Katla (dragon) facts for kids

Katla is a giant, scary dragon from the famous Swedish children's book The Brothers Lionheart. This exciting story was written by Astrid Lindgren. The name Katla is an old name for girls from the Norse times. It means "the kettle" or "the boiler." It's also the name of a real volcano in Iceland.

Who is Katla?

Katla is a huge, very old monster that lives in a land called Nangijala. She is a powerful dragon who can shoot hot flames from her mouth. Just like her namesake volcano in Iceland, she is full of fiery power! If someone is hit by her flames and somehow survives, they become completely paralyzed. This means they can't move at all.

Katla's Control and Power

Katla is not free to do what she wants. She is controlled by a special horn called a lur. This lur belongs to the evil warlord Tengil. Tengil uses Katla to scare and control the people of Nangijala. Katla's scales are incredibly strong. No weapon can hurt her or even leave a tiny scratch!

The Battle Against Tengil

When the brave people of Cherry Valley decide to fight back against Tengil, he uses Katla to stop them. But during the fight, Jonathan Lionheart, one of the heroes of the story, manages to take the lur from Tengil. Jonathan then uses the lur to make Katla turn on Tengil and kill him.

However, Katla then burns Jonathan, hurting him very badly. Even though he is dying, Jonathan bravely pushes a huge rock onto Katla. This makes the giant dragon fall into a fast-flowing river.

Katla's End

In the river, Katla meets another huge monster. This monster is Karm, a giant lindworm (a type of dragon). Katla and Karm fight a terrible battle in the river. In the end, both monsters kill each other.

Katla in the Movie

Katla also appears in the 1977 film adaptation of the novel. For the movie, a huge model of Katla was built by Pinewood Studios. This model was four meters (about 13 feet) tall and eight meters (about 26 feet) long!

How the Model Worked

The amazing Katla model needed three people inside to make it move. One person was in each of her front legs, and another person was at a small control panel. The model could blink its eyes, spit fire, and even whip its tail! It cost 100,000 Swedish kronor to build, which was a lot of money back then.

After the movie was made, the Katla model was not used again. Today, you can find it in a place called Trollywood, which is a film studio area in Sweden.

Movie Differences

In the book, Katla dies fighting Karm the lindworm. But in the movie, her end is a little different. Instead of battling Karm, Katla drowns in the river after Jonathan pushes the rock onto her.