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Kraken

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For other uses, seeKraken (disambiguation).

Kraken vs. ship
Kraken attacking ship
Kraken, an unconfirmedcephalopod.[a]Engraving byW. H. Lizars,in Hamilton, Robert (1839).Naturalist's Library.Adapted "from Denys Montford" [sic.][3]
colossal octopus engraving
A "colossal octopus" attacking ship,pen and wash[4]byPierre Denys-Montfort,engraved by Étienne Claude Voysard, 1801[5]
colossal octopus in color
Colorizedfacsimile[6]– hand-colored woodcut[7]

Thekraken(/ˈkrɑːkən/)[8]is alegendarysea monsterof enormous size, per itsetymologysomething akin to acephalopod,said to appear in the sea betweenNorwayandIceland.It is believed that the legend of the Kraken may have originated from sightings ofgiant squid,which may grow to 12–15 m (40–50 feet) in length.

The kraken, as a subject ofsailors' superstitionsandmythos,was first described in the modern era in a travelogue byFrancesco Negriin 1700. This description was followed in 1734 by an account fromDano-Norwegianmissionary and explorerHans Egede,who described the kraken in detail and equated it with thehafgufaof medieval lore. However, the first description of the creature is usually credited to the Danish bishopPontoppidan(1753). Pontoppidan was the first to describe the kraken as anoctopus(polypus) of tremendous size,[b]and wrote that it had a reputation for pulling down ships. The FrenchmalacologistDenys-Montfort,of the 19th century, is also known for his pioneering inquiries into the existence of gigantic octopuses (Octupi).

The great man-killing octopus entered French fiction when novelistVictor Hugo(1866) introduced thepieuvreoctopus ofGuernseylore, which he identified with the kraken of legend. This led toJules Verne's depiction of the kraken, although Verne did not distinguish between squid and octopus.

Linnaeusmay have indirectly written about the kraken. Linnaeus wrote about theMicrocosmusgenus (an animal with various other organisms or growths attached to it, comprising a colony). Subsequent authors have referred to Linnaeus's writing, and the writings ofBartholin'scetuscalledhafgufa,andPaullini'smonstrum marinumas "krakens".[c]That said, the claim that Linnaeus used the word "kraken" in the margin of a later edition ofSystema Naturaehas not been confirmed.

Etymology

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The English word "kraken" (in the sense of sea monster) derives fromNorwegiankrakenorkrakjen,which are thedefiniteforms ofkrake( "the krake" ).[8]

According to a Norwegian dictionary, the root meaning ofkrakeis "malformed or overgrown, crooked tree".[9]It originates fromOld Norsekraki,which is etymologically related to Old Norsekrókr,lit. 'hook',cognatewith "crook". This is backed up by theSwedishdictionarySAOB,published by theSwedish Academy,which gives essentially the exact same description for the word in Swedish and confirming the leadkrakas adiminutive formofkrok,Norwegian and Swedish for 'hook/crook' (krakethus roughly translate to "crookie" ).[10]With time, "krake" have come to mean any severed tree stem or trunk with crooked outgrowths, in turn giving name to objects and tools based on such, notably for the subject matter, primitiveanchorsanddrags(grapnel anchors) made from severed spruce tops or branchy bush trunks outfitted with a stone sinker,[9][10]known askrake,but alsokrabbein Norwegian orkrabbain Swedish (lit. 'crab').[d]Old Norsekrakimostly corresponds to these uses in modernIcelandic,meaning, among other things, "twig" and "drag", but also "pole/stake used inpole blockages[sv]"and"boat hook".[14]Swedish SAOB gives the translations of Icelandickrakias "thin rod with hook on it", "wooden drag with stone sinker" and "dry spruce trunk with the crooked, stripped branches still attached".[10]

Old style Scandinavian drag (grapnel anchor) made from the top of a tree, historically known askrakeorkrabbein theScandinavian languages,probably the root for the naming of the mythological monster.

Kraken is assumed to have been named figuratively after the meaning “crooked tree” or its derivate meaning “drag”, as trunks with crooked branches or outgrowths, and especially drags, wooden or not, readily conjure up the image of acephalopodor similar.[15][16][10][9]This idea seems to first have been notably remarked by IcelandicphilologistFinnur Jónssonin 1920.[17]A synonym for kraken has also beenkrabbe(see below), which further indicates a name-theme referencing drags.

Synonyms

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Besideskraken,the monster went under a variety of names early on, the second to kraken beinghorven( "the horv" ).[18]IcelandicphilologistFinnur Jónssonexplained this name in 1920 as an alternative form ofharv(lit. 'harrow') and conjectured that this name was suggested by the inkfish's action of seeming to plow the sea.[17]

Some of the synonyms ofkrakegiven byErik Pontoppidanwere, inDanish:[e]

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Since the 19th century, the wordkrakehave, beyond the monster, given name to the cephalopod orderOctopodainSwedish(krakar)[h]andGerman(Kraken), resulting in many species of octopuses partly named such, such as thecommon octopus(Octopus vulgaris), which is namedjättekrake( "giant kraken" ) in Swedish andGewöhnlicher Krake( "common kraken" ) in German. The familyOctopodidaeis also known asEchte Kraken( "true krakens" ) in German. InIcelandic,octopoda is instead namedkolkrabbar( "coal crabs" ) after the crab nickname, the common octopus simply namedkolkrabbi.

The Swedishdiminutive formkräkel,a word for a branchy/spiny piece of wood,[30]have given name to a variety of sea dwelling plants in Swedish, most notablyfurcellaria lumbricalis,a species ofred algae.[31][i]There is also themorphological derivationkräkla(dialectalNorwegian:krekle), meaning crooked piece of wood, which has given name to primitive forms ofwhisksand beaters (cooking), made from the tops of trees by keeping a row of twigs as the beating element, resembling the appearance of acephalopod,but alsocrosiersandshepherd's crooks.[34]

Shetlandickrekinfor "whale", ataboo word,is listed as etymologically related.[15][35]

General description and myth

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In Norwegian sailor folklore,kraken( "thekrake"or" the crookie "), also known ashorven(among others), is a legendarysea monstersaid to appear in the sea betweenNorwayandIceland.

It is said that when fishermen row out a few miles (Scandinavian miles) from the coast on a hot summer's day in a calm, and according to normal calculations should find a depth of 80–100fathoms(140–180 metres (460–590 ft) deep), it sometimes happens that theplummetbottoms at 20–30 fathoms (35–50 metres (115–164 ft) deep). But in this water stand the most abundant shoals ofcodandlings.Then you can assume that the kraken lurks down there; as it is he who forms the artificial elevation of the bottom and by his secretions attracts fish there. But if those fishing notices that the kraken is rising, it is necessary to row away for all the boat can take. After a few minutes, the beast can then be seen lifting the upper part of its body above the surface of the water, which for a quarter of a mile (ca 1.5 mi.) in circumference appears as a collection ofskerries,covered with swaying, seaweed-like growths. Finally, a few shining tentacles rise up in the air, increasingly thicker at the bottom, which can even appear as high as ship's masts. After a while, the kraken gives in to sinking again, and you then have to be careful not to run into thesuction vortexthat is formed.[18]

First descriptions

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Two monsters, the ferocious toothed "swine whale", and the horned, flashy-eyed "bearded whale" on Olaus's map, given specific names byGessner.[36][37]The "bearded" is possibly a kraken.[38][39][j]Olaus Magnus,Carta marina(1539)

The first description of thekrakeas "sciu-crak"was given by Italian writerNegriinViaggio settentrionale(Padua, 1700), a travelogue about Scandinavia.[41][42]The book describes thesciu-crakas a massive "fish" which was many-horned or many-armed. The author also distinguished this from asea-serpent.[43]

The kraken was described as a many-headed and clawed creature by Egede (1741)[1729], who stated it was equivalent to the Icelanders'hafgufa,[44]but the latter is commonly treated as a fabulous whale.[45]Erik Pontoppidan(1753), who popularized the kraken to the world, noted that it was multiple-armed according to lore, and conjectured it to be a giant sea-crab,starfishor apolypus(octopus).[46]Still, the bishop is considered to have been instrumental in sparking interest for the kraken in the English-speaking world,[47]as well as becoming regarded as the authority on sea-serpents and krakens.[48]

Although it has been stated that the kraken (Norwegian:krake) was "described for the first time by that name" in the writings ofErik Pontoppidan,bishop of Bergen,in hisDet første Forsøg paa Norges naturlige Historie"The First Attempt at [a] Natural History of Norway" (1752–53),[49]a German source qualified Pontoppidan to be the first source onkrakenavailable to be read in the German language.[50]A description of the kraken had been anticipated byHans Egede.[51]

Denys-Montfort(1801) published on two giants, the "colossal octopus" with the enduring image of it attacking a ship, and the "kraken octopod", deemed to be the largest organism in zoology. Denys-Montfort matched his "colossal" with Pliny's tale of the giantpolypusthat attacked ships-wrecked people, while making correspondence between his kraken and Pliny's monster called thearbor marina.[k]Finnur Jónsson (1920) also favored identifying the kraken as aninkfish(squid/octopus) onetymologicalgrounds.

