The Kraken: A Scandinavian Sea Monster

Illustration from Robert Hamilton MD's The Naturalist's Library, public domain

Summer just started, and my husband and I will soon be watching the Pirates of the Caribbean films, as it's something we do every summer since we met. I think we associate them with the season because we have fond memories of seeing them in theaters - they all had a May, June, or July release.

As I'm sure you've already guessed, I had (still have) a massive love for Pirates of the Caribbean. The story, the characters, the cinematography, the score - all of it ignited my imagination and inspired me to tell my own stories.

Now, considering my love for mythological monsters, it probably comes as no surprise that the kraken is one of my favorite parts of the movies.

(Spoilers ahead!)

When I saw Dead Man's Chest for the first time, I remember feeling utter dread as Jack was consumed by the monster. I thought, How is he ever going to get himself out of this? He does "get himself out of it" eventually, but as a kid, I was genuinely worried for my beloved pirate!

The kraken is also featured in Clash of the Titans 1981 and 2010, and tons of other media dating back hundreds of years. Side note: While I adore Clash of the Titans 1981, I still don't understand why the Cetus was switched out with the kraken. The kraken specifically (not tentacled sea monsters in general, as those can be found all over the world) is decidedly of Scandinavian legend, not Greek.

(Maybe since I mash-up mythologies in my own books, I shouldn't complain? I don't know, the change just doesn't make sense to me.)

Anyway, it's for all these reasons that I felt it was time we discussed this terrifying creature from Norse mythology and folklore!

Is the kraken the scariest mythological creature of all?

"Below the thunders of the upper deep,

Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,

His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

About his shadowy sides; above him swell

Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;

And far away into the sickly light,

From many a wondrous grot and secret cell

Unnumbered and enormous polypi

Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.

There hath he lain for ages, and will lie

Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep,

Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;

Then once by man and angels to be seen,

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die."

- "The Kraken" by Alfred Tennyson, public domain

If this poem by Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) doesn't give you goose bumps, I don't know what will. Seriously, I can't think of a monster more horrifying than the kraken.

Generally described as a titanic creature resembling a cephalopod, with lots of tentacles and teeth, the legendary kraken is said to inhabit the waters around Greenland, Iceland, and Norway. It's a vicious beastie, too - back in the day, sailors feared it would either drag their ships to the bottom of the sea with its tentacles or sink their ships with the whirlpools it created by swimming downward.

Illustration from Frédéric Bouyer's La Guyane française: notes et souvenirs d'un voyage exécuté en 1862-1863, public domain

First mentioned in Norse Mythology

In the Norse saga of Arrow-Odd, the hero Odd and his half-giant son Vignir encounter what many theorize is the kraken (the hafgufa or Sea-Reek) alongside a giant whale-like monster with an island on its back (the lyngbakr or Heather-Back).

Because of Sea-Reek's resemblance to the kraken, the Arrow-Odd saga is regarded by some as one of the first texts to mention the kraken, and you can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be investing in my own copy of it ASAP.

Sadly, I couldn't find an English-translation of the manuscript from any of my usual sources, so I'm relying on Wikipedia and Tumblr for this quote, but this is (allegedly) what the story says regarding Sea-Reek and Heather-Back:

"...these were two sea-monsters, one called Sea-Reek, and the other Heather-Back. The Sea-Reek is the biggest monster in the whole ocean. It swallows men and ships, and whales too, and anything else around. It stays underwater for days, then it puts up its mouth and nostrils, and when it does, it never stays on the surface for less than one tide."

I don't know what you think, but in my opinion, it sounds as if Sea-Reek could definitely be the kraken!

Could the kraken be real?