Lambton Worm

This is folklore from the Dark Ages. One of the most well known monsters of North East England at the River Wear is the famous Lambton Worm. A young man named John Lambton went fishing at the River Wear. He caught a small eel, but John doesn't like it after noticing that it had legs. He threw it away down a well, according to some versions, because he decided it must be a demon. Later he joined the Crusades, while deep in the well, the creature he tossed away grew bigger and venomous. Soon livestock disappeared and some were found eaten. Local villagers were terrified one day to see this enormous serpent coiled around a hill. Some speculate that this hill was Penshaw Hill or another named Worm Hill. This monstrous creature killed animals and children, as well as poisoning milk from cattle. The creature uncoiled itself and slithered to Lambton Castle where John Lambton's aged father lived, who set out to meet it. A bargain was made, so that the lord Lambton would provide nine cows as food, or twenty gallons of their milk, to stop it preying on the villagers. While the beast was enjoying its food, many people tried to kill it but failed. It continued to grow and began uprooting trees. 

Years later, John Lambton returns from the Crusades. He finds the place abandoned with a large worm serpent. He confides in a witch from Durham, who tells him that to kill it, he must cover his armour in spearheads and fight it at the River Wear. She then told him that after he kills the giant worm, he must kill the first living thing he sees. If he doesn't do this, then his family will be cursed and not die in their beds. So later John covered his armour in spearheads and told his father that after killing the worm, he will sound his hunting horn three times, and that his father must release the hunting dogs to go to John. His plan was to kill a dog and prevent the curse. 

There is a battle at the River Wear, between John and the great worm, and it cuts itself on his armour. Pieces of the worm fall off and are washed away in the river before joining back again, so it dies. John blew on his hunting horn three times. Lord Lambton hears the sound of the hunting horn that his son is blowing, and he's filled with much excitement that the worm is dead. He forgets to release the dogs and runs out to meet his son. When John sees his father, he isn't able to kill him. When the hunting dogs are released and go towards John, he kills them but it doesn't matter, the curse has been done. The first living thing John saw after killing the monster was his father. And he didn't kill him. Nine generations of the Lambton family suffered the curse. 

She Wolf Night