Egede

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Thekrake(English: kraken) was described byHans Egedein hisDet gamle Grønlands nye perlustration(1729; Ger. t. 1730; tr.Description of Greenland,1745),[52]drawing from the fables of his native region, theNordlandene len[no]of Norway, then under Danish rule.[54][55]

According to his Norwegian informants, the kraken's body measured many miles in length, and when it surfaced it seemed to cover the whole sea, and "having many heads and a number of claws". With its claws it captured its prey, which included ships, men, fish, and animals, carrying its victims back into the depths.[55]Egede conjectured that thekrakewas equatable to the monster that the Icelanders callhafgufa,but as he had not obtained anything related to him through an informant, he had difficulty describing the latter.[44][l]

According to the lore of Norwegian fishermen, they could mount upon the fish-attracting kraken as if it were a sand-bank (Fiske-Grund'fishingshoal'), but if they ever had the misfortune to capture the kraken, getting it entangled on their hooks, the only way to avoid destruction was to pronounce its name to make it go back to its depths.[57][58]Egede also wrote that the krake fell under the general category of "sea spectre" (Danish:søe-trold og[søe]-spøgelse),[60]adding that "the Draw" (Danish:Drauen,definite form) was another being within that sea spectre classification.[25][58][m]

Hafgufa

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Main article:hafgufa

Egede also made the aforementioned identification ofkrakeas being the same as thehafgufaof the Icelanders,[21][44]though he seemed to have obtained the information indirectly from medieval Norwegian work, theSpeculum Regale(orKing's Mirror,c. 1250).[n][63][64][51][21]

Later,David Crantz[de]inHistorie von Grönland(History of Greenland,1765) also reportedkrakenand thehafgufato be synonymous.[65][66]

An English translator of theKing's Mirrorin 1917 opted to translatehafgufaaskraken.[67]

The hafgufa (described as the largest of the sea monsters, inhabiting theGreenland Sea) from theKing's Mirror[68][69][o]continues to be identified with thekrakenin some scholarly writings,[71][21]and if this equivalence were allowed, the kraken-hafgufa's range would extend, at least legendarily, to waters approaching Helluland (Baffin Island,Canada), as described inÖrvar-Odds saga.[72][p]

Contrary opinion

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The description of thehafgufain theKing's Mirrorsuggests a garbled eyewitness account of what was actually a whale, at least toGrönlands historiske Mindesmaerker.[73]Halldór Hermannsson[sv]also reads the work as describing thehafgufaas a type of whale.[45]

Finnur Jónsson(1920) having arrived at the opinion that the kraken probably represented aninkfish(squid/octopus), as discussed earlier, expressed his skepticism towards the standing notion that the kraken originated from thehafgufa.[17]

Pontoppidan

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Erik Pontoppidan'sDet første Forsøg paa Norges naturlige Historie(1752, actually volume 2, 1753)[74]made several claims regarding kraken, including the notion that the creature was sometimes mistaken for a group of small islands with fish swimming in-between,[75]Norwegian fishermen often took the risk of trying to fish over kraken, since the catch was so plentiful[76](hence the saying "You must have fished on Kraken"[77]).

However, there was also the danger to seamen of being engulfed by thewhirlpoolwhen it submerged,[78][13]and this whirlpool was compared to Norway's famedMoskstraumenoften known as "the Maelstrom".[79][80]

Pontoppidan also described the destructive potential of the giant beast: "it is said that if [the creature's arms] were to lay hold of the largestman-of-war,they would pull it down to the bottom ".[81][78][13][82]

Kraken purportedly exclusively fed for several months, then spent the following few months emptying its excrement, and the thickened clouded water attracted fish.[83]LaterHenry Leecommented that the supposed excreta may have been the discharge ofinkby a cephalopod.[84]

Taxonomic identifications

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Pontoppidan wrote of a possible specimen of the krake, "perhaps a young and careless one", which washed ashore and died atAlstahaug,Norway, in 1680.[82][80][23]He observed that it had long "arms", and guessed that it must have beencrawlinglike a snail/slug with the use of these "arms", but got lodged in the landscape during the process.[85][86]20th century malacologistPaul Bartschconjectured this to have been agiant squid,[87]as did literary scholar Finnur Jónsson.[88]

However, what Pontoppidan actually stated regarding what creatures he regarded as candidates for the kraken is quite complicated.

Pontoppidan did tentatively identify the kraken to be a sort of giant crab, stating that the aliaskrabbenbest describes its characteristics.[22][89][80][q]

Medusa's head, or kraken's young according to fishermen's lore
Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae or Medusa's head
Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae [nl](old nameAstrophyton Linckii[92]), possibly Linnaeus's "Medusa's head"? according to Lyman;[93]native to the North Sea.[94]
Gorgonocephalus eucnemis, perhaps Shetland Argus
Gorgonocephalus eucnemis.[95]"Shetland Argus", according toBell;possibly Linnaeus'scaput medusa[e]also;[96][97]this a more far-ranging species.[97]

However, further down in his writing, compares the creature to some creature(s) from Pliny, Book IX, Ch. 4: the sea-monster calledarbor,with tree-branch like multiple arms,[r]complicated by the fact that Pontoppidan adds another of Pliny's creature calledrotawith eight arms, and conflates them into one organism.[98][99]Pontoppidan is suggesting this is an ancient example ofkraken,as a modern commentator analyzes.[100]

Pontoppidan then declared the kraken to be a type ofpolypus(=octopus)[103]or "starfish", particularly the kindGessnercalledStella Arborescens,later identifiable as one of the northerlyophiurids[104]or possibly more specifically as one of theGorgonocephalidsor even the genusGorgonocephalus(though no longer regarded as family/genus under orderOphiurida,but underPhrynophiuridain current taxonomy).[108][111]

This ancientarbor(admixedrotaand thus made eight-armed) seems like an octopus at first blush[112]but with additional data, the ophiurid starfish now appears bishop's preferential choice.[113]

The ophiurid starfish seems further fortified when he notes that "starfish" called "Medusa's heads" (caput medusæ;pl.capita medusæ) are considered to be "the young of the great sea-krake" by local lore. Pontoppidan ventured the 'young krakens' may rather be the eggs (ova) of the starfish.[114]Pontopiddan was satisfied that "Medusa's heads" was the same as the foregoing starfish (Stella arborensisof old),[115]but "Medusa's heads" were something found ashore aplenty across Norway according tovon Bergen,who thought it absurd these could be young "Kraken" since that would mean the seas would be full of (the adults).[116][117]The "Medusa's heads" appear to be a Gorgonocephalid, withGorgonocephalusspp. being tentatively suggested.[118][s]

[122]

[124]

In the end though, Pontoppidan again appears ambivalent, stating "Polype, or Star-fish [belongs to] the whole genus of Kors-Trold ['cross troll'],... some that are much larger,.. even the very largest... of the ocean", and concluding that "this Krake must be of the Polypus kind".[125]By "this Krake" here, he apparently meant in particular the giantpolypusoctopus ofCarteiafrom Pliny, Book IX, Ch. 30 (though he only used the general nickname "ozaena"'stinkard' for the octopus kind).[99][126][t]

Denys de Montfort

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In 1802, the FrenchmalacologistPierre Denys de Montfortrecognized the existence of two "species" of giant octopuses inHistoire Naturelle Générale et Particulière des Mollusques,an encyclopedic description of mollusks.[5]

The "colossal giant" was supposedly the same asPliny's "monstrous polypus",[127][128]which was a man-killer which ripped apart (Latin:distrahit) shipwrecked people and divers.[131][132]Montfort accompanied his publication with anengravingrepresenting the giant octopus poised to destroy athree-mastedship.[5][133]

Whereas the "kraken octopus", was the most gigantic animal on the planet in the writer's estimation, dwarfing Pliny's "colossal octopus" / "monstrous polypus",[134][135]and identified here as the aforementioned Pliny's monster, called thearbor marinus.[136]

Montfort also listed additional wondrous fauna as identifiable with the kraken.[137] [138]There wasPaullini'smonstrum marinumglossed as a sea crab (‹See Tfd›German:Seekrabbe),[139]which a later biologist has suggested to be one of theHyas spp.[140]It was also described as resembling Gessner'sCancer heracleoticuscrab alleged to appear off the Finnish coast.[139][135]von Bergen's "belluamarinaomniumvastissima"(meaning 'vastest-of-all sea-beast'), namely thetrolwal('ogre whale', 'troll whale') of Northern Europe, and theTeufelwal('devil whale') of the Germans follow in the list.[141][138]

Angola octopus, pictured in St. Malo

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It is in his chapter on the "colossal octopus" that Montfort provides the contemporary eyewitness example of a group of sailors who encounter the giant off the coast ofAngola,who afterwards deposited a pictorial commemoration of the event as a votive offering at St. Thomas's chapel inSaint-Malo,France.[142]Based on that picture, Montfort drew a "colossal octopus" attacking a ship, and included the engraving in his book.[6][7]However, an English author recapitulating Montfort's account of it attaches an illustration of it, which was captioned: "The Kraken supposed a sepia or cuttlefish", while attributing Montfort.[143]

Hamilton's book was not alone in recontextualizing Montfort's ship-assaulting colossal octopus as a kraken; for instance, the piece on the "kraken" by American zoologistPackard.[144]

The Frenchman Montfort used the obsolete scientific nameSepia octopodiabut called it apoulpe,[145]which means "octopus" to this day; meanwhile the English-speaking naturalists had developed the convention of calling the octopus "eight-armed cuttle-fish", as did Packard[2]and Hamilton,[3]even though modern-day speakers are probably unfamiliar with that name.

