Thrim’s Revenge and Scotland’s Curse

A long time ago, giants still roamed the countryside, living in a fragile peace with their small human neighbours. However, one bloodthirsty character from Norway called Thrim refused to live quietly, regularly descending from the icy mountains to devour whole communities. Eventually, he was exiled for terrorising society and endangering the peace.

Exile didn’t worry this giant though. He was so large that he could simply wade through the sea towards Scotland and begin his rampage in a new land. Thrim slowly moved through Caithness and Sutherland to Wester Ross, spreading chaos and misery as he went.

Refugees fled before the monster, screaming warnings that it had a taste for human blood. Eventually, the people of Scotland realised they couldn't keep running. It was time to make a stand.

Fortunately, Thrim was heading towards Applecross and there was only one way to get there, over the Bealach na Ba. The locals dug a deep pit on the far side of the narrow pass, filling it full of sharp wooden spikes. Then a huge rope was stretched across from mountain to mountain, tied to the largest boulders they could find.

As the giant approached the Bealach, the locals in Applecross could feel the ground shake beneath their feet. Thrim was stomping his way towards them and the sound of his voice filled the air with a spine-chilling cry of "I'm going to find you and I'm going to eat you!"

Intent on catching his prey and spotting them all huddled in one place, the giant didn't notice the rope. He began to run downhill but tripped, landing right in the middle of the enormous pit, impaling himself on hundreds of spikes. Even trapped there in complete agony, still he shouted his threats!

The terrified people of Applecross ran out to finish off the terrifying giant, hacking away at him until he was chopped into a thousand pieces. Their achievement called for a celebration and the crowd headed back to the village, but they could still hear something.

Back in the pit, a thousand little voices seemed to be murmuring from the remains, "I'm going to find you and I'm going to eat you".

A huge pyre was built over the giant’s body, burning fiercely for hours until there was nothing left but fine ash. The people were satisfied, there was no coming back from that. Until a light breeze picked up and the ash was lifted on the wind. Now the trembling villagers could hear millions, if not billions, of tiny voices, whispering, "I'm going to find you and I'm going to eat you".

Suddenly they started to feel dozens of little bites on their arms, faces and any exposed bit of body. The Scots ran from the Thrim's revenge, realising too late that they had cursed the entire country with the creation of the bloodthirsty midge!