Tradition / Region: Icelandic folklore
Alternate Names: Eiturgedda (“Poison Pike”), Loch-Pike
Category: Fish, Flounder
The Myth
Among the dangerous fishes of Icelandic lakes, none is feared more than the Vatnagedda, known also as the Eiturgedda, the poisonous pike. Despite its name, it does not resemble a pike. It is described as a small, furry, flounder-like fish, most often golden in color, though some accounts speak of blue variants.
The Vatnagedda is lethally poisonous in every part of its body. Its flesh and skin contain a corrosive toxin so powerful that mere contact is fatal. The poison eats through cloth, leather, and even solid materials, dissolving both organic and inorganic matter. Nothing living is immune to it—not even ghosts or spirits.
Because of this, the presence of a dead Vatnagedda is believed to drive away evil beings. Its fat is said to cure pain caused by ghosts, hauntings, and sorcery, making the creature both feared and sought after.
Vatnageddas dwell at the bottom of dark, murky lakes. They are said to hate light, which can kill them, and for this reason they only rise to the surface before storms or during heavy fog. To catch one, a fisherman must use a hook baited with gold. Even then, the task is extremely dangerous. The angler must wear gloves made of human skin, or else many layers of skate skin. Despite these precautions, handling the fish often causes burns, rashes, and swelling.
Once caught, the greatest challenge is keeping the Vatnagedda contained. Its poison gradually destroys anything around it. In one tale, a Vatnagedda wrapped in two horse skins burned its way through them, melted into the ground, and vanished beneath the earth. The only known way to transport the creature safely is to wrap it first in the caul of a newborn child, and then in the caul of a calf.
One story tells of a sorcerer who came to the aid of a farmer whose home was plagued by an evil spirit. The haunting drove the farmer’s daughter to madness. Wearing human-skin gloves and using a gold-baited hook, the sorcerer caught a Vatnagedda from Gedduvatn, Pike Lake. The dead fish was sealed in a bottle, wrapped in layers of sheepskin and leather, and placed on a pack horse.
By the time the sorcerer returned, the horse bore a hairless, sunken wound on its back where the fish had rested, and it remained weakened for the rest of its life. The Vatnagedda was buried beneath the threshold of the house, and from that moment on, the haunting ceased. The evil spirit never returned, and the girl fully recovered.
Gallery
Sources
A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Vatnagedda. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/06/26/vatnagedda/
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Vatnagedda