“The lake called Mos, and the Island of Hofffusen in Myddest there of is in the degree 45.3 and 61. In this lake appeareth a strange monster which is a serpent of huge bigness; and as, to all other places of the world blazing stars do portend alteration, so doth this to Norway. It was seen of late in the year of Christ 1522, appearing far above the water, rowling like a great pillar and was by conjecture far off esteemed to be of 50 cubits in length.”
Galeatius Butrigarius.
"On the dark bottom of the great salt lake,
Imprisoned, lay the giant snake,
With naught his sullen sleep to break"Poets of the North, Oelenschlanger, translated by Longfellow
“The length of it he supposes to have been about 300 ells or 600 feet. Of this he could not speak accurately; but it was of considerable length, and longer than it appeared, as it lay in large coils above the water to the height of many feet. Its colour was greyish. At the distance at which he was, he could not ascertain whether it were covered with scales; but when it moved it made a loud crackling noise which he distinctly heard. Its head was shaped like that of a serpent, but he could not tell whether it had teeth or not. He said it emitted a strong odour; and that the boat men were afraid to approach near it, and looked on its coming as a bad sign, as the fish left the coast in consequence!”
From an account by Captain Schielderup
“The Bishops of Nordland has seen two of them about 8 miles from Drontheim, the largest being apparently 100 feet, and, one as bulky as an ox, and a quarter of a mile in length, appeared off the island of Soro, near Finmark, and was seen by many people.”
Mr. Steen, Clergy man of Carlso
“The sea was, after a warm sunshiney day, quite calm. About 7 o’clock in the afternoon, a little distance from shore, near the ballast place and Molde Hove, they saw a large marine animal which slowly moved itself forward, as it appeared to them, with the help of two fins on the forepart of the body nearest the head, which they judged from the boiling of the water on both sides of it. The visible part of the body appeared to be between 40 and 50 feet in length, and moved in undulations like a snake. The body was round and of a dark colour and seemed to be several ells in thickness. As they discerned a waving motion in the water behind the animal, they concluded that part of the body was concealed underwater. That it was one connected animal they saw plainly from its movement. When the animal was about 100 yards from the boat, they noticed tolerably correctly its fore-part, which ended in a sharp snout; its colossal head raised itself above the water in the form of a semi-circle; the lower part was not visible. The colour of the head was dark brown, and the skin smooth. They did not notice the eyes, or any mane or bristles on the throat. When the serpent came about a musket shot near, Lund fired at it, and was certain the shots hit it in the head. After the shot he dived, but came up immediately; he raised his head like a snake preparing to dart on its prey. After he had turned and got his body in a straight line, which he appeared to do with great difficulty, he darted like an arrow against the boat. They reached the shore, and the animal, perceiving it had come in to shallow water, dived immediately and disappeared in the deep.”
Rev. W. Deinboll, Arch Deacon of Molde
“On looking over the side of the vessel I saw a most wonderful sight, which I shall recollect as long as I live. His head appeared to be about 16 feet above the water, and he kept moving it up and down, sometimes showing his enormous neck, which was surmounted with a huge crest in the shape of a saw. It was surrounded by hundreds of birds, and we at first thought it was a dead whale. He left a track in the water like the wake of a boat, and from what we could see of his head and part of his body we were lead to think he must be about 60 feet in length, but he might be more. The Captain kept the vessel away to get nearer to him; and when we were within 100 yards he slowly sank in to the depth of the sea. While we were at dinner he was seen again.”
An officer aboard The Barham