in the 19th century. Origins The story has a lot in common with the Icelandic Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis. The Laidly Worm never made it into the "Reliques" but was reprinted in various other books after its discovery. Lambe sent the fragments to his friend Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore, another antiquarian. Percy had embarked on a British Empire-spanning project to collect all the oral and written lore and ballads, which he assembled into a volume called Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. See also Kemp Owyne – a Child Ballad version of the tale, in which Childe Wynd is replaced by Kemp Owyne Lambton Worm Loathly lady The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea References Sources Atkinson, Philip Folk Tales of North East England (http://viewbook.at/FolkTalesEngland) Henderson, Joan. The Laidly Worm of Bamborough. 1991. http://www.ferrum.edu/thanlon/dragons/collect.htm Ballads Works about dragons European dragons Northumbrian folklore Northumbrian folkloric beings Witchcraft in fairy tales Fiction about shapeshifting