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{{Short description|Mythical monster
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{{For other uses|1=Kraken (disambiguation)}}
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| caption3=[[Hand-colouring|Colorized]] facsimile{{sfnp|Lee|1875|pp=100–103}}<!--no seagulls flying, etc.-->{{snd}} hand-colored woodcut<ref name=nigg-woodcut/> or pen and [[Wash (visual arts)|wash]]{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}
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The '''kraken''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|ɑː|k|ən}})<ref name=oed1-kraken/> is a legendary [[sea monster]] of enormous size, etymologically akin to a [[squid]] or [[octopus]], said to appear in the sea between [[Norway]] and [[Iceland]]. It is believed the legend of the Kraken may have originated from sightings of [[giant squid]], which may grow to {{convert|40|-|50|ft|m|abbr=in|order=flip}} in length.▼
▲The '''kraken''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|ɑː|k|ən}})<ref name=oed1-kraken/> is a legendary [[sea monster]] of enormous size,
Kraken, as a subject of [[sailors' superstitions]] and [[mythos]], was first described in the modern era in a travelogue by [[Francesco Negri (travel writer)|Francesco Negri]] in 1700. This description was followed in 1734 by an account from [[Dano-Norwegian]] missionary and explorer [[Hans Egede]], who described the kraken in detail and equated it with the ''[[hafgufa]]'' of medieval lore. However, the first description of the creature is usually credited to the Norwegian bishop [[Erik Pontoppidan|Pontoppidan]] (1753). Pontoppidan was the first to describe the kraken as an [[octopus]] (polypus) of tremendous size,{{efn|He vacillated between polypus and "star fish" however.}} and wrote that it had a reputation for pulling down ships. The French [[malacologist]] [[Pierre Denys de Montfort|Denys-Montfort]], of the 19th century, is also known for his pioneering inquiries into the existence of gigantic octopuses.▼
▲
The great man-killing octopus entered French fiction when novelist [[Victor Hugo]] (1866) introduced the ''{{linktext|pieuvre}}'' octopus of [[Guernsey]] lore, which he identified with the kraken of legend. This led to [[Jules Verne]]'s depiction of the kraken, although Verne did not distinguish between squid and octopus.
[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] may have indirectly written about the kraken. Linnaeus wrote about the ''Microcosmus'' genus (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 of [[Thomas Bartholin|Bartholin]]'s ''cetus'' called ''hafgufa'', and [[Christian Franz Paullini|Paullini]]'s ''
== Etymology ==
The English word
According to a Norwegian dictionary, the root meaning of ''krake'' is "malformed or overgrown, crooked tree".<ref name="UIB"/> It originates from [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|kraki}}, which is etymologically related to Old Norse {{lang|non|krókr}}, {{literally|hook}}, [[cognate]] with "crook". This is backed up by the [[Swedish language|Swedish]] dictionary [[SAOB]], published by the [[Swedish Academy]], which gives essentially the exact same description for the word in Swedish and confirming the lead ''krak'' as a [[diminutive form]] of ''krok'', Norwegian and Swedish for 'hook/crook' (''krake'' thus roughly translate to "crookie").<ref name="krake sbst.4"/> 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, primitive [[anchor]]s and ''drags'' ([[grapnel anchor]]s) made from severed spruce tops or branchy bush trunks outfitted with a stone sinker,<ref name="UIB"/><ref name="krake sbst.4"/> known as ''krake'', but also ''krabbe'' in Norwegian or ''krabba'' in Swedish ({{literally|crab}}).{{efn|{{lang-no|Krabbe}}, {{lang-sv|krabba}} ({{literally|crab}}) as a word for ''drag'' ([[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 from {{lang-non|krabbi}}, etymologically root cognate with {{lang-gml|krabbe}}, {{lang-ang|crabba}}, 'to crawl'.<ref name="krabba sbst.1"/><ref name="krabba sbst.2"/><ref name="credibility"/>}} Old Norse {{lang|non|kraki}} mostly corresponds to these uses in modern [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], meaning, among other things, "twig" and "drag", but also "pole
[[File:Trädragg.jpg|thumb|Old style Scandinavian drag ([[grapnel anchor]]) made from the top of a tree, historically known as ''krake'' or ''krabbe'' in the [[Scandinavian languages]], probably the root for the naming of the mythological monster.]]
