Legend Of Kraken The Giant Creature Of The Sea
Perhaps, there are no more horrible legendary monsters than Kraken, the ruler of the sea that makes the sailors full of fear. Interestingly, this legend may indeed be based on something real. The Kraken is a monster that described as a giant creature that dwells in the oceans of Iceland and Norway. This creature often attacks the passing ship by rolling it up with its giant tentacles and pulling it down. Because of too popular, it often mentioned in popular movies.
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Character of Kraken
We may think that Kraken is just a part of a fairy tale but it is not. The name Kraken first appeared in the book Systema Naturae which was written by Carolus Linnaeus in 1735. Mr. Linnaeus was the first person to classify living things into its classes. In his book, he classified the Kraken into the Cephalopoda class with the Latin name Microcosmus. Erik Ludvigsen Pontopiddan, Bishop of Bergen who was also a naturalist ever wrote in his book Natural History of Norway in 1752 that “Kraken cannot be denied, it is the greatest sea monster ever known."
For a long time, this creature was only considered part of the ancient mythology equivalent to a fairy tale