WarshipVille de Paris

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200-foot octopus allegedly seen in 1813
TheNiagarasighting. 60-metre (200 ft) creature allegedly seen afloat in 1813, depicted as octopus by a naturalist

Having accepted as fact that a colossal octopus was capable of dragging a ship down, Montfort made a more daring hypothesis. He attempted to blame colossal octopuses for the loss of ten warships under British control in 1782, including six captured French men-of-war. The disaster began with the distress signal fired by the capturedship of the lineVille de Pariswhich was then swallowed up by parting waves, and the other ships coming to aid shared the same fate. He proposed, by process of elimination, that such an event could only be accounted for as the work of many octopuses.[146][147][148]

But it has been pointed out the sinkings have simply been explained by the presence of a storm,[133]and there appeared a surviving witness that stated they ran into a hurricane.[4]Montfort's involving octopuses as complicit has been characterized as "reckless falsity".[148]

It has also been noted that Montfort once quipped to a friend,DeFrance:"If my entangled ship is accepted, I will make my 'colossal poulpe' overthrow a whole fleet".[149][150][2]

Niagara

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The shipNiagaraon course from Lisbon to New York in 1813 logged a sighting of a marine animal spotted afloat at sea. It was claimed to be 60 m (200 feet) in length, covered in shells, and had many birds alighted upon it.[citation needed]

Samuel Latham Mitchillreported this, and referencing Montfort's kraken, reproduced an illustration of it as an octopus.[151]

Linnaeus's microcosmus

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Sea-grapes, or cephalopod eggs

The famous Swedish 18th century naturalistCarl Linnaeusin hisSystema Naturae(1735) described a fabulous genusMicrocosmusa "body covered with various heterogeneous [other bits]" (Latin:Corpusvariisheterogeneistectum).[140][152][153][u]

Linnaeus cited four sources underMicrocosmus,namely:[v][140][155]Thomas Bartholin'scetus(≈whale) typehafgufa;[157]Paullin'smonstrum marinumaforementioned;[139]andFrancesco Redi's gianttunicate(Ascidia[140]) in Italian and Latin.[158][159]

According to the Swedish zoologistLovén,the common namekrakenwas added to the 6th edition ofSystema Naturae(1748),[140]which was a Latin version augmented with Swedish names[160](inblackletter), but such Swedish text is wanting on this particular entry, e.g. in the copy held byNCSU.[154]It is true that the 7th edition of 1748, which adds German vernacular names,[160]identifies theMicrocosmusas "sea-grape" (‹See Tfd›German:Meertrauben), referring to a cluster of cephalopod eggs.[161][162][w][x]

Also, the FrenchmanLouis Figuierin 1860 misstated that Linnaeus included in his classification a cephalopod called "Sepiamicrocosmus"[y]in his first edition ofSystema Naturae(1735).[166]Figuier's mistake has been pointed out, and Linnaeus never represented the kraken as such a cephalopod.[167]Nevertheless, the error has been perpetuated by even modern-day writers.[169]

Linnaeus in English

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Thomas Pennant,an Englishman, had written ofSepia octopodiaas "eight-armed cuttlefish" (we call it octopus today), and documented reported cases in the Indian isles where specimen grow to 2 fathoms [3.7 m; 12 ft] wide, "and each arms 9 fathoms [16 m; 54 ft] long".[2][1]This was added as a speciesSepia octopusa[sic.] byWilliam Turtonin his English version of Linnaeus'sSystem of Nature,together with the account of the 9-fathom-long (16 m; 54 ft) armed octopuses.[2][170]

The trail stemming from Linnaeus, eventually leading to such pieces on the kraken written in English by the naturalistJames Wilsonfor theBlackwood's Edinburgh Magazinein 1818 sparked an awareness of the kraken among 19th century English, hence Tennyson's poem, "The Kraken".[71]

Iconography

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Kraken of the imagination
"Kraken of the imagination". John Gibson, 1887.[171]

As to theiconography,Denys-Montfort's engraving of the "colossal octopus" is often shown, though this differs from the kraken according to the French malacologist,[6]and commentators are found characterizing the ship attack representing the "kraken octopod".[2][172]

And after Denys-Monfort's illustration, various publishers produced similar illustrations depicting the kraken attacking a ship.[3][171]

Whereas the kraken was described by Egede as having "many Heads and a Number of Claws", the creature is also depicted to have spikes or horns, at least in illustrations of creatures which commentators have conjectured to be krakens. The "bearded whale" shown on an early map (pictured above) is conjectured to be a kraken perhaps (cf.§Olaus Magnusbelow). Also, there was an alleged two-headed and horned monster that beached ashore inDingle,County Kerry, Ireland, thought to be a giant cephalopod, of which there was a picture/painting made by the discoverer.[173]He made a travelling show of his work on canvas, as introduced in a book on the kraken.[174]

Olaus Magnus

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Olaus gives description of a whale with two elongated teeth ( "like a boar's or elephant's tusk" ) to protect its huge eyes, which "sprouts horns", and although these are as hard as horn, they can be made supple also.[175][40]But the tusked form was named "swine-whale" (‹See Tfd›German:Schweinwal), and the horned form "bearded whale" (‹See Tfd›German:Bart-wal) by Swiss naturalistGessner,who observed it possessed a "starry beard" around the upper and lower jaws.[176][37]At least one or two writers have suggested this might represent the kraken of Norwegian lore.[38][39]

Polypi depicted as lobster-like
Giant crustacean-looking sea-monster with a man in its pincers
Monster "M"
—Carta marina(1539), detail.
Giant lobster snatches man aboard ship, after Olaus Magnus.
Giant lobster attacking ship.
—Lee (1883), after Olaus (1555)
"Kraken is represented as a Crayfish or Lobster"[180]
St. Brendan's giant fish next to island, and the "fortunate isle" next to it
Giant fish encountered by St. Brendan. "Insula Fortunata" marked near it.[181]

WhileSwedishwriterOlaus Magnusdid not use the termkraken,various sea-monsters were illustrated on his famous map, theCarta marina(1539). Modern writers have since tried to interpret various sea creatures illustrated as a portrayal of the kraken.

Ashton'sCurious Creatures(1890) drew significantly from Olaus's work[182]and even quoted the Swede's description of the horned whale.[183]But he identified the kraken as a cephalopod and devoted much space on Pliny's and Olaus's descriptions of the giant "polypus",[184]noting that Olaus had represented the kraken-polypus as a crayfish or lobster in his illustrations,[185]and even reproducing the images from both Olaus's book[186][175][40][z]and his map.[187][188]In Olaus book, the giant lobster illustration is uncaptioned, but appears right above the words "De Polypis (on the octopus)", which is the chapter heading.[175]Hery Lee was also of the opinion that the multi-legged lobster was a misrepresentation of a reported cephalopod attack on a ship.[189]

Thelegendin Olaus's map fails to clarify on the lobster-like monster "M",[aa]depicted off the island ofIona.[ab][191]However, the associated writing called theAuslegungadds that this section of the map extends from Ireland to the "Insula Fortunata".[192]This "Fortunate Island" was a destination onSt. Brendan's Voyage,one of whose adventures was the landing of the crew on an island-sized monstrous fish,[ac]as depicted in a 17th century engraving (cf. figure right);[194]and this monstrous fish, according toBartholinwas the aforementionedhafgufa,[157]which has already been discussed above as one of the creatures of lore equated with kraken.

Giant squid

[edit]
Modern artistic depiction of a giant squid attacking two fisherman.

