The Kraken is a huge sea creature of Scandinavian mythology, commonly described as a kind of giant octopus, or squid, or jellyfish that, emerging from the depths, attacked ships and devoured sailors. The myth may have actually originated from supposed sightings of real giant squid that are estimated to be 33 to 45 meters long, including tentacles. The survivors told the story of the monster of the seas, which, according to legend, appeared off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The name of Kraken is usually popularly associated with the giant squid species Architeuthis dux, of which very little is known today, due to the great depth it inhabits.
The Kraken had a habit of harassing ships, and many reports of ancient times (including some of naval officers), although of very doubtful veracity of course, claimed that it attacked them with its strong tentacles. If this strategy failed, the beast began to swim in circles around the ship, creating a strong whirlpool to sink it. And of course, like every decent mythological monster, it had to like human flesh, and legends tell that the Kraken could devour the entire crew of a ship in just one bite.
The first stories about the Kraken date back to the 12th century in Norway, referring to a creature the size of an island. In 1752, when the bishop of Bergen, Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan, wrote his Natural History of Norway, he described the Kraken as "a floating island of a mile and a half" (it was said that the creature's back measured 2.4 km) and also added : "These look like the arms of the Kraken, and it is said that if they grabbed the greatest man of war, they would drag him to the bottom."
However, over time, the size of the legendary monster was getting smaller in popular culture, although equally fierce.
Others argue that the history of the Kraken goes back to a story written in 1180 by King Sverre of Norway. Like many legends, the Kraken´s began with a real foundation: the sightings of the giant squid. For ancient sailors, the sea was treacherous and dangerous, hiding a huge amount of monstrous creatures in their dark and remote depths. Any encounter with an unknown animal could acquire a mythological connotation in the stories of sailors. The strength of the myth became so strong that the Kraken could still be found in the first scientific studies of nature and fauna in the 18th century in Europe. When a giant cephalopod (a giant octopus) was found stranded on a Danish beach, the Norwegian biologist, Japetus Steenstrup, scientifically described the animal as a giant squid or Architeuthis dux.
After 150 years of research on the giant squid that inhabits oceans around the world, it is still being debated whether it represents a single species or if there are up to 20 different species. The largest of the registered Architeuthis reached 18 meters in length, including its long tentacles; but the vast majority of these specimens are much smaller. The eyes of the giant squid are the largest in the animal kingdom, and are vital in the dark depths in which this cephalopod inhabits (up to 1,100 meters deep, perhaps even reaching 2,000 meters).
Despite its size and speed, the Architeuthis has, nonetheless, a predator: the sperm whale. An Architeuthis, even though it has enough muscles in its tentacles to cling to ita prey, can never beat a sperm whale in a battle. Its only option is the escape, covering its withdrawal with the typical cloud of ink of the cephalopods.
The giant squid remains the most elusive animal in the world, which has also greatly contributed to increase its aura of mystery. Even today many people are surprised to discover that it really exists.
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After all, despite numerous scientific research, and having already clarified the origin of this legend (which, as a legend, there is no such animal in reality), the Kraken still remains in the popular imagination due to movies, books and videogames, and even in biology treatises written by pseudoscientists with very doubtful objectivity. Representations such as these have come to define it in the public's mind as a relentless beast on the prowl of ships.
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