Storsjöodjuret

The order

On January 22, 1986, the county administrative board of Jämtland banned killing, harming, or capturing the animal anywhere in Storsjön, and taking or damaging its eggs, roe, or nest. It acted under section 14 of the 1964 Nature Conservation Act, and the Östersund tourist office had applied for the protection in 1985. The board's own later statement says it found strong reasons for the order despite the problems of identifying the species.

The court and the ombudsman

In 2002, a private person applied for permission to collect the animal's eggs. The board refused on June 2, 2003, and on July 11, 2003, the environmental court in Östersund dismissed the appeal. It called the animal scientifically unverified and found that the board had breached the constitutional requirement of objectivity.

On November 9, 2005, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, who had opened the case after an inspection of the court, wrote that there was reason to question the 1986 order, "even considering the county board's task of promoting tourism." The decision agreed with the court that the constitution barred applying the order, and said the order therefore had no legal effect.

Before answering, the board had consulted Jamtli, the regional museum, and the Storsjöodjuret Society. Its reply said the monster exists in people's minds and that it took no position on whether it exists physically. Jamtli had argued that the protection safeguarded "magical, mysterious and inexplicable phenomena." The board then repealed the order as the product of "obviously incorrect application of the law," since the law has no basis for protecting an unverified species. The repeal is dated late 2005 or early 2006, depending on the source.

The sightings

Visit Östersund says about 500 people claim to have seen the creature. Jamtli's count, reported by Visit Storsjön, is 267 observations, with about 100 more that the monster society estimates are not yet compiled. A company formed in Östersund in 1894 to catch it, and Jamtli shows an iron trap from the late 1800s that was baited with a whole pig. Jamtli's page says the attempt failed and that the prevailing theory is that the animal lives only on fish.

In August 2008, a film crew with cameras on an islet in the lake reported a blurry, long, narrow shape that registered heat. Nothing independent has confirmed it.

The stone

The earliest account usually cited dates to 1635, when the parish priest Morten Pedersen recorded that the trolls Jata and Kata made a creature with a black serpent's body and a cat's head, which grew in the lake until Ketil Runske bound it with a spell carved on the stone at Frösön. The Frösö Runestone, raised around 1050, carries a serpent in its design, and legend reads that as the monster. The inscription itself records that Austmaðr, son of Guðfastr, had the stone raised and a bridge built and Christianized Jämtland.

Jamtli is open Wednesday 11am to 8:30pm and Thursday through Sunday 11am to 5pm, and closed Monday and Tuesday. Its website describes a Storsjöodjuret exhibition with recorded interviews, a 1935 painting by Harald Millgård of his own encounter, and the 1894 company and trap. Call Jamtli at 063-15 01 00 to confirm the exhibition is on view and for ticket prices.

The Frösö Runestone stands on Frösön, about 2 km from central Östersund. It has been moved more than once, so the Tourist Center at Storgatan 27 (+46 63 701 17 00) can confirm its current spot. Visit Östersund lists these lake viewpoints: the Vallsundet bridge on Frösön, the Sunne church ruin, Tibrandshögen on Rödön, the Håkansta ferry dock, Trångsviken harbor, Hackås church, and Badhusparken. Boat trips on the lake run in summer.