Streszczenie
This paper examines the status of the Loch Ness Monster within a diverse body of literature
relating to Scotland. Within cryptozoology this creature is considered as a source of
investigation, something to be taken seriously as a scientific or quasi-scientific object to be
studied and known, particularly in light of its elusive nature. In terms of mythology the
creature is bound up with Scottish cultural identifications through references to a rugged
wilderness landscape and to iconic, if stereotypical, images of tartanry, bygone castles, and
folklore. Both sets of ideas have been used with great effect to generate a diversity of
literature: from books and scientific papers that chronicle the sightings and “hunt” for the
creature as well the possible case for it being a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs, through to
children’s literature that deals with the mythic element that is so often used to appeal to
childhood imagination, and on to a plethora of tourist marketing booklets and brochures.