Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Cryptids: Kraken

The kraken (/ˈkrɑːkən/) is alegendary sea monster of gigantic size and cephalopod-like appearancein Scandinavian folklore. According to the Norse sagas, the krakendwells off the coasts of Norway and Greenland and terrorizes nearbysailors. Authors over the years have postulated that the legend mayhave originated from sightings of giant squids that may grow to 13–15meters (40–50 feet) in length. The sheer size and fearsomeappearance attributed to the kraken have made it a commonocean-dwelling monster in various fictional works. The kraken hasbeen the focus of many sailors passing the North Atlantic andespecially sailors from the Nordic countries. Throughout thecenturies, the kraken has been a staple of sailors' superstitions andmythos.

Etymology

The English word kraken is taken fromthe modern Scandinavian languages, originating from the Old Norseword kraki. In both Norwegian and Swedish Kraken is the definiteform of krake, a word designating an unhealthy animal or somethingtwisted (cognate with the English crook and crank). In modern German,Krake (plural and oblique cases of the singular: Kraken) meansoctopus, but can also refer to the legendary kraken. Kraken is alsoan old Norwegian word for octopus and an old euphemism in Swedish forwhales, used when the original word became taboo as it was believedit could summon the creatures.

History

After returning from Greenland, theanonymous author of the Old Norwegian natural history work Konungsskuggsjá (c. 1250) described in detail the physicalcharacteristics and feeding behavior of these beasts. The narratorproposed there must be only two in existence, stemming from theobservation that the beasts have always been sighted in the sameparts of the Greenland Sea, and that each seemed incapable ofreproduction, as there was no increase in their numbers.

There is a fish that is stillunmentioned, which it is scarcely advisable to speak about on accountof its size, because it will seem to most people incredible. Thereare only a very few who can speak upon it clearly, because it isseldom near land nor appears where it may be seen by fishermen, and Isuppose there are not many of this sort of fish in the sea. Mostoften in our tongue we call it hafgufa ("kraken" in e.g.Laurence M. Larson's translation). Nor can I conclusively speak aboutits length in ells, because the times he has shown before men, he hasappeared more like land than like a fish. Neither have I heard thatone had been caught or found dead; and it seems to me as though theremust be no more than two in the oceans, and I deem that each isunable to reproduce itself, for I believe that they are always thesame ones. Then too, neither would it do for other fish if thehafgufa were of such a number as other whales, on account of theirvastness, and how much subsistence that they need. It is said to bethe nature of these fish that when one shall desire to eat, then itstretches up its neck with a great belching, and following thisbelching comes forth much food, so that all kinds of fish that arenear to hand will come to present location, then will gathertogether, both small and large, believing they shall obtain theirfood and good eating; but this great fish lets its mouth stand openthe while, and the gap is no less wide than that of a great sound orbight. And nor the fish avoid running together there in their greatnumbers. But as soon as its stomach and mouth is full, then it lockstogether its jaws and has the fish all caught and enclosed, thatbefore greedily came there looking for food.

In the late-13th-century version of theOld Icelandic saga Örvar-Oddr is an inserted episode of a journeybound for Helluland (Baffin Island) which takes the protagoniststhrough the Greenland Sea, and here they spot two massivesea-monsters called Hafgufa ("sea mist") andLyngbakr ("heather-back"). The hafgufa is believedto be a reference to the kraken: