In 1911, Bram Stoker, the Anglo-Irish novelist that also wrote Dracula, penned The Lair of the White Worm, based on the Lambton legend. Stoker, who spent most of his professional life as the business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, earned addition money by writing books. His position with the theatre took him on tour throughout the world and allowed him to collect legends and folktales which he worked into his novels. While Lair of the White Worm is considered one of Stokers lessor works (and his last- he would die the following year) it does reflect much of the Lambton Worm legend within its pages. The spectacular Thors cave was pictured as the ancient home of the great worm in Ken Russells film. (Photograph by T Chalcraft released under Creative Commons ShareAlike License version 2.5) In 1978 the story of the Lambton Worm became an opera written by Robert Sherlaw Johnson and Anne Ridler. A decade later the legend was again brought to the attention of the world when producer Ken Russell released his motion picture version of the Stoker book: The Lair of the White Worm starred a young Hugh Grant as the aristocratic descendant of the legendary Lambton hero (whose name had been changed for the film to John Dampton). Grants character finds himself in trouble when he discovers that the giant worm from the myth really isnt quite dead but living under his estate. Russells script is partly based on Stokers book but also draws heavily directly from the legend. The folksong by Leumane also finds its way into the movie belted out by a rural rock band. The motion picture is notable for its use of picturesque locations throughout England including Knebworth house, the Victorian residence of novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Thors Cave, a natural wonder that doubles as the lair of the great white worm.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 16:08:29 +0000
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