Tradition: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Names: Skate Mother
Category: Whale
The Myth
The Skötumóðir is an enormous, poisonous creature resembling a skate or ray. Like other Icelandic fish mothers, it is not always described as a skate itself; some accounts portray it as an evil whale resembling one. It has a back like a mud-covered island and nine tails. Unlike ordinary skates, it can appear inland, in freshwater, and even on dry land.
A swarm of skates always swims around a Skötumóðir. When fishermen catch these smaller fish, the sea appears to grow shallower as the Skate Mother rises towards the surface. It eventually hooks its wings over the sides of the fishing boat and drags it beneath the waves. To escape, the fishermen must immediately cut off the creature’s wings with a sharp implement.
An enormous skate believed to be a Skötumóðir was one of three monsters that terrorised travellers around Lagarfljót, where it waited near ferry crossings. A powerful sorcerer pinned it to the bottom of the river, where it was said to remain unless it had escaped.
Sources
“Skötumóðir.” A Book of Creatures, September 18, 2016. https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/09/18/skotumodir/