Robert Boutreknyffe and the Sockdrowre Wyrm

Robert Boutreknyffe is a legendary hero, renowned for his wit and guile as well as his skill with various weapons, depicted in Rhanukhani folklore from the 14th century with the earliest written sources being found in the northern Nohyohvan provinces. The tales are almost certainly based on an earlier oral tradition, however, and most scholars agree that the source would have been ballads sung by travelling minstrels in the 12th century.

There have been numerous variations and adaptations of the stories over the subsequent years, and the legends continue to be widely represented in literature, film, and television. Robert Boutreknyffe is considered one of the best-known heroes of Rhanukhani folklore.

The historicity of Robert Boutreknyffe has been debated for centuries. There are numerous references to historical figures with similar names that have been proposed as possible evidence of his existence, some dating back to the late 11th century. At least eight plausible origins to the legends have been mooted by historians and folklorists. It is generally acknowledged that if there is any truth in the tales, they are probably an amalgamation of the exploits of several individuals with considerable later embellishment.

Rhanukhan State News Network’s beloved long-serving anchorman, Trent Butterknife, was born in the city of Krovdh Kaglakh and his family purport to be Robert’s descendants.

Illustration of Robert Boutreknyffe along with his burrowing octopus, Lucy-of-the-Arms, taken from a 15th century manuscript.

One of the oldest tales pits Robert against The Sockdrowre Wyrm - a mythical beast referred to in a legend from Krovdh province. The great medieval bridge leading out of Rhanukhan from Krovdh Kaglakh is famed as the site of the legendary battle between the folk hero alongside his loyal burrowing octopus, Lucy-of-the-Arms, against the feared Wyrm.

The story states that the young John Sockdrowre, son of the Baron of Krovdh, was a rebellious character who missed honouring the gods at the temple one day to go fishing in the River Tehsi. In many versions of the story, while walking to the river, or setting up his equipment, John receives warnings from an old man (or a witch – depending on who tells the story) that no good can come from disrespecting the gods in such manner.

John Sockdrowre does not catch anything until the temple ritual finishes, at which point he fishes out a small eel- or lamprey-like creature with a salamander-like head. Depending on the version of the story, the worm is no bigger than a thumb, or about 3 feet (90 centimetres) long. In some renditions it has legs, while in others it is said to more closely resemble a snake.

At this point, the old man returns, although in some versions it is a different character. John declares that he has "catched [caught] Ekkhanda's spawn" (as any student of Rhanukhani mythology will tell you, Ekkhanda is a monstrous deity, the mother of all that is evil in the world) and decides to dispose of his catch by discarding it down a nearby well. The old man then issues further warnings about the nature of the beast.

Eventually, the Wyrm grows extremely large and escapes the well, moving to a hollow on the northern side of the River Tehsi, a spot still known today as Wormsden, just a few miles beyond the modern border of Rhanukhan. Emerging from its lair at dusk and dawn to ravage the countryside, eating crops, livestock and people, its armoured hide proves invulnerable to the weapons ranged against it. The surrounding area becomes ruined by the beast's predations and the people grow increasingly antagonistic to the Baron and his family, blaming him for their woes. Eventually an angry mob runs the Sockdrowres out of the province.

The news reaches the ears of Robert Boutreknyffe, a man of reckless courage, who was in the south at that time. He travels with his trusty burrowing octopus, Lucy-of-the-Arms - renowned for her skill with a lute (various tales claim that she could make it "sing alike a choir of children" - quite the feat for an animal many people keep as a common pet these days!), to Krovdh Kaglakh and hears the lurid tales of the locals. Observing the beast himself, he sees that the creature would open its mouth wide to swallow anything in its path. Sensing an opportunity, he goes to a local blacksmith and has him fashion a shiny new cuirass and a long, iron-covered spear supported by a wheel at its tip, which could impale a hunk of peat dipped in tar and brimstone. He practises riding with the burning spear to accustom his horse to the smoke.

Boutreknyffe rides out onto the great medieval bridge leading out of Rhanukhan from Krovdh Kaglakh with Lucy-of-the-Arms at dawn. He knows that sitting on his horse and with the rising sun reflecting off his freshly polished cuirass he must surely prove a tempting target for the monster.

As expected, the Wyrm emerges onto the bridge, but as it approaches, Lucy-of-the-Arms begins to play. Her music swiftly has the desired effect, lulling the great beast toward slumber... it opens its mouth wide and yawns. Robert seizes the moment - as if at a joust he attacks it, plunging his burning lance into the monster's gaping mouth and down its throat, mortally wounding it.

The writhing death throes of the Sockdrowre Wyrm are supposedly responsible for the curiously meandering path of the river in the region. The animal retreats to its lair to die, its thrashing tail bringing down the hill around it and burying it forever.

The legend states that Boutreknyffe's heroism was memorialised by a carved stone on the bridge (there is such a stone there today, badly worn with age, but studies have revealed it to date from the 1600s, centuries after the events of the legend are said to have occurred) and he was made Baron of Krovdh. The crest of the later Butterknife family, ostensibly Robert's descendants, is a serpent coiled around a burning wheel.