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m I made an addition to the section on giant squid as an archetype of the kraken. Otto Latva has refuted these claims in a peer-reviewed research book published last year, and it would be really good to add his discoveries to this wiki page to update the information on the page. |
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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
The 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 Danish 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 (''Octupi'').
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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>
=== Paleo-cephalopod===
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