Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: Lindworm of Wyl, Dragon of Ödwyl
Category: Dragon
The Myth
In ancient times, a terrible Lindworm lived in a cave above the village of Wyl in Unterwalden, beside Lake Lucerne. Its body was covered in scales and it possessed razor-sharp claws. When it shot through the air from its cave, it looked like an enormous flying crocodile, while flames poured from its jaws.
The dragon devastated the beautiful countryside around Wyl and filled the inhabitants with terror. It devoured livestock as well as shepherds, and even children tending their animals were not safe. A shepherd boy carrying a full milk pail could be quietly making his way through the hedges and woods when the Lindworm would suddenly swoop down and carry him away. Once, two poor girls gathering berries in the pasture were attacked by the beast and only escaped by hiding among the ferns. Because neither people nor animals were safe, Wyl eventually became known as Ödwyl, the deserted Wyl.
At last, a knight named Struthan Winkelried, of the family of Winkelried, offered to fight the monster. He had previously been banished from his homeland because of an unintentional killing, and demanded that he be allowed to return if he succeeded in destroying the Lindworm. The people of Unterwalden agreed.
Struthan returned to the land and went to Ödwyl, where the dragon lived. He wore a coat of armor and wrapped his lance in a thorn bush.
Suddenly, the Lindworm burst from its cave breathing fire and charged directly at the knight. The people watching from the surrounding woods believed that Struthan was doomed. Instead, he held the thorn-covered lance before him. Blinded by its fury, the dragon charged straight into the weapon. After a short but violent struggle, the Lindworm became entangled and suffocated upon the thorn-covered lance.
The people rushed forward cheering when they saw the monster dead. But as Struthan, exhausted and covered in sweat, pulled his lance from the dragon’s body, some of the creature’s blood splashed onto his bare arm. Although he immediately washed it away, the dragon’s blood was deadly, and Struthan soon died as well.
The people mourned the man who had saved them from the Lindworm. At the place where he had slain the dragon, they built a chapel in his memory.
Sources
“Drachenried.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz. Reproduced by SAGEN.at.
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/drachenried.html