Once upon a time there was Master Stoorworm, a giant sea snake, who lived near the Scottish coast. This gigantic animal, of the dragon species, had a very bad habit … that of always eating a little too much. Every morning, his stomach asking for a new feast, he would yawn his head off … his mouth would open very wide seven times in a row, revealing sharp fangs and a blood-red tongue.
It wouldn’t have been so embarrassing if the tongue of the snake, unfolding, didn’t have the disadvantage of sweeping away everything it found in its path: a tree, a cart, a sheep, a cow, even villagers.
One day, it really got too much! It was decided to get rid of Master Stoorworm by hook or crook. But who would be mad enough to challenge such a powerful monster? Without saying anything to anyone, a brave young man took an iron pail filled with peat, took a boat and went to sea to await the awakening of the Master.
When the monster yawned for the first time, the boat and its occupant were engulfed in the mouth of the dragon. Once in the esophagus, Jamie, that was his name, made his way to the stomach. There, in the hostile den, the astute villager used peat to set the monstrous belly on fire. The reaction of the dragon was not long in coming. At the stroke of intense pain, the stomach expelled Jamie, who regained the coast without damage.
From afar he watched Master Stoorworm writhing so hard to calm his pain that, in an impulsive gesture, his tail hit his mighty jaw. Due to the violent blow, his teeth got detached, and scattered heavily in the sea. Legend has it that this is how the Orkney Islands, and then the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland, were born.
