Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology

Kraken

The Kraken are legendary sea monsters said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland. In 2012, scientists discovered a giant squid that corresponded to the physical description of the kraken, using deep sea exploration with special lighting displays designed to attract large predators.

The legend may actually have originated from sightings of real giant squid that are variously estimated to grow to 40-50 ft in length, including the tentacles. These creatures normally live at great depths, but have been sighted at the surface and have reportedly attacked ships.

The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the kraken have made it a common ocean-dwelling monster in various fictional works.

The 13th century Old Icelandic saga Örvar-Odds saga tells of two massive sea-monsters called Hafgufa ("sea mist") and Lyngbakr ("heather-back"). The hafgufa is believed to be a reference to the kraken. Whales are the biggest of everything in the world, but the hafgufa is the greatest monster occurring in the water. It is its nature that it swallows both men and ships and whales and everything that it can reach. It is submerged both by day and night together, and when it strikes up its head and nose above the surface, then it stays at least until the turn of the tide.

Since the late 18th century, kraken have been depicted in a number of ways, primarily as large octopus-like creatures, and it has often been alleged that Pontoppidan's kraken might have been based on sailors' observations of the giant squid. The Kraken is also depicted to have spikes on its suckers. In the earliest descriptions, however, the creatures were more crab-like than octopus-like, and generally possessed traits that are associated with large whales rather than with giant squid. Some traits of kraken resemble undersea volcanic activity occurring in the Iceland region, including bubbles of water; sudden, dangerous currents; and appearance of new islets.