Sockburn Worm

---

title: "Sockburn Worm" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["northumbrian-folklore", "county-durham-folklore", "northumbrian-folkloric-beings", "european-dragons"] description: "Northumbrian folkloric creature" topic_path: "general/northumbrian-folklore" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockburn_Worm" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Northumbrian folkloric creature ::

In the folklore of Northumbria, the Sockburn Worm was a ferocious wyvern that laid waste to the village of Sockburn in Durham. It was said that the beast was finally slain by John Conyers. The tale is said to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky which he wrote while in Croft-on-Tees and Whitburn.

Possible origins

The tale of the worm may be inspired by the longships of marauding Vikings, who carved the heads of Worms (Ormr) on the bow; however, this does not take into account the commonness of dragons in Germanic folklore including that of Northumbria (see the Laidly and Lambton Worms as well as the Worm of Linton).

Traditions

Each newly consecrated Bishop-Prince of Durham, while entering the Bishopric for the first time at the local ford or over the bridge over the River Tees at Croft-on-Tees, was presented with the Conyers Falchion – a medieval sword kept at Durham Cathedral and said to be the one with which a knight by the name of Sir John Conyers slew the worm.

The Lord of Sockburn traditionally reads a speech while presenting the blade:

The bishop would then take the falchion, and immediately return it, wishing the holder health and long enjoyment of the manor.

The Sockburn Worm, with the falchion embedded in it, appears on the district badge of the local Darlington & District Scout Association.

References

References

1. "Vikings and the Jabberwock: Croft, Sockburn and Sadberge".
2. [http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/h_conyers_eng.htm The Conyers Falchion] {{Webarchive. link. (12 November 2020)
3. "The Conyers Falchion".
4. William Henderson. (1866). "Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders". Longmans, Green.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::