at. | REPORTS AND PAPERS. 105 
called Moos, in the diocese of Hammer: which portends a change 
in the Kingdom of Norway, as a comet does in the whole world, 
as it was seen, anno 1522, raising itself high above the surface 
of the water and circling like a spire. Seen from afar this serpent 
was estimated by conjecture to be fifty cubits long; this event was 
followed by the banishment of King Christiernus and by a great 
persecution of the Bishops; and it also showed the destruction of 
the country, as Isidorus tells us of the birds of Diomedes.” 
In the original Latin we read atgue in modum sphaerae convol- 
vens (and wrinkling like a ball), but as this has no sense, I am 
convinced that we have to do with a misprint, and that the author 
evidently wrote atgue im modum spirae convolvens, which I have 
translated above “and circling like a spire’. This evidently signifies 
that the observer saw the animal swimming with vertical undu- 
lations, parts of which were visible above the surface of the water. 
Further we must direct our attention to the statement that the 
animal raised itself high above the surface of the water. 
Finally that it was estimated to be fifty cubits long, i.e. about 
seventy-five feet. 
Oxraus Maenus, the Archbishop of Upsala wrote in 1555 as 
follows: 
“They who, either to trade, or to fish, sail along the shores of 
Norway, relate with concurring evidence a truly admirable story, 
namely that a very large serpent of a length of upwards of 200 
feet, and 20 feet in diameter lives in rocks and holes near the 
shore of Bergen; it comes out of its caverns only on summernights 
and in fine weather to devour calves, lambs and hogs, or goes 
into the sea to eat cuttles, lobsters and all kinds of sea-crabs. It 
has a row of hairs of two feet in length, hanging from the neck, 
sharp scales of a dark colour, and brilliant flaming eyes. It attacks 
boats, and snatches away the men, by raising itself high out of 
the water, and devours them: and commonly this does not happen 
without a terrible event in the Kingdom, without a change being 
at hand, either that the princes will die or will be banished, or 
that a war will soon break out.” , 
This narrative tells us that the sea-serpent frequents the shores 
of Norway, that it appears mostly in summer, that it has large 
dimensions, and a considerable thickness. It has a row of hairs 
