UNFATHOMABLE LEGENDS

There are countless holes in the ground: some are full of water, some are open voids. The obvious question one might ask upon encountering a hole, pond or lake is: “How deep is it?” The answer isn’t so obvious. Legends and tall tales have always emanated from these holes, exaggerating their depths and dangers.

The dark hole is universally scary. As light cannot penetrate far into the depths, the mind assumes an opening without an obvious terminus has no bottom at all. Perhaps objects thrown into the hole disappear. The listener may hear no splash or crack of a test projectile hitting a surface below. The weighted rope may never touch the bottom. When we can’t readily discern the depth, the hole acquires additional legendary characteristics. Whatever is down there might be unknown, but it is undoubtedly unpleasant. Thus, the bottomless pit or lake is a common folklore motif and a media horror trope: the threat is not only from the sheer bottomlessness of the hole, but also from whatever nasty things exist in such a forsaken abyss.¹

There are countless tales of bottomless lakes, pools, and bogs worldwide that claim people (dead or alive), animals, treasure and vehicles, and that continue to hold many secrets. Here, I explore themes used widely for local holes, pools and lakes in order to mark their cultural significance and I connect them to their geological foundations.

FOLKLORE

In a practical sense, “bottomless” simply means that someone tried to establish the bottom depth and failed. Naturally, locals would be concerned about an open hole or pool that they might fall into, so they would logically attempt to plumb it with an available oar or tree branch or sapling. Others will try dropping a weighted line and feeling for it to hit bottom. If those methods fail, then, by default, the opening is declared “bottomless”.