Knucker is a dialect word for a sort of water dragon, living in ''knuckerholes'' in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England. "The word comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

nicor Nicor Gas is an energy company headquartered in Naperville, Illinois. Its largest subsidiary, Nicor Gas, is a natural gas distribution company. Founded in 1954, the company serves more than two million customers in a service territory that en ...

'' which means "water monster" and is used in the poem ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

''. It may also be related to the word “ Nixie”, which is a form of water spirit, to “ Old Nick”, a euphemism for the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

, or to the words “Nykur” (Icelandic water horse), “Nickel” (German goblin), “Knocker” (Cornish goblin), “Näcken” and “Neck” (Scandinavian water men and water spirits), "Näkineiu" and "Näkk" (Estonian mermaid and singing water animal), and “Näkki” (Finnish water spirit)."

Appearance

The Knucker is said to have wings, and is sometimes described as a

sea serpent A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse (Jörmungandr). Mythology and fo ...

. The Knucker has “a giant, slithering sea serpent’s body, and cold, bold sea serpent’s eyes and a deadly, hissing sea serpent’s mouth”.

In folklore

The most famous Knucker lived, according to legend, at

Lyminster Lyminster is a village that is the main settlement of Lyminster and Crossbush civil parish, in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It borders, to the south, Littlehampton, which has its town centre away. Landmarks Church The Church of E ...

. The Knucker apparently caused a lot of trouble, consuming local livestock and even villagers, and so it was decided to slay the monster. A number of different legends recount how this was done. One version has the dragon slain by a

knight-errant A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective '' errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric ...

after the

king of Sussex The list of monarchs of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Sussex (or South Saxons) contains substantial gaps, as the chronological details relating to Sussex during the heptarchy is generally poorly documented. No authentic South Saxon king list or gen ...

offered his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever rid them of the beast. Legend says that after marrying the princess, the knight settled in Lyminster and his gravestone, the

Slayer's Slab The Slayer's Slab is a title given to a medieval gravestone formerly in the graveyard of Lyminster church in West Sussex, England. It has now been moved inside the church to protect it from weathering. According to legend it is the gravestone of ...

, can be seen in Lyminster church. An alternative legend has the dragon outwitted by a local farmer's boy, called Jim Pulk or Jim Puttock, said in some versions to be from

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

, after the Mayor of

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

offered a reward. He killed the dragon by cooking it a giant poisoned pie, which he took to the knuckerhole on a horse and cart. The dragon ate up pie, horse and cart. When it had expired the boy returned and cut off its head. In some versions he then dies himself, probably of the same poison he used on the dragon, though this is possibly a later addition designed to explain the Slayer's Slab. It was believed that knuckers could be found at knuckerholes in various places in Sussex, including Binsted, Lyminster, Lancing, Shoreham and

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

. A Knucker hole is a very deep round pool, which is considered to be infinitely deep. However, even though the Knucker hole in Lyminster is only thirty feet (9 m) deep, a local legend says that the villagers tied together the six bellropes from the church tower and lowered them into the pool, but they couldn’t reach the bottom.

In popular culture

The knucker is one of the various dragon species included in the ''

Dragonology ''Dragonology'' is a is a young adult book series about dragons, written in a non-fictional style. The series contains information on dragons, including information about how to befriend and protect them as well as an alphabet of the dragon langu ...

'' series of books. The Knucker appears in Sláine in British comic 2000AD. Knuckers are mentioned and a part of the book series, The Sea of Trolls, by

Nancy Farmer Nancy Farmer is an American author of children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Honor Books and won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for ''The House of the Scorpion'', publish ...

. Knuckers play a large role in the second book, ''

The Land of the Silver Apples ''The Land of the Silver Apples'' is a fantasy novel for children, written by Nancy Farmer Nancy Farmer is an American author of children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Honor Books and won the U.S. ...

''. In the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

animated series ''

Dragon Tales ''Dragon Tales'' is an animated educational television, educational fantasy children's television series created by Jim Coane and Ron Rodecker and developed by Coane, Wesley Eure, Jeffrey Scott, Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser and produced by Sony Pi ...

'', the characters Zak and Wheezie live underground in a "knucker hole".

Appearance

In folklore

In popular culture

References

Further reading