What Sort of Monster Is Swimming Beneath the Frigid Waters of This Icelandic Lake?

Since 1345, a mysterious aquatic creature dubbed the Lagarfljót worm -- or the Iceland worm monster -- has been showing up unexpectedly in Lagarfljót Lake near Egilsstaðir. The Huffington Post reports that, according to lore, it is considered a bad omen when the worm appears.

Rare footage of what appears to be a giant serpent swimming through the icy water emerged earlier this month. See for yourself:

Iceland News has more on the local legend:

The story goes that the worm was once just a little heath worm which was put onto a golden ring, as that was rumoured to make the gold grow. When the owner of the ring came back later, she discovered with shock that the worm had grown enourmous, but the ring was still the same size as before. In frustration she threw both the worm and the ring into the lake, where the worm continued to grow bigger still.

Like those coming up with rational answers for the eerie photographs capturing the outline of the Loch Ness Monster, there are skeptics for this video footage as well. Some have said the worm is really just a frozen fishing net floating through the ice.

What do you make of it?