The piece of squid recovered by the French shipAlectonin 1861, discussed byHenry Leein his chapter on the "Kraken",[195]would later be identified as agiant squid,ArchiteuthisbyA. E. Verrill.[196]

After a specimen of the giant squid,Architeuthis,was discovered by Rev.Moses Harveyand published in science by Professor A. E. Verrill, commentators have remarked on this cephalopod as possibly explaining the legendary kraken.[197][198][199]

HistorianOtto Latva,who has studied the historical relationship between humans andgiant squid,has pointed out that giant squid did not become widely associated with the myth of the kraken in Western culture until the late 19th century. In his bookThe Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture,he suggests that the kraken may not even have originated from an animal sighting. Influenced by Enlightenment ideals and theLinnean classification system,however, natural historians and others interested in the study of nature began to look for an explanation for it among marine animals in the 18th century. Among other species,starfish,whales,crustaceansand shelled marine molluscs were suggested as models for the kraken. It was not untilPierre Denys de Montfort'sresearch on molluscs in the early 19th century that theoctopusbecame established in Western culture as an archetype for the kraken. As the kraken became understood as a giant octopus, it was also easy to start interpreting the large squid as the model for kraken stories. However, it was not until the late 19th century that such interpretations became widespread. As Latva points out, the giant squid is not the archetype of the mythical kraken, but was made into one just over 100 years ago in the late 19th century.[200][dubious–discuss]

Paleo-cephalopod

[edit]
Main article:Mark McMenamin § Triassic kraken

PaleontologistMark McMenaminand his spouse Dianna Schulte McMenamin claimed that an ancient, giant cephalopod resembling the legendary kraken caused the deaths of ichthyosaurs during theTriassicPeriod.[201][202][203][204]However, this theory has been met with criticisms by multiple researchers.[205][206][207][208]

Literary influences

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An illustration from the original 1870 edition ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeasbyJules Verne

The French novelistVictor Hugo'sLes Travailleurs de la mer(1866, "Toilers of the Sea") discusses the man-eating octopus, the kraken of legend, calledpieuvreby the locals of theChannel Islands(in theGuernsey dialect,etc.).[209][210][ad]Hugo's octopus later influencedJules Verne's depiction of the kraken inTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas,[212]though Verne also drew on the real-life encounter the French shipAlectonhad with what was probably agiant squid.[213]It has been noted that Verne indiscriminately interchangedkrakenwithcalmar(squid) andpoulpe(octopus).[214]

In the English-speaking world, examples in fine literature areAlfred Tennyson's 1830 irregularsonnetThe Kraken,[215]references inHerman Melville's 1851 novelMoby-Dick(Chapter 59 "Squid" ),[216]

Modern use

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Main article:Kraken in popular culture

Although fictional and the subject of myth, the legend of the Kraken continues to the present day, with numerous references in film, literature, television, and other popular culture topics.[217]

Examples include:John Wyndham's novelThe Kraken Wakes(1953), theKrakenofMarvel Comics,the 1981 filmClash of the Titansand its2010 remake of the same name,and theSeattle Krakenprofessional ice hockey team. Krakens also appear in video games such asSea of Thieves,God of War II,Return of the Obra DinnandDredge.The kraken was also featured in two of thePirates of the Caribbeanmovies, as the pet of the fearsome Davy Jones in the 2006 film,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chestand appears in the film's sequel,At World's End.InGeorge R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series,A Song of Ice and Fireand itsHBOseries adaptations,Game of ThronesandHouse of the Dragon,the mythical kraken is thesigilofHouse Greyjoyof the Iron Islands.

Two features on the surfaces of other celestial objects have been named after the Kraken.Kraken Mare,a major sea of liquid ethane and methane, is the largest known body of liquid onSaturn's moonTitan.[218]Kraken Catenais acrater chainand possible tectonic fault onNeptune's moonTriton.[219]

See also

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Explanatory notes

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  1. ^Caption: "The Kraken, supposed a sepia or cuttlefish from Denys Montford" [sic.] ".Sepiawas formerly the genus that octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (cephalopods) were all assigned to. Thus "eight-armed cuttle-fish" became the standardized name for "octopus".[1][2]
  2. ^He vacillated between polypus and "star fish" however.
  3. ^Denys-Montfort's footnote identified his kraken with Paullini'smonstrum marinumalso, leadingSamuel Latham Mitchillto comment that "Linnaeus considered the Kraken as a real existence", publishing it under Microcosmus.
  4. ^Norwegian:Krabbe,Swedish:krabba(lit. 'crab') as a word fordrag(grapnel anchor) is assumed to be figuratively derived from the animal of the same name, as both shares the nature of crawling on the sea bed. The word stems fromOld Norse:krabbi,etymologically root cognate withMiddle Low German:krabbe,Old English:crabba,'to crawl'.[11][12][13]
  5. ^Pontoppidan of course wrote in Danish, the standard literary language for Norwegians at the time, though words likekrakewere presumably taken down from the mouths of the native Norwegian populace.
  6. ^With definite article suffixed forms such asKraxenorKrabben[21]appearing in the English translation.[22]
  7. ^Pontopoppidan's "Soe-draulen, Soe-trolden, Sea-mischief" has been frequently requoted,[23][24]but these terms can be deferred to Egede's explanation (discussed further, below) that employssøe-troldas a general classification, under which krake and thesøe-draufall.[25]The worddrauas a variant ofdraugwas recognized by Pontoppidan as meaning 'spøgelseghost, spectre',[26]and the latter formdraugis defined more specifically as a being associated with sea or water in modern Norwegian dictionaries.[27]The "Sea-mischief"appears in the English translation[28]but is absent in the original.[29]
  8. ^Although "eight-armed cephalopods",Swedish:åttaarmade bläckfiskar,is a more common synonym.
  9. ^Kräkel has also been used to describePotamogeton Vaill(pondweed)[32]andZostera Lin(marine eelgrass),[33]etc.
  10. ^The two are changing forms of just one beast, which has both tusks and protrusible horns to protect its large eyes, according to Olaus's book.[40]
  11. ^And other fabulous-seeming creatures, such asmonstrum marinum,bellua marina omnium vastissima,etc.
  12. ^Machan quoted Egede's text proper regarding some sort of "Bæst"[21]or "forfærdelige Hav-Dyr[terrible sea-animal] "witnessed in the Colonies (Greenland),[25]but ignored the footnote which tells much on thekrake.Ruickbie quoted Egede's footnote, but decided to place it under his entry for "Hafgufa".[56]
  13. ^Reference to the sea spectre ( "phantom" ) was added in the English margin header: "A Norway Tale ofKraken,a pretended phantom ",[61]but that reference is wanting in the Danish original. It was already noted that the original wording localizes the legend specifically toNordlandene len[no],not Norway altogether.
  14. ^Speculum Regale IslandicumafterThormodus Torfæus,as elocuted by Egede. TheSpeculumcontains a detailed digression about whales and seals in the seas around Iceland andGreenland,[62]where one finds description of the hafgufa.
  15. ^Bushnell speaks of Icelandic literature (in the 13th century) also, but strictly speaking,Örvar-Odds sagacontains the mention ofhafgufaandlyngbakr[70]only in the later recension, dated to the late 14th century.
  16. ^Mouritsen & Styrbæk (2018)(book on inkfish) distinguishes the whale lyngbakr with the monster hafgufa.
  17. ^Cf. krakenaka"the crab-fish" (Swedish:Krabbfisken) described by Swedish magnateJacob Wallenberg[sv]inMin son på galejan( "My son on the galley", 1781):

    Kraken, also called the crab-fish, which is not that huge, for heads and tails counted, he is reckoned not to overtake the length of ourÖlandoffKalmar[i.e., 85 mi or 137 kilometres]... He stays at the sea floor, constantly surrounded by innumerable small fishes, who serve as his food and are fed by him in return: for his meal, (if I remember correctly what E. Pontoppidan writes,) lasts no longer than three months, and another three are then needed to digest it. His excrements nurture in the following an army of lesser fish, and for this reason, fishermen plumb after his resting place... Gradually, Kraken ascends to the surface, and when he is at ten to twelvefathoms[18 to 22 m; 60 to 72 ft] below, the boats had better move out of his vicinity, as he will shortly thereafter burst up, like a floating island, gushing out currnts like atTrollhättan[Trollhätteströmmar], his dreadful nostrils and making an ever-expanding ring of whirlpool, reaching many miles around. Could one doubt that this is theLeviathanofJob?[90][91]
  18. ^This is calledarbor marinusby Denys-Montfort, and equated with his kraken octopus, as discussed below.
  19. ^Actually there is even the species "Gorgon's head"Astrocladus euryale,whose old name wasAsterias euryale,[119]whichBlumenbachclaimed was one of the species that Scandinavian naturalists considered kraken's children.[120]ButA. euryaleinhabits South African waters. Blumenbach also namedEuryale verrucosum,old name ofAstrocladus exiguus[121]which occur in the Pacific.
  20. ^Theozaenanickname as literally 'stinkard' for the octopus on account of its reek is given in the side-by-sidy translation by Gerhardt. The polypus of Carteia tract, is thus given, but the Latin quoted by Pontoppidan "Namque et afflatu terribli canes agebat..." is blanked Gerhardt and only given in modern English, "were pitted against something uncanny, for by its awful breath it tormented the dogs, which it now scourged with the ends of its tentacles".. because it represents an interpolation by Pliny.
  21. ^Lovén gave the text astegmenexheterogeneiscompilatis,[140]but this reading occurs in the Latin-Swedish 6th edition of 1748.[154]Whereas the 2nd edition has "testa" instead of "tegmen".[155]
  22. ^Lóven indicates that these sources appeared in print in the second edition ofSN,but as a piece of marginalia, he notes these sources were also given in Linnaeus's 1733 lectures.[140]The lecture was preserved in the Notes taken byMennander,held by theRoyal Library,Stockholm.[156]
  23. ^"Meer=Trauben" already appeared in the 1740 Latin-German edition.[153]The 9th edition of 1956, which is said to be the same as the 6th edition,[160]also leaves a blanc instead of adding the French vernacular name.[163]
  24. ^An illustration of sea-grapes (French:raisins de mer) appears onMoquin-Tandon (1865),p. 309.
  25. ^As noted previously,Sepiagenus representscuttlefishin modern taxonomy, Linnaeus's genusSepiawas essentially "cephalopods", and hisSepia octopodiawas the common octopus.[164][165]
  26. ^See the black and white woodcut reprodcution, Fig., right (Actually from Lee (1883), a different book; the same picture, without caption appears in the 1890 book.
  27. ^However, elsewhere on the map, the giant lobster is called a lobster (Medieval Latin:gambarus>Latin:cammarus>Ancient Greek:κάμμαρος) in the legend; this is the one shown struggling with a one-horned beast.[190]
  28. ^Iona is of course associated with the Irish saints, Columcille and St. Brendan.
  29. ^This fish has a name:Jasconius.
  30. ^Hugo also produced an ink and wash sketch of the octopus.[211]