=== Synonyms ===
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== Egede ==
The ''krake'' (English: kraken) was described by [[Hans Egede]] in his ''Det gamle Grønlands nye perlustration'' (1729; Ger. t. 1730; tr. ''Description of Greenland'', 1745),<ref name="pilling"/> drawing from the fables of his native region, the {{interlanguage link|Nordlandene len|no|Nordlandenes len}} of Norway, then under Danish rule.{{Refn|The marginal header in the original is "''Fabel om Kraken i Nordlandene''"{{sfnp|Egede|1741|p=49 (footnote)}} which refers specifically to the [[Len (Norway)|len]] of Nordland under Danish rule; this is not just modern Norway's [[Nordland]] county, but includes the counties that lies farther north. Egede was born in [[Harstad]], in Nordland (len) during his life
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.<ref name="egede"/> Egede conjectured that the ''krake'' was equatable to the monster that the Icelanders call ''hafgufa'', but as he had not obtained anything related to him through an informant, he had difficulty describing the latter.<ref name="egede-havgufa">{{harvp|Egede|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"; {{harvp|Egede|1745}}. p. 86: "The third monster, named ''Hafgufa''.. 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 call ''Hafgufa''"</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Machan quoted Egede's text proper regarding some sort of "''Bæst''"<ref name=machan/> or "''forfærdelige Hav-Dyr'' [terrible sea-animal]" witnessed in the Colonies (Greenland),{{sfnp|Egede|1741|p=49}} but ignored the footnote which tells much on the ''krake''. Ruickbie quoted Egede's footnote, but decided to place it under his entry for "Hafgufa".<ref name="ruickbie"/>}}
According to the lore of Norwegian fishermen, they could mount upon the fish-attracting kraken as if it were a sand-bank ({{Lang|da|Fiske-Grund}} 'fishing [[shoal]]'), 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.<ref name="nyrop"/>{{sfnp|Egede|1745|p=88 (footnote)}} Egede also wrote that the krake fell under the general category of "sea spectre" ({{lang-da|søe-trold og}} [''søe'']-{{lang|da|{{linktext|spøgelse}}}}),{{Refn|The Norwegian ''trold'' (''troll'') can signify not just a giant, but ''spøkelser '' as well.<ref name=kvam/>}} adding that "the Draw" ({{lang-da|Drauen}}, definite form) was another being within that sea spectre classification.{{sfnp|Egede|1741|p=49}}{{sfnp|Egede|1745|p=88 (footnote)}}{{efn|Reference to the sea spectre ("phantom") was added in the English margin header: "A Norway Tale of ''Kraken'', a pretended phantom",{{sfnp|Egede|1745|p=87 (footnote)}} but that reference is wanting in the Danish original. It was already noted that the original wording localizes the legend specifically to {{interlanguage link|Nordlandene len|no|Nordlandenes len}}, not Norway altogether.}}
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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 largest [[man-of-war]], they would pull it down to the bottom".<ref>{{harvp|Pontoppidan|1753b|p=342}}: {{lang-da|Orlogs-skib}}; {{harvp|Pontoppidan|1755|p=212}}: "largest man of war".</ref>{{sfnp|Hamilton|1839|pp=328–329}}<ref name=credibility /><ref name="Sjogren">Sjögren, Bengt (1980). ''Berömda vidunder''. Settern. {{ISBN|91-7586-023-6}} {{in lang|sv}}</ref>
Kraken
=== Taxonomic identifications ===
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Montfort also listed additional wondrous fauna as identifiable with the kraken.<ref>{{harvp|Denys-Montfort|1801|p=386}}, note (1)</ref>
{{sfnp|Mitchill|1813|p=405}} There was [[Christian Franz Paullini|Paullini]]'s ''monstrum marinum'' glossed as a sea crab ({{lang-de|Seekrabbe}}),<ref name=paullinus/> which a later biologist has suggested to be one of the ''[[Hyas (
=== Angola octopus, pictured in St. Malo ===
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=== ''Niagara'' ===
The ship ''Niagara'' on course from Lisbon to New York in 1813 logged a sighting of a marine animal spotted afloat at sea. It was claimed to be {{convert|200|ft|m|-1|abbr=in|order=flip}} in length, covered in shells, and had many birds alighted upon it.{{Cn|date=February 2024}}
[[Samuel Latham Mitchill]] reported this, and referencing Montfort's kraken, reproduced an illustration of it as an octopus.<ref>{{harvp|Mitchill|1813|pp=396–397}}. Captioned ''Sepia octopus''. {{harvp|Mitchill|1813|p=401}}: Linnaeus's ''Sepia octopus'' is explained to be the eight-armed animal called ''poulpe commun'' by the French, and which was neither the cuttlefish which have scales, nor squid which have plated.</ref>
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After a specimen of the giant squid, ''Architeuthis'', was discovered by Rev. [[Moses Harvey]] and published in science by Professor A. E. Verrill, commentators have remarked on this cephalopod as possibly explaining the legendary kraken.{{sfnp|Verrill|1882|pp=213, 410}}<ref name="rogers"/><ref name="wilson_andrew-squid"/>
