Kraken: Difference between revisions

 

== Etymology ==

 

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/stake used in {{ILL|pole blockages|sv|pålspärr}}" and "[[boat hook]]".<ref name="cleasby-vigfusson-kraki"/> Swedish SAOB gives the translations of Icelandic {{lang|is|kraki}} as "thin rod with hook on it", "wooden drag with stone sinker" and "dry spruce trunk with the crooked, stripped branches still attached".<ref name="krake sbst.4"/>