The Muldjewangk is a powerful and feared water-being of the lower Murray, the lakes and the Coorong. Accounts vary as to whether it is a single great monster or a class of merfolk-like beings dwelling in the reeds and deep pools of Lake Alexandrina. It seizes and drags down those who go to the water carelessly, at forbidden times, or in disregard of law, and it is invoked to keep children from the water's edge after dark. Within Ngarrindjeri understanding of the Dreaming as continuing law, the Muldjewangk encodes protocols for safe conduct on the water and care of the wetlands rather than being merely a monster of story.