Historian [[Otto Latva]], who has studied the historical relationship between humans and [[giant 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 book ''The Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture'', he suggests that the kraken may not even have originated from an animal sighting. Influenced by Enlightenment ideals and the [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnean 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]], [[Whale|whales]], [[Crustacean|crustaceans]] and shelled marine molluscs were suggested as models for the kraken. It was not until [[Pierre Denys de Montfort|Pierre Denys de Montfort's]] research on molluscs in the early 19th century that the [[octopus]] became 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Latva |first=Otto |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003311775 |title=The Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture: The Monsterization of Molluscs |date=2023-05-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-31177-5 |edition=1 |location=London |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003311775}}</ref>{{Dubious|date=June 2024}}
=== Paleo-cephalopod===
{{Main|Mark McMenamin#Triassic kraken}}
[[Paleontology|Paleontologist]] [[Mark McMenamin]] and his spouse Dianna Schulte McMenamin claimed that an ancient, giant cephalopod resembling the legendary kraken caused the deaths of ichthyosaurs during the [[Triassic]] Period.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.nature.com/news/2011/111011/full/news.2011.586.html |first=Sid |last=Perkins |title=Kraken versus ichthyosaur: let battle commence |date=2011 |journal=Nature |doi=10.1038/news.2011.586 |access-date=December 2, 2020 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=McMenamin |first1=Mark A. S. |last2=McMenamin |first2=Dianna Schulte |date=Oct 2011 |title=Triassic Kraken: The Berlin Ichthyosaur Death Assemblage Interpreted as a Giant Cephalopod Midden |url=http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2011AM/finalprogram/abstract_197227.htm |journal=Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs |volume=43 |issue=5 |page=310 |access-date=18 May 2023 |archive-date=14 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514141456/https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2011AM/finalprogram/abstract_197227.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=McMenamin, M. A. S. |author2=McMenamin, Dianna Schulte |year=2013 |title=The Kraken's back: New evidence regarding possible cephalopod arrangement of ichthyosaur skeletons |journal=Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs |volume=43 |issue=5 |page=87}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=McMenamin |first=Mark A. S. |date=2023 |title=A Late Triassic Nuculanoid Clam (Bivalvia: Nuculanoidea) and Associated Mollusks: Implications for Luning Formation (Nevada, USA) Paleobathymetry |journal=Geosciences |language=en |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=80 |doi=10.3390/geosciences13030080 |issn=2076-3263 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023Geosc..13...80M }}</ref> However, this theory has been met with criticisms by multiple researchers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://the-meniscus.blogspot.com/2011/10/kraken-sleepeth.html | title=The Meniscus: The Kraken Sleepeth | date=16 October 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Simpson |first=Sarah |date=October 11, 2011 |title=Smokin' Kraken? |url=http://news.discovery.com/earth/smokin-kraken-111011.html |accessdate=2011-10-11 |work=Discovery News |publisher=[[Discovery Channel]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=October 12, 2011 |title=Mythical Kraken-Like Sea Monster Might be Real: Researcher |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/229497/20111012/mythical-kraken-kraken-prehistoric-oceans-ichthyosaur-bones-charles-lewis-camp.htm |accessdate=2011-10-12 |work=[[International Business Times]] |publisher=The International Business Times Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Than |first1=Ker |date=October 11, 2011 |title=Kraken Sea Monster Account "Bizarre and Miraculous" |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/10/111011-kraken-sea-monster-ichthyosaurs-science/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012163622/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/10/111011-kraken-sea-monster-ichthyosaurs-science/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2011 |accessdate=2011-10-12 |work=National Geographic News |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]}}</ref>
== Literary influences ==
[[File:20000 squid holding sailor.jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration from the original 1870 edition of ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
The French novelist [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''Les Travailleurs de la mer'' (1866, "[[Toilers of the Sea]]") discusses the man-eating octopus, the kraken of legend, called ''pieuvre'' by the locals of the [[Channel Islands]] (in the [[Guernésiais|Guernsey dialect]], etc.).<ref name="cahill"/><ref name="hugo1866"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Hugo also produced an ink and wash sketch of the octopus.<ref name="weiss"/>}} Hugo's octopus later influenced [[Jules Verne]]'s depiction of the kraken in ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
