Editing Lindworm (section)

==== Late belief in lindworms in Sweden ====
A belief in the reality of the ''lindorm'', a giant limbless serpent, persisted well into the 19th century in some parts. In the mid-19th century, the Swedish [[folklorist]] [[Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius]] (1818–1889) collected stories of legendary creatures in Sweden and met several people in [[Småland]], Sweden, who said they had encountered giant snakes, sometimes with a long mane. He gathered around 50 eyewitness reports and in 1884 offered a cash reward for a captured specimen, dead or alive.<ref>G. O. Hyltén-Cavallius, ''Om draken eller lindormen, mémoire till k. Vetenskaps-akademien'', 1884.</ref> He was ridiculed by Swedish scholars, and because no one ever claimed the reward, the effort resulted in a [[cryptozoology|cryptozoological]] defeat. Rumours of the existence of lindworms in Småland soon abated.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Meurger |first=Michel |author-link=:fr:Michel Meurger |title=The Lindorms of Småland  |journal=Arv: Nordic Yearbook of Folklore |volume=52 |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fa0SAQAAIAAJ&q=stollenwurm |pages=87–9|isbn=9789122016731 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Berömda vidunder|author=Sjögren, Bengt|date=1980|publisher=Settern|isbn=9175860236|location=[Laholm]|oclc=35325410}}</ref>