References

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Citations

[edit]
  1. ^abPennant, Thomas(1777)."Sepia".British ZoologyIV: Crustacea. Mollusca. Testacea.Benjamin White. pp. 44–45.
  2. ^abcdefgPackard, A. S.(March 1872)."Kraken".The Connecticut School Journal.2(3): 78–79.JSTOR44648937.
  3. ^abcHamilton (1839).Plate XXX,p. 326a.
  4. ^abMontgomery, Sy(2016).JThe Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness.Simon and Schuster. p. note 13.ISBN9781501161148.
  5. ^abcDenys-Montfort (1801),p. 256, Pl. XXVI.
  6. ^abcLee (1875),pp. 100–103.
  7. ^abNigg (2014),p. 147: "The hand-colored woodcut is a reproduction of art in the Church of St. Malo in France".
  8. ^ab"kraken".Oxford English Dictionary.Vol. V (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. 1933. p. 754.Norw.kraken,krakjen,the-n,being the suffixed definite article=A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles(1901),V:754
  9. ^abcd"kraken".Bokmålsordboka | Nynorskordboka.
  10. ^abcde"krake sbst.4".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved12 July2023.
  11. ^"krake sbst.1".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved31 August2023.
  12. ^"krake sbst.2".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved31 August2023.
  13. ^abc[Anonymous] (1849).(Review) New Books:An Essay on the credibility of the Kraken.The Nautical Magazine18(5): 272–276.
  14. ^Cleasby & Vigfusson (1874),An Icelandic-English Dictionary,s.v. "https://books.google.com/books?id=ne9fAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA354&q=kraki+kraki"'[Dan.krage], a pole, stake'
  15. ^ab"krake sbst.2".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved12 July2023.
  16. ^"krake sbst.3".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved12 July2023.
  17. ^abcdeFinnur Jónsson (1920),pp. 113–114.
  18. ^abc"Nordisk familjebok / 1800-talsutgåvan. 8. Kaffrer - Kristdala /".runeberg.org.1884.Retrieved12 July2023.
  19. ^abcPontoppidan (1753a),p.xvi(?)
  20. ^abcPontoppidan (1753a),p. 340.
  21. ^abcdeMachan, Tim William (2020)."Ch. 5. Narrative, Memory, Meaning /§Kraken".Northern memories and the English Middle Ages.David Matthews, Anke Bernau, James Paz. Manchester University Press.ISBN978-1-5261-4537-6.
  22. ^abPontoppidan (1755),p. 210.
  23. ^abMetropolitana (1845),p. 256.
  24. ^W[ilson] (1818),p. 647.
  25. ^abcEgede (1741),p. 49.
  26. ^Knudsen, Knud(1862).Er Norsk det samme som Dansk?.Christiania: Steenske Bogtrykkeri. p. 41).
  27. ^"draug".Bokmålsordboka | Nynorskordboka.
  28. ^Pontoppidan (1755),p. 214.
  29. ^Pontoppidan (1753a),pp. 346–347:Danish:.. krake, hvilken nongle Søe-fokl ogsaa kalde Søe-Draulen, det er Søe-Trolden
  30. ^"kräkel sbst.1".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved12 July2023.
  31. ^"Kräkel".havet.nu.Retrieved20 June2023.
  32. ^"kräkel sbst.3".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved20 June2023.
  33. ^"kräkel sbst.4".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved20 June2023.
  34. ^"kräkla sbst.2".saob.se(in Swedish).Retrieved20 June2023.
  35. ^Jakobsen, Jakob(1921),"krekin, krechin",Etymologisk ordbog over det norrøne sprog på Shetland,Prior, p. 431;Cited inCollingwood, W. G.(1910).Review,Antiquary46:157
  36. ^Olaus Magnus(1887) [1539]."Die ächte Karte des Olaus Magnus vom Jahre 1539 nach dem Exemplar de Münchener Staatsbibliothek".InBrenner, Oscar[in German](ed.).Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-selskabet i Christiania.Trykt hos Brøgger & Christie. p. 7.monstra duo marina maxima vnum dentibus truculentum, alterum cornibus et visu flammeo horrendum / Cuius oculi circumferentia XVI vel XX pedum mensuram continet
  37. ^abGesner, Conrad(1670).Fisch-Buch.Gesnerus redivivus auctus & emendatus, oder: Allgemeines Thier-Buch 4. Frankfurt-am-Main: Wilhelm Serlin. pp. 124–125.
  38. ^abNigg, under "Kraken".[177]Nigg references the beasts labeled "D" inSebastian Münster's "Monstra Marina"[178]and confusingly states that Münster's key "D" "repeats Olaus's key", but by visual comparison it is unmistakable that the two beasts in question are the two beasts labeled "B" in Olaus's map (shown in thefigureabove/right).
  39. ^abCf.Machan (2020):"Olaus Magnus's magnificentsixteenth-century Carta Marina is replete with imagery of krakens.. (See Figure 3.) "
  40. ^abcOlaus Magnus(1998).Foote, Peter(ed.).Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus: Romæ 1555[Description of the Northern Peoples: Rome 1555]. Fisher, Peter;,Higgens, Humphrey(trr.). Hakluyt Society. p. 1092.ISBN0-904180-43-3.
  41. ^Eberhart, George M. (2002)."Kraken".Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology.ABC-CLIO. p. 282ff.ISBN1-57607-283-5.
  42. ^Beck, Thor Jensen (1934),Northern Antiquities in French Learning and Literature (1755-1855): A Study in Preromantic Ideas,vol. 2, Columbia university, p. 199,ISBN5-02-002481-3,Before Pontoppidan, the same "Krake" had been taken very seriously by the Italian traveler, Francesco Negri
  43. ^Negri, Francesco(1701) [1700],Viaggio settentrionale(in Italian), Forli, pp. 184–185,Sciu-crak è chiamato un pesce di smisurata grandezza, di figura piana, rotonda, con molte corna o braccia alle sue estremità
  44. ^abcEgede (1741).p. 48: "Det 3die Monstrum, kaldet Havgufa som det allerforunderligte, veed Autor ikke ret at beskrive" p. 49: "af dennem kaldes Kraken, og er uden Tvil den self jamm; som Islænderne kalde Havgufa";Egede (1745).p. 86: "The third monster, namedHafgufa.. the Author does not well know ow to describe.. he never had any relation of it. "p. 87:"Kracken.. no doubt the same that the Islanders callHafgufa"
  45. ^abHalldór Hermannsson (1938),p. 11:Speculum regiaeof the 13th century describes a monstrous whale which it callshafgufa... The whale as an island was, of course, known from the Saga of St. Brandan, but there it was called Jaskonius ".
  46. ^Pontoppidan (1753a)(Danish);Pontoppidan (1755)(English);vid. infra.
  47. ^Bushnell (2019),p. 56: "Nineteenth-century English interest in the Kraken stems from Linnaeus's discussion of the creature in the first edition ofSystema Naturae(1735) and most famously fromNatural History of Norway(1752-3) by the Bishop.. Pontoppidan (translated into English soon after) ".
  48. ^Oudemans (1892),p. 414.
  49. ^Anderson, Rasmus B.(1896)."Kra'ken".Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia.Vol. 5 (new ed.). D. Appletons. p. 26.
  50. ^Müller (1802),p. 594: "Der norwegische Bischoff Pontoppidan ist der erster, welcher uns einer umständliche und deutsche Nachricht von diesem Seethier gegeben hat".
  51. ^abKongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab,ed. (1845).Grönlands historiske Mindesmaerker.Vol. 3. Brünnich. p. 371, note 52).
  52. ^Pilling, James Constantine (1885).Proof-sheets of a Bibliography of the Languages of the North American Indians.Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology: Miscellaneous publications 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 226–227.
  53. ^Egede (1741),p. 49 (footnote).
  54. ^The marginal header in the original is "Fabel om Kraken i Nordlandene"[53]which refers specifically to thelenof Nordland under Danish rule; this is not just modern Norway'sNordlandcounty, but includes the counties that lies farther north. Egede was born inHarstad,in Nordland (len) during his life. The town is now part ofTromsFinnmark, Norway.
  55. ^abEgede (1741),pp. 48–49 (footnote);Egede (1745),pp. 86–87 (footnote) (English);Egede (1763),pp. 111–113(footnote) (German)
