Katla is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

from the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

children's book ''

The Brothers Lionheart ''The Brothers Lionheart'' ( sv, Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. Well established as one of the most widely read and beloved books for children in Sweden, it was originally published in the autumn ...

'', written by

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

. The name Katla is an old Norse female name and means either "''the kettle''" or "''the boiler''". It is also the name of a volcano in Iceland. Katla is a huge ancient monster in the land of Nangijala, with the ability to spray

flames A flame (from Latin ''flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they ...

from her mouth, just like its namesake volcano in Iceland. And if a victim of the flames survives, the victim is paralyzed. Katla is controlled and will obey only a lur, which is owned by the evil warlord

Tengil ''The Brothers Lionheart'' ( sv, Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. Well established as one of the most widely read and beloved books for children in Sweden, it was originally published in the autumn ...

, who uses Katla to terrorize Nangijala. The scale of Katla is so strong that no weapon can injure her or even leave a scratch. When the citizens of Cherry Valley rise up against Tengil, he uses Katla to stop them, but loses the lur to Jonathan Lionheart, one of the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s. Jonathan uses the lur to make Katla kill Tengil, but Katla later burns Jonathan, wounding him. Before succumbing to the paralysis , Jonathan manages to push a large boulder onto Katla, making her fall into a river. In the river, she battles another great beast, Karm the lindworm, and the two monsters kill each other. In the 1977 film adaptation of the novel, Katla was played by a model, four meters tall and eight meters long, created by

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

. The model contained three people; one in each front leg, and one at a small control panel. Costing 100,000

Swedish kronor The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it b ...

to produce, it could blink, spit fire, and whip its tail. The model has not been used since, and is currently located in

Trollywood Trollywood is the informal name for a film production facility in Trollhättan, Sweden. Movies shot there include '' Fucking Åmål'' (distributed in English-speaking countries as ''Show Me Love''), ''Dancer in the Dark'', ''Manderlay'' and ''Do ...

. Katla is not killed by Karm in the movie. Instead, she drowns in the boiling pool of mud after being hit by the boulder.

References

{{reflist, 2 Astrid Lindgren characters Fictional dragons Female characters in literature Female literary villains sv:Bröderna Lejonhjärta#Katla