beast -- but these are all common traits for Medieval folkloric dragons. It ''does'' have amazing regenerative powers, plus the smarts to swing uprooted trees around in its jaws as weapons, which are unusual features for a dragon.

* CreateYourOwnVillain: The moral of the story is, don't throw ugly worms down wells; the consequences will last for nine generations.

* ImprovisedWeapon: For a change, it's the non-humanoid monster manifesting this trope. The worm grabs uprooted trees in its jaws and [[TelephonePolearm swings them around to batter opponents]].

* ImprovisedWeapon: For a change, it's the non-humanoid monster manifesting these tropes. The worm grabs uprooted trees in its jaws and swings them around to batter opponents.

* AdaptationalDistillation: The song, being just song length, misses out a lot of the details that show up in prose versions of the story.

* BlueBlood: The story is a legend about the history of a real-world upper class family (though strictly speaking, the Lambtons weren't raised to the aristocracy until the 19th century). Sir John becomes TheDragonslayer; there's a bit of AuthorityEqualsAsskicking there, but this is one of those cases where it would help that the nobility can afford weapons, armor, and combat training. Unfortunately, a HereditaryCurse then falls on his lineage.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Defeating the worm carries a major HereditaryCurse as a side-effect (albeit with a get-out clause that doesn't help). It's not clear if the worm itself can somehow invoke a dying curse or if this is some kind of weird price attached to the wise woman's advice.
* CarryABigStick[=/=]ImprovisedWeapon[=/=]TelephonePolearm: For a change, it’s the non-humanoid monster manifesting these tropes. The worm grabs uprooted trees in its jaws and swings them around to batter opponents.

* DragonsAreDemonic: Sir John first discovers the worm by fishing it up from a river on a Sunday during mass-time. The circumstances suggest that the worm is allowed into the world because Sir John skipped church, and the HereditaryCurse it bestows on him further emphasizes that this isn't just a dangerous animal.
* TheDragonslayer: Sir John just kills the one draconic monster, but he gets the job done, when even other knights have been killed by the worm. The difference is that he has the good fortune to receive sound advice from the wise woman, and the good sense to act on it.
* TheFairFolk: The worm itself may not be a faerie being -- though its weird and dangerous nature places it somewhere in the same area -- but the mysterious, exposition-rich [[TreacherousAdvisor (and possibly treacherous) advisor figure]] who sets the plot rolling or moves it along in various versions of the tale, sometimes [[{{Railroading}} by prodding John into foolhardy acts]] under the banner of [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor dragon-slaying daring-do that will be immortalised in song]]? That could very well be at least an echo of a faerie being, taking advantage of the initially sinning, unsanctified, and thus ''unprotected'' John.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The worm is definitely in the range of draconic monsters, being huge, horrifying, and reptilian, and needing to be killed by a hero. However, it doesn't fly or [[BreathWeapon breathe fire (though in some versions of the story, its breath is poisonous enough to pollute the whole district)]], and it doesn't show much sign of draconic intelligence, being strictly a ravening beast. It ''does'' have amazing regenerative powers, plus the smarts to swing uprooted trees around in its jaws as weapons, which are unusual features for a dragon.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: One interpretation of the legend suggests that the Worm was inspired by a lamprey.

!!Tropes in the Worm's Tale:

* BlueBlood: The story is a legend about the history of a real-world upper class family (though strictly speaking, the Lambtons weren’t raised to the aristocracy until the 19th century). Sir John becomes TheDragonslayer; there’s a bit of AuthorityEqualsAsskicking there, but this is one of those cases where it would help that the nobility can afford weapons, armor, and combat training. Unfortunately, a HereditaryCurse then falls on his lineage.

* HealingFactor[=/=]PullingThemselvesTogether: The worm can heal any injury it takes, to the point that it can rejoin segments of its body that have been hacked off.

''The Lambton Worm'' is a folktale from UsefulNotes/NorthEastEngland which is also the basis for a {{folk|Music}}-song in the area’s characteristic regional dialect.[[note]]Spoilsports may note that there is no record of the legend from before 1785, and it only became popular in the early 19th century, when one of the Lambton family became a popular politician and was given a title — which the family lacked previously. Also, the song was definitely only written in 1867.[[/note]] Like most folktales, the details vary from telling to telling, but in brief, it generally runs as follows: