The Kraken is a gigantic sized sea monster of legend and lore, who was said to have lived around the coasts of Iceland and Norway. They attacked ships by wrapping their arms around the hull and crushing it and then devoured the crew or left them to drown in the sea. The word Kraken comes from the Scandinavian word Krake, which means something twisted or unhealthy. In German the word “Krake” means octopus.

Stories about Krakens date back to around the 12th century. The stories describe the beast as being as big as an island and able to attract fish to it. Fishermen out to fill their nets with the bounty of the sea inadvertently ran into them and often meant their doom. As years passed, the stories changed slightly and the Kraken decreased in size but not ferocity. They were portrayed as much smaller but still well able to capsize a boat and kill the crew with ease. Even today, tales of the Kraken still abound in Norway and Iceland.

Krakens have appeared in many blockbuster movies, though unfortunately they are often misrepresented. In the 1981 movie “Clash of the Titans”, the monster of the Greek Ocean God Poseidon was called a Kraken but it was actually a Ceto or a Cetacean. In the 2010 version of the movie, it was still called a Kraken but his time it was a creature of the Greek God of the Dead Hades. It too was a Ceto or a Cetacean. The Ceto is described more whale like than Kraken like. The Kraken has actually never been reported around Greece and logically it would be found in much cooler waters, as it is similar to the giant squid. Disney used a much more realistic Kraken in their movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”.

There is a good chance the Kraken was simply a giant squid. The largest Giant Squid ever caught measured 43 feet long but it is easily possible that far larger squids once existed and probably still do exist in Earth’s oceans. Giant squids are also commonly found in the areas where Krakens have been reported. In the 1930’s there was three reported Giant Squid attacks on ships. While the ships took massive damage, the Squids took more, due to the ship’s propellers. However, this proves that Giant Squids attacked ships, possibly mistaking them for whales and that in days past, before the propeller was created and the ships were made out of wood, it would be quite easy for a giant Squid to capsize a boat and kill the crew.

Be them fact or fiction, Krakens have made quite the name for themselves. Possibly, they do not exist and those who supposedly died in their grasp simply crashed upon some rocks and drowned. Perhaps they are giant squids who at one time hunted all who they found upon the ocean, or maybe they are a species themselves. One who resides in the deepest darkest places of the oceans, sleeping and growing hungry, waiting until they once again surfaces to eat their fill.