The Loathly Lady Wyrm
A laidly column on using folklore in tabletop RPGs
When it comes to books judged by their covers, dragons are top of the pile. Old-school European dragons are almost universally evil, and modern D&D dragons follow suit by being literally colour coded based on their morality. If it shares a colour with a Magic: The Gathering card, you’re good to start slaying.
Still, every now and again, there’s an old story to suggest you shouldn’t be quite so hasty in attacking a dragon. For example, what if it’s actually your sister?
I. The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh
Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Northumbria, a kind king lost his wife. Like many fairytale kings in his position, he immediately makes a bad decision and marries a beautiful but cruel witch. With the King’s son Childe Wynd across the sea, the witch takes the opportunity to rid herself of her new stepdaughter, Princess Margaret. She does so, of course, by turning the princess into a dragon:
‘I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm,
And borrowed shall ye never be,
Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son
Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee;
Until the world comes to an end,
Borrowed shall ye never be.’1
The locals chase this new monster to Spindleston Heugh, a nearby crag. Not sure what else to do, they feed the dragon seven cows daily to keep it at bay.
This status quo breaks when the witch hears Prince Wynd is to return. To stop him, she sends imps to ambush his ship at sea. Luckily, the keel is made from rowan wood—a folkloric protection against malevolent beings—and the imps are powerless. They return to their master in defeat.
Next, the witch switches to Plan B and enchants the Laidly Worm to stop her brother from coming ashore. The dragon successfully repels the prince’s ship three times, so he orders his men to stop trying to land. In her hubris, the witch-queen declares victory.
In reality, however, Wynd just has his ship go slightly up the coast and dock there. He and his men leave the ship, ready to engage the dragon. By the time they reach her, the witch’s magic has worn off. The Laidly Worm makes no effort to fight Wynd, who swoops in for the killing blow. Before he can strike, however, the Worm speaks in his sister’s voice:
'O, quit your sword, unbend your bow,
And give me kisses three;
For though I am a poisonous worm,
No harm I'll do to thee.'
Although suspicious, Wynd kisses the Worm three times and it transforms back into his sister. He wraps her in his cloak and the two return to the castle. There they confront the witch, and Wynd touches her with a twig from a rowan tree. This causes her to shrivel and transform into an enormous, ugly toad.
And, to this day, the Laidly Toad haunts the streets near Bamburgh Castle.
II. The History & Similar Tales
The ballad of the Laidly Worm comes from Northumbria, first published in a compilation of folk songs in 17782. The titular Spindleston Heugh can be visited in the parish of Easington, Northumberland, while the adjective Laidly is a Scottish variant of loathly.
Similar ballads can be found in England, Scotland, and Scandinavia, stories of someone (usually a woman) transformed unjustly into a monster and needing to be cured. Kemp Owyne3, for example, has the same outline but with the dragon offering the hero a magic belt, ring, and sword in exchange for each kiss. The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea4, another variation, has the king step in as protagonist, rescuing his transformed son (laily worm) and daughter (mackerel) from his new witch wife.
Given its repeated use, the story of the Laidly Worm clearly has potential outside its original framing. Given that, how can it inspire your own game?
Using the Laidly Worm in Your Game
I. Use the Ballad!
The easiest way to adapt this tale to your game is just to use it wholesale! Prince Wynd hears a dragon is threatening his homeland, so he sends the party ahead to investigate before he arrives. In this version, the Laidly Dragon can’t speak, so once the PCs discover the truth, they’ll need to race to warn Wynd before he slays his own sister!
Alternatively, you can place the PCs in Wynd’s role, intent to save the kingdom themselves from this new, draconic threat. Will they discover the truth in time to save the princess? And who among them will step up to kiss the dragon?
II. A Loathsome Tale
The next option is to use the tale, with a twist. Perhaps the ballad:
…is the backstory for a kingdom ruled by a Dragon Queen. The story is accurate right up the end, when Margaret ate both the witch and her brother, assuming control of the lands for herself.
…ended in tragedy, and Wynd was killed. In this scenario, the witch went on to lead the kingdom to disaster, leaving just her and the Laidly Worm to haunt its ruins.
…was interrupted when the queen defeated Wynd. Now she rules with an iron fist, turning the Laidly Worm against her enemies. The party needs Wynd to break the curse and deprive the queen of her dragon, but finding and convincing him to try will be an adventure in and of itself.
III. The Laidly Toad
The ballad of the Laidly Worm leaves us with the witch defeated and turned into a toad, one that might still be around today! With a perfect detail like that, we’d be looking a gift toad in the mouth if we didn’t try and use it.
Say the ballad, or a version of it, occurred in the past of your game. If you’re playing in a medieval or fantasy setting, this could be the recent past, or hundreds of years ago for urban fantasy. What’s important is that the only remaining character left alive is the witch, still trapped in the form of an enormous toad. No doubt she’s plotting to regain human form and take revenge on Childe Wynd and Princess Margaret’s descendants!
The Laidly Toad could be anything from a weird encounter in a ruin or cave to a plotting antagonist behind the scenes of a whole adventure. And if Wynd’s descendants are in trouble, who better than a band of adventurers (or paranormal investigators) to turn to in a time of crisis?
Laidly Toad Statistics (Old-School)
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 4* (18 hp)
Attacks: 1 × bite (1d4+1) or 1 x tongue or 1 x spell
THAC0: 16 [+3]
Move: 90’ (30’)
Save As: Fighter 4
Morale: 8▶ Witch: Cast spells as a 4th level magic-user.
▶ Surprise: On a 1–3, as she changes colour to match her surroundings.
▶ Tongue: 15’ range. On a hit, the target is dragged to the mouth and immediately bitten.
▶ Swallow: If the Laidly Toad rolls a natural 20 on an attack roll against a target smaller than a horse, she also swallows them. While inside: suffer 1d6 damage per round (until the Toad dies); may attack with sharp weapons at -4 to hit.As a witch, the Laidly Toad likely knows special spells or has magical abilities prepared that are not known to normal magic-users. The fact she is statted as a 4th level mage reflects her current, diminished state.
And that’s it for the Laidly Worm (and Toad)!
Thanks for reading; Mythoi will be back again soon with another piece of fantastical folklore!
Penny for your thoughts: Have you ever used a good, or at least misunderstood, dragon in one of your games?
~ A.C. Luke
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“The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh”. Sacred-Texts. Accessed 10 May 2023.
"The Laidley Worm of Spindlestone Heugh”. Northumberland Archives. Accessed 10 May 2023.
Child, Francis James. "Kemp Owyne". The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.
Child, Francis James. "The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea". The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.