  56. ^Ruickbie, Leo(2016)."Hafgufa".The Impossible Zoo: An encyclopedia of fabulous beasts and mythical monsters.Little, Brown Book Group.ISBN978-1-4721-3645-9.
  57. ^Nyrop, Kristoffer[in Danish](1887),"Navnets mag: en folkepsykologisk studie",Opuscula Philologica: Mindre Afhandlinger,Copenhagen: Filologisk-historiske Samfund: 182
  58. ^abEgede (1745),p. 88 (footnote).
  59. ^Kvam, Lorentz Normann[in Norwegian](1936),"krekin, krechin",Trollene grynter i haugen(in Norwegian), Nasjonalforlaget, p. 131,Den sier at med ekte troll forståes: a ) jutuler og riser, b ) gjengangere og spøkelser, - c ) nisser og dverger, d ) bergtroll
  60. ^The Norwegiantrold(troll) can signify not just a giant, butspøkelseras well.[59]
  61. ^Egede (1745),p. 87 (footnote).
  62. ^Guðbrandur Vigfússon,ed. (1878).Sturlunga Saga: Including the Islendinga Saga.Vol. 1. Clarenden Press. p. 139.
  63. ^Egede (1741),p. 47.
  64. ^Egede (1741),p. 85.
  65. ^Crantz, David[in German](1820).The History of Greenland: Including an Account of the Mission Carried on by the United Brethren in that Country. From the German of David Crantz.Vol. 1. p. 122.;Cf.Note X,pp. 323–338
  66. ^W[ilson] (1818),p. 649.
  67. ^"XXII. The Marvels of the Icelandic Seas: whales; the kraken",The King's Mirror: (Speculum Regalae - Konungs Skuggsjá),Library of Scandinavian literature 15, translated byLarson, Laurence Marcellus,Twayne Publishers, 1917, p. 125,ISBN978-0-89067-008-8
  68. ^Keyser, Rudolf;Munch, Peter Andreas;Unger, Carl Richard,eds. (1848),"Chapter 12",Speculum Regale. Konungs-Skuggsjá,Oslo: Carl C. Werner & Co., p. 32
  69. ^Somerville, Angus A.; McDonald, R. Andrew, eds. (2020) [2019],"Wonders of the Iceland sea",The Viking Age: A Reader,translated by Somerville, Angus A. (3 ed.), University of Toronto Press, p. 308,ISBN978-1-4875-7047-7
  70. ^Halldór Hermannsson (1938);Halldór Hermannsson[in Icelandic](1924),"Jón Guðmundsson and his natural history of Iceland",Islandica,15:36, endnote to p. 8
  71. ^abBushnell (2019),p. 56.
  72. ^Mouritsen, Ole G.[in Danish];Styrbæk, Klavs (2018).Blæksprutterne kommer. Spis dem!.Gyldendal A/S.ISBN978-87-02-25953-7.
  73. ^Kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab (1845),p. 372.
  74. ^Pontoppidan (1753a);Pontoppidan (1753b)(German);Pontoppidan (1755)(English)
  75. ^Hamilton (1839),pp. 329–330.
  76. ^Metropolitana (1845),pp. 255–256.
  77. ^Bringsværd, T.A. (1970). The Kraken: A slimy giant at the bottom of the sea. In:Phantoms and Fairies: From Norwegian Folklore.Johan Grundt Tanum Forlag, Oslo. pp. 67–71.
  78. ^abHamilton (1839),pp. 328–329.
  79. ^Pontoppidan (1753b),p. 343: "Male-Strømmen ved Moskøe"; tr.Pontoppidan (1755),p. 212: "the current of the river Male".
  80. ^abc"Kraken".Encyclopædia Perthensis; or Universal Dictionary of the Arts, Sciences, Literature, &c..12(2nd ed.). John Brown, Edinburgh. 1816. pp. 541–542.
  81. ^Pontoppidan (1753b),p. 342:Danish:Orlogs-skib;Pontoppidan (1755),p. 212: "largest man of war".
  82. ^abSjögren, Bengt (1980).Berömda vidunder.Settern.ISBN91-7586-023-6(in Swedish)
  83. ^Pontoppidan (1755),p. 212.
  84. ^Lee (1884),p. 332.
  85. ^Pontoppidan (1753a),pp. 344: "bruge paaSneglenesMaade, med at strekke dem hid og did ";Pontoppidan (1755),p. 213: "use [long arms, or antennae] like the Snail, in turning about".
  86. ^Müller (1802),p. 595: "... mit denen es sowohl sich bewegt".
  87. ^Bartsch, Paul(1917). "Pirates of the Deep―Stories of the Squid and Octopu".Smithsonian Report for 1916.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. pp. 364–368.
  88. ^Finnur Jónsson (1920),p. 114.Norwegian:"kjempebleksprut";cf.da:Kæmpeblæksprutte.
  89. ^Machan (2020):"In other words, Pontoppidan imagines the kraken as a kind of giant crab, although he, too, allows that the animal is largely unwitnessed and unknown.
  90. ^Wallenberg, Jacob[in Swedish](1836),"kapitele (ch. 17): Om en rar fisk",Min son på galejan, eller en ostindisk resa innehållande allehanda bläckhornskram, samlade på skeppet Finland, som afseglade ifrån Götheborg i Dec. 1769, och återkom dersammastädes i Junii 1771(in Swedish), Stockholm: A. G. Hellsten, p. 163,Det arkraken,eller den så kalladekrabbfisken,.. lär han ej vara längre än vårt Öland utanför Calmar...The last paragraph that the remnants of theSwedish Pomeranianarmy may be able to haul a specimen if one could be obtained is curtailed in the Stockholm: A. G. Hellsten, 1836 editionKap. XVII,pp. 44–45
  91. ^Cf.Wallenberg, Jacob[in Swedish](1994),My Son on the Galley,Peter J. Graves (tr.), Chester Springs, PA: Dufour Editions, pp. 56–58,ISBN1-870041-23-2,It is the kraken, the so - called crabfish, which is said to visit these waters occasionally. It is not large since, even including the head and the tail, it is not reckoned to be any longer than our island of Öland off Kalmar..
  92. ^abcStöhr, S.; O'Hara, T.; Thuy, B., eds. (2021)."Astrophyton linckiiMüller & Troschel, 1842 ".WoRMS.World Register of Marine Species.Retrieved28 January2022.
  93. ^abLyman (1865),p. 190.
  94. ^Palomares ML, Pauly D, eds. (2022)."Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae"inSeaLifeBase.January 2022 version.
  95. ^Stöhr, S.; O'Hara, T.; Thuy, B., eds. (2022)."Gorgonocephalus eucnemis(Müller & Troschel, 1842) ".WoRMS.World Register of Marine Species.Retrieved28 January2022.
  96. ^abBell, F. Jeffrey(November 1891),"XLIV. Some Notes on British Ophiurids",Annals and Magazine of Natural History,Sixth Series (47): 342–344
  97. ^abPalomares ML, Pauly D, eds. (2022)."Gorgonocephalus eucnemis"inSeaLifeBase.January 2022 version.
  98. ^Pontoppidan (1753a),pp. 349–350;Pontoppidan (1755),p. 215–216
  99. ^abHeuvelmans (2015),p. 124.
  100. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 124: "..it cannot pass through thePillars of Hercules;he sees in it an obscure allusion "to thekraken.
  101. ^Buckland, Francis Trevelyan(1876).Log-book of a Fisherman and Zoologist.Chapman & Hall. p. 209.
  102. ^Gesner, Conrad(1575).Fischbuch, das ist ein kurtze... Beschreybung aller Fischen.Zürich: Christoffel Froschower. p. cx and illustr. opposite.
  103. ^Linnaeus'spolypusis 'octopus' and glossed thus by Heuvelmans, but since Pontoppidan resorts to variant spellings such aspolype,this could lead to confusion. Gessner'spolypuswas an octopus as well.[101][102]
  104. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 124 actually only vaguely distinguishes it as "ophiurid" (orderOphiurida).
  105. ^abLyman (1865),p. 14.
  106. ^Hurley, Desmond Eugene (1957).Some Amphipoda, Isopoda and Tanaidacea from Cook Strait.Zoology Publications from Victoria University of Wellington, 21. Victoria University of Wellington. pp. 2, 40.
  107. ^WoRMS database forA. linckii,[92]etc.
  108. ^Stella Arborescenswas later classed in the old-Astrophytongenus containing several species,[105][106]but it would now be obsolete to sayStella Arborescensbelongs to theAstrophytongenus which now admits only a single New World species. One genus that would be applicable would beGorgonocephalusbecause the 3 speciesA. linckii,A. eucnemis,A. lamarckiwhich occur in northern Europe according to Lyman,[105]all of which are given modern accepted assignments asGorgonocephalusspp.[107]
  109. ^Pontoppidan (1755),p. 216.
  110. ^The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer,Vol. 24 (Appendix, 1755). pp. 622–624.
  111. ^The original passage in the English translation reads:

