Indus worm Indus worm The skōlex (Indus Worm or the horrible Indian worm), in ancient Greek writings, was a supposed giant, white, carnivorous worm with a large pair of teeth that lived in the Indus River. Gustav Oppert in the 19th century reasoned that "skōlex" referred to a like-sounding word in the Indian language, and was convinced the word was "culukī" () for "fish" or "porpoise". In his opinion, the word could refer even to a "crocodile" by extension. Scholar Erik Seldeslachts, in a 1998 paper, has suggested parallel with "kṛmiḥ" () which has the duel meaning of "worm" and a name
Stoor worm Traill Dennison's definition gives "mester" as "superior" with "stoor" being "large, powerful, strong or stern". He describes "worm" as "any animal of serpent shape". An inhabitant of the sea, the stoor worm was a mythical serpent-like creature created by malevolent spirits. A gigantic beast with a ferocious appetite, it was able to demolish ships and houses with its prehensile forked tongue it used as a pair of tongs, and even to drag entire hillsides and villages into the sea. Its eyes were like "round lochs, very deep and dark" in the modern retelling, whereas it "glowed and flamed like a