In the English-speaking world, examples in fine literature are [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred Tennyson]]'s 1830 irregular [[sonnet]] ''[[The Kraken (poem)|The Kraken]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/kraken.html |title=The Kraken (1830) |website=Victorianweb.org |date=2005-01-11 |access-date=2011-11-21}}</ref> references in [[Herman Melville]]'s 1851 novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]'' (Chapter 59 "Squid"),<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701 |title=Moby Dick; Or, The Whale |last=Melville |first=Herman |author-link=Herman Melville |date=2001 |orig-year=1851 |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref>
==
{{main|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cgdclass.com/stowellbarbara/spring_240_portfolio/ccsite/fantasy/culture.html |title=Under the Sea: The Kraken in Culture |first=Barbara A. |last=Stowell |date=2009 |website=cgdclass.com |access-date=April 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202113/http://www.cgdclass.com/stowellbarbara/spring_240_portfolio/ccsite/fantasy/culture.html |archive-date=2015-09-23}}</ref>
Examples include: [[John Wyndham]]'s novel ''[[The Kraken Wakes]]'' (1953), the [[Kraken (Marvel Comics)|Kraken]] of [[Marvel Comics]], the 1981 film ''[[Clash of the Titans (1981 film)|Clash of the Titans]]'' and its [[Clash of the Titans (2010 film)|2010 remake of the same name]], and the [[Seattle Kraken]] professional ice hockey team. Krakens also appear in video games such as ''[[Sea of Thieves]]'', ''[[God of War II]]'', ''[[Return of the Obra Dinn]]'' and ''[[Dredge (video game)|Dredge]]''. The kraken was also featured in two of the [[Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean]] movies, as the pet of the fearsome Davy Jones in the 2006 film, ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest]]'' and appears in the film's sequel, ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End|At World's End]]''. In [[George R.R. Martin]]'s fantasy novel series, [[A Song of Ice and Fire]] and its [[HBO]] series adaptations, [[Game of Thrones]] and [[House of the Dragon]], the mythical kraken is the [[sigil]] of [[House Greyjoy]] of 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 on [[Saturn]]'s moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-25 |title=Kraken Mare: The Largest Methane Sea Known To Humankind |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-is-the-largest-methane-sea-known-to-us.html |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=WorldAtlas |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Kraken Catena]]'' is a [[crater chain]] and possible tectonic fault on [[Neptune]]'s moon [[Triton (moon)|Triton]].<ref name="Stern1999">{{cite conference |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/LPSC99/pdf/1766.pdf |title=Triton's Surface Age and Impactor Population Revisited (Evidence for an Internal Ocean) |last1=Stern |first1=A. S. |last2=McKinnon |first2=W. B. |date=March 1999 |bibcode=1999LPI....30.1766S |location=Houston, TX |conference=30th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference |id=1766}}</ref>
==See also==
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== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist
<ref name="anderson">{{cite book|last=Anderson |first=Rasmus B. |author-link=Rasmus B. Anderson |title=Kra'ken |work=Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia |edition=new |volume=5 |location= |publisher=D. Appletons |year=1896 |url={{GBurl|id=MNk7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA26}} |page=26}}</ref>
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<ref name="beck">{{citation|last=Beck |first=Thor Jensen |author-link=<!--Thor Jensen Beck (1882–1967), modern language professor--> |title=Northern Antiquities in French Learning and Literature (1755-1855): A Study in Preromantic Ideas |volume=2 |location= |publisher=Columbia university |date=1934|url={{GBurl|id=xywvAAAAIAAJ|q=Negri}} |page=199 |isbn=5-02-002481-3 |quote=Before Pontoppidan, the same " Krake ” had been taken very seriously by the Italian traveler, Francesco Negri }}</ref>
<ref name="bell">{{citation|last=Bell |first=F. Jeffrey |author-link=Francis Jeffrey Bell |title=XLIV. Some Notes on British Ophiurids |journal=Annals
<ref name="bhattacharjee">{{cite book|last=Bhattacharjee |first=Shuhita |author-link=<!--Shuhita Bhattacharjee--> |chapter=The Colonial Idol, the Animalistic, and the New Woman in the Imperial Gothic of Richard Marsh |editor1-last=Heholt |editor1-first=Ruth |editor1-link=<!--Ruth Heholt--> |editor2-last=Edmundson|editor2-first=Melissa |editor2-link=<!--Melissa Edmundson--> |title=Gothic Animals: Uncanny Otherness and the Animal With-Out |location= |publisher=Springer Nature |year=1657 |chapter-url={{GBurl|id=XWvDDwAAQBAJ|p=259}} |page=259 |isbn=978-3-030-34540-2}}</ref>
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