    the Kraken... with his many large horns or branches, as it were springing up from its body, which is round... Both these descriptions [arbor and kraken] confirm my former suppositions, namely, that this Sea-animal belongs to the Polype orStar-fishspecies... It seems to be of that Polypus kind which is called by the DutchZee-sonne,byRondeletiusandGessnerStella Arborescens.[109][110]
  112. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 78.
  113. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 124: "From the vague description given by the fishermen, it was just as legitimate to see in thekrakena giant ophiurid as a giant cephalopod ".
  114. ^Pontoppidan (1753a),p. 350;Pontoppidan (1755),p. 216
  115. ^Pontoppidan noted that Medusa's head (Lat. pl.capita Medusæ) is identified as Stella Arborescens by the naturalistGriffith Hughes.
  116. ^Bergen (1761),pp. 147–149.
  117. ^abHeuvelmans (2015),p. 126.
  118. ^Heuvelmans refers to "Gorgon's head",[117]which conservatively speaking refers to family Gorgonocephalidae, but there is also theGorgonocephalusgenus, of whichG. caputmedusae [nl]is the modern accepted name ofAstrophyton linckii[92]which Lyman hesitantly guesses may be Linnaeus's "Medusa's head" [?],[93]andG. eucnemiswasF. J. Bell's prime candidate for the proper name of "Shetland Argus", which he thought may be unreliably referred to by Linnaeus and Pontoppidan by the name ofAsterias caput-medusæ.[96]
  119. ^Stöhr, S.; O'Hara, T.; Thuy, B., eds. (2021)."Asterias euryaleRetzius, 1783 ".WoRMS.World Register of Marine Species.Retrieved28 January2022.
  120. ^Metropolitana (1845),p. 258: German physicianBlumenbachsummarized on what the "Northern Naturalist consider.. the young of the Kraken", and addedAsterias euryaleand "Euryale Verrucosumof Lamarack "to the list.
  121. ^abStöhr, S.; O'Hara, T.; Thuy, B., eds. (2022)."Euryale verrucosumLamarck, 1816 ".WoRMS.World Register of Marine Species.Retrieved28 January2022.
  122. ^BlumenbachapudMetropolitana (1845),p. 258loc. cit.
  123. ^Palomares ML, Pauly D, eds. (2022)."Astrocladu exiguus"inSeaLifeBase.January 2022 version.
  124. ^Euryale verrucosumLamarck is matched to accepted nameAstrocladus exiguus,[121]which occurs in the Pacific.[123]
  125. ^Pontoppidan (1753a),pp. 351–352;Pontoppidan (1755),p. 217
  126. ^Gerhardt, Mia I. (1966)."Knowledge in decline: Ancient and medieval information on" ink-fishes "and their habits".Vivarium.4:151,152.doi:10.1163/156853466X00079.JSTOR41963484.
  127. ^Denys de Montfort (1801),pp. 256, 258–259.
  128. ^Naturalis Historiaelib. ix. cap. 30apudLee (1875),pp. 99, 100–103 and Montfort, ibid.
  129. ^Nigg (2014),p. 148.
  130. ^Gerhardt (1966),p. 152.
  131. ^Natural History,Book IX, Loeb edition. According to Pliny's source,Trebius Niger:"..for it struggles with him by coiling round him and it swallows him with sucker-cups and drags him asunder by its multiple suction, when it attacks men that have been shipwrecked or are diving".[129][130]
  132. ^cf.Ashton (1890),pp. 264–265
  133. ^abWilson, Andrew, FRSE(February 1887a)."Science and Crime, and other essay".The Humboldt Library of Science(88): 23.
  134. ^Denys-Montfort (1801),p. 386.
  135. ^abLee (1875),p. 100.
  136. ^Denys-Montfort (1801),p. 386, note (1)Arbor marinus.
  137. ^Denys de Montfort (1801),p. 386,note (1)
  138. ^abMitchill (1813),p. 405.
  139. ^abcPaullinus, Christianus Franciscus(1678)."Obs. LI: De Singulari monstro marino".Miscellanea curiosa sive Ephemeridum medico -physicarum germanicarum Academiæ naturae curiosorum.Vol. Ann. VIII. Vratislaviae et Bregae. p. 79.
  140. ^abcdefgLovén, Sven(1887).On the Species of Echinoidea Described by Linnaeus in His Museum Ludovicae Ulricae.Stockholm: Kungliga Boktryckeriet P. A. Norstedt & Söner. pp. 20–21, note 2.
  141. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 91.
  142. ^Denys-Montfort (1801),p. 270–278: "nouveau testament attribué a Saint-Thomas" (p. 276)
  143. ^Hamilton (1839),pp. 331–332 and Plate XXX,p. 326a
  144. ^Packard: "Denys Montfort took the cue, and.. represented a" kraken octopod "in the act of scuttling athree-master.. "[2]
  145. ^Denys-Montfort (1801),p. 331.
  146. ^Denys-Montfort (1801),pp. 358ff, 367–368
  147. ^Metropolitana (1845),p. 258.
  148. ^abLee (1875),pp. 103–105 and note
  149. ^d' Orbigny, Alcide(1848)."Poulpe colossal / Sepia gigas".Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des Céphalopodes acétabulifères vivants et fossiles: Texte.Vol. 1. J. B. Baillière. p. 143.:"Si nous Poulpe Colossal est admis, à la seconde édition je lui ferai renverser uneescadre".
  150. ^Lee (1875),p. 103.
  151. ^Mitchill (1813),pp. 396–397. CaptionedSepia octopus.Mitchill (1813),p. 401: Linnaeus'sSepia octopusis explained to be the eight-armed animal calledpoulpe communby the French, and which was neither the cuttlefish which have scales, nor squid which have plated.
  152. ^Linnaeus, Carolus(1735).Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ(1 ed.). Leyden:Theodorus Haak.
  153. ^abLinnaeus, Carolus(1740). Langen, Johann Joachim (tr.) (ed.).Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ[Natur=Systema, oder, Drey Reiche der Natur] (1 ed.).Halle:Gebauer. p. 68.Corpus variis heterogeneis tectum. Microcosmus marinus. Der Leib ist mit verschiedenen fremden Theilchen bedeckt. Die meer=Traube
  154. ^abLinnaeus, Carolus(1748).Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ(6 ed.). Stockholm:Gottfr. Kiesewetter.p. 78.(in Latin)(in Swedish)
  155. ^abLinnaeus, Carolus(1740).Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ(2 ed.). Stockholm:Gottfr. Kiesewetter.p. 64.
  156. ^Lovén (1887),p. 14, note 2.
  157. ^abBartholin, Thomas(1657)."Historia XXIV. Cetorum genera".Thomae Bartholini historiarum anatomicarum rariorum centuria [III et ]IV(in Latin). typis Petri Hakii, acad. typogr. p. 283.
  158. ^Redi, Francesco(1684).Osservazioni intorno agli animali viventi che si trovano negli animali viventi.Christoph Günther. pp. 61, 217–218.andTab. 21
  159. ^Redi, Francesco(1686)."Observationes Franisci Redi circa animalia viventia, quae reperiuntur in animalibus viventibus. Florentiae apud P. Batini 1684 in 4to".Acta eruditorum.Christoph Günther. p. 84.
  160. ^abc"Linné (Carl von)".Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections.Smithsonian Institution. 1874. pp. 31–32.
  161. ^Linnaeus, Carolus(1748).Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ(7 ed.). Leipzig:Gottfr. Kiesewetter.p. 75.(in Latin)(in German)
  162. ^Heuvelmans, Bernard(2015) [2006].Kraken & The Colossal Octopus.Routledge. pp. 117–118.ISBN978-1-317-84701-4.
  163. ^Linnaeus, Carolus(1756).Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ(9 ed.). Leyden:Theodorus Haak.p. 82.(in Latin)(in French)
  164. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 147?.
  165. ^Mitchill (1813),pp. 402–203: "[Mr. Montfort's].. gigantic Sepia.. [which he] calls Colossal". Also Mitchill,passim.givesSepia octopus(rectéoctopodia).
  166. ^Figuier, Louis[in French](1866).La vie et les moeurs des animaux zoophytes et mollusques par Louis Figuier.Paris: L. Hachette et C.ie. p. 463.
  167. ^Heuvelmans (2015),p. 118, note 2: "..incorrectly claimed, following Louis Figuier (1860) and later AlfredMoquin-Tandon (1865)that Linnaeus had classified the kraken as the cephalopodSepia microcosmus.This is completely false.
