Water-Hounds of Lake Kleifarvatn

Lake Kleifarvatn is the largest lake in the Reykjanes Peninsula of southern Iceland. At its deepest point, it is roughly 318ft deep, and it covers an area of 8 km². Despite being less than 20 miles away from the large city of Reykjavík, this lake would certainly not be easy to thoroughly search, and so is it any wonder that some exceptionally odd creatures have been reported as emerging from its beautiful blue depths?

## Folkloric Frolicking in 1984

The report in question was published in the 43rd issue of *Fortean Times* way back in 1985 - and described the bizarre scene that unfolded before the eyes of two bewildered bird-hunters by the names of Julius Asgeirsson and Olafur Olafsson just one year previously in the first week of November. A pair of creatures that the hunters '*failed utterly to identify*' emerged from the waters and started playing around on the shoreline. The stunned hunters watched them from a '*few hundred yards*' away, and intially mistook the critters for rocks before having the surprise of their lives when the creatures started to move. They were described as moving like dogs, and were larger than horses. They left behind footprints once again described as being bigger than those of horses. These footprints had three clefts as opposed to the two normally seen in the prints of other cloven-hoofed animals. After finishing their brief session of frolicking on the rocky shore, the creatures disappeared back into the water - swimming off in a manner that was compared to that employed by seals. They were apparently never seen again.

Interestingly enough, no water visibly leaves or enters Lake Kleifarvatn on the surface, and most of its content instead comes from underground sources. It is also situated among a rich volcanic landscape, and there are two areas of unusually high temperature for Iceland nearby - and so the lake would likely not be too cold for some unknown form of mammal to exist within it, and these creatures could enter and leave the lake through underground caves just like the water itself can be assumed to. Icelandic folklore talks about large aquatic mammalian creatures called the Fjorulalli or 'shore laddie' - which are quadrupedal animals with barnacle-ridden fur which apparently exist around the coastlines of the Westfjords. These creatures are supposedly variants of a more diverse group of armoured shore-dwellers known as the Skeljaskrímsli. Also, there are apparently stories of Kelpies (horse-like shapeshifters) in the area surrounding this lake according to an article published in the November 15th, 1984 issue of *the Hanford Sentinel*.

The *Fortean Times* issue's coverage of the incident finishes off by wondering how a breeding population of these massive animals could possible sustain themselves unseen 'not 20 miles' from a big and modern city like Reykjavík. That is a very good question...

## Source Discovered!

Wow. My amazing research partner posted this article to Twitter, and within a few minutes a user popped up and said that they had access to FT43 - and that they could send me a scanned copy of the article in question. They were also able to provide me with not one, not two, but five newspaper clippings about this same incident - one of which is referenced above for the statement about Kelpies dwelling in the area. I am eternally indebted to Theo Paijmans on Twitter.