  168. ^Ellis, Richard(2006).Singing Whales and Flying Squid: The Discovery Of Marine Life.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 143.ISBN1-4617-4896-8.
  169. ^The notion that Linnaeus mentioned the kraken in 1735 has been taken to be fact byBushnell (2019),p. 56, andRichard Ellisin 2006 also assumed theSepia microcosmuswas present in the first edition, concluding therefore it was removed by the time a later edition appeared.[168]
  170. ^Linnaeus, Carolus(1806),"47. Sepia",A general system of nature,translated byTurton, William,London: Printed for Lackington, Allen, and Co, p. 118
  171. ^abGibson, John (1887)."Chapter VI: The Legendary Kraken".Monsters of the Sea, Legendary and Authentic.London: T. Nelson. pp. 79–86 (plate, p. 83). Archived fromthe originalon 19 January 2022.Retrieved19 January2022– via Biodiversity.
  172. ^Moquin-Tandon (1865),p. 311 also remarks on the pictorial representation of the kraken to "the giant Cephalopods embracing a tall ship in his huge arms, aiming to swallow it", though the work cited isSonnini de Manoncourt,Suites à Buffon.
  173. ^More, A. G.(July 1875),"Notice of a gigantic Cephalopod (Dinoteuthis proboscideus) which was stranded at Dingle, in Kerry, two hundred years ago",Zoologist: A Monthly Journal of Natural History,Second series,10:4526–4532
  174. ^Heuvelmans (2015),pp. 141–142.
  175. ^abcOlaus Magnus(1555)."Liber XXI. De Polypis: Cap. XXXIIII".Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus.Rome: Giovanni M. Viotto. p. 763.
  176. ^Laist, David W. (2017).North Atlantic Right Whales: From Hunted Leviathan to Conservation Icon.Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 24.ISBN978-1-4214-2098-1.
  177. ^Nigg, Joseph (2014)."The Kraken".Sea Monsters: A Voyage around the World's Most Beguiling Map.David Matthews, Anke Bernau, James Paz. University of Chicago Press. pp. 145–146.ISBN978-0-226-92518-9.
  178. ^Münster, Sebastian(1572)."Monstra Marina & terrestria, quam in partibus aquilonis inueniuntur".Cosmographiae vniuersalis lib. 6. in quibus iuxta certioris fidei scriptores, sine omni cuiuscumque molestia, uel laesione, describuntur. Omnium habitabilis orbis partium situs propriaeque dotes. Regionum topographicae picturae....pp. 1004–1005.
  179. ^Lee, Henry(1883),"The Great Sea Serpent",Sea Monsters Unmasked,The Fisheries Exhibition Literature 3, Chapman and Hall, p. 58
  180. ^Ashton (1890).Curious Creaturesp. 244. Ashton continues the discussion on pp. 262–263 using the reproduction of Olaus's woodcut, the same―except for bearing no caption― as fig. right, from Lee'sSea Monsters Unmasked(1883).[179]
  181. ^abPlautius, Caspar (akaHonorius Philoponus) (1621),Nova Typis Transacta Navigatio: Novi Orbis Indiae Occidentalis,pp. 10a–11
  182. ^"American-Scandinavian Biography for 1969Scandinavian Studies42(3),. Brief notice of Ashton (1968) [1890], Detroit: Singing Tree Press.
  183. ^Ashton (1890),pp. 221–222.
  184. ^Ashton (1890),pp. 261–265.
  185. ^Ashton (1890),p. 244.
  186. ^Ashton (1890),p. 262.
  187. ^Ashton (1890),p. 263.
  188. ^See fig. above, detail ofCarta marina.
  189. ^Lee (1884),"Chapter: The Great Sea Serpent", p. 58: "From the crude image of a lobster having eight minor claws.. the transition is not great; and I believe that this also is a pictorial misrepresentation of a casualty by the attack of a calamary above described,.."
  190. ^Olaus Magnus (1887)[1539],p. 427
  191. ^Olaus Magnus (1887)[1539], p. 12: "G:Totius tabulae indicem partemque regnorum Anglie Scotie et Hollandie demonstrat "is the entire text. There is no description here of the lobster-like monster labeled" M "in the map, unlike other beasts which are described.
  192. ^Olaus Magnus (1887)[1539], p. 12, note 5: "..Die geogr. Länge beginnt bald bei Irland, bald bei den Inseln" Fortunate "
  193. ^Feest, Christian F.(1986),"Zemes Idolum Diabolicum: Surprise and success in Ethnographic Kunstkammer Research",Archiv für Völkerkunde,40:181;snippetvia Google.
  194. ^The "Insula Fortunate" is situated next to St. Brendan's in the engraving in Caspar Plautius's book (1621),[181]engraved byWolfgang Kilian[193]
  195. ^Lee (1884),pp. 364–366.
  196. ^Verrill (1882),pp. 262–267.
  197. ^Verrill (1882),pp. 213, 410.
  198. ^Rogers, Julia Ellen(1920)."The Giant Squids: Genus Architeuthis, Steenstrup".The Shell Book: a popular guide to a knowledge of the families of living mollusks.The Nature Library 15. Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company. pp. 456–458.
  199. ^Wilson, Andrew, FRSE(1887b)."V. The Past and Present of the Cuttlefishes".Studies in Life and Sense.Chatto & Windus. pp. 108–109.
  200. ^Latva, Otto (11 May 2023).The Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture: The Monsterization of Molluscs(1 ed.). London: Routledge.doi:10.4324/9781003311775.ISBN978-1-003-31177-5.
  201. ^Perkins, Sid (2011)."Kraken versus ichthyosaur: let battle commence".Nature.doi:10.1038/news.2011.586.Retrieved2 December2020.
  202. ^McMenamin, Mark A. S.; McMenamin, Dianna Schulte (October 2011)."Triassic Kraken: The Berlin Ichthyosaur Death Assemblage Interpreted as a Giant Cephalopod Midden".Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.43(5): 310. Archived fromthe originalon 14 May 2019.Retrieved18 May2023.
  203. ^McMenamin, M. A. S.; McMenamin, Dianna Schulte (2013). "The Kraken's back: New evidence regarding possible cephalopod arrangement of ichthyosaur skeletons".Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.43(5): 87.
  204. ^McMenamin, Mark A. S. (2023)."A Late Triassic Nuculanoid Clam (Bivalvia: Nuculanoidea) and Associated Mollusks: Implications for Luning Formation (Nevada, USA) Paleobathymetry".Geosciences.13(3): 80.Bibcode:2023Geosc..13...80M.doi:10.3390/geosciences13030080.ISSN2076-3263.
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  206. ^Simpson, Sarah (11 October 2011)."Smokin' Kraken?".Discovery News.Discovery Channel.Retrieved11 October2011.
  207. ^"Mythical Kraken-Like Sea Monster Might be Real: Researcher".International Business Times.The International Business Times Inc. 12 October 2011.Retrieved12 October2011.
  208. ^Than, Ker (11 October 2011)."Kraken Sea Monster Account" Bizarre and Miraculous "".National Geographic News.National Geographic Society.Archived fromthe originalon 12 October 2011.Retrieved12 October2011.
  209. ^Cahill, James Leo (2019).Zoological Surrealism: The Nonhuman Cinema of Jean Painlevé.U of Minnesota Press.ISBN978-1-4529-5922-1.
  210. ^Hugo, Victor(1866).Les travailleurs de la mer.Lacroix. p. 88.
  211. ^Weiss, Allen S. (2002)."4 The Epic of the Cephalopod".Feast and Folly: Cuisine, Intoxication, and the Poetics of the Sublime.SUNY Press. pp. 73–75.ISBN0-7914-5518-1.:repr. from Weiss (Winter 2002) in:Discourse24(1: Mortals to Death ), Wayne State University Press, pp. 150–159,JSTOR41389633
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  214. ^Verne, Jules(1993).Miller, Walter James;Walter, Frederick Paul (tr.) (eds.).Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: The Definitive Unabridged Edition Based on the Original French Texts.Naval Institute Press. p. note 13.ISBN1-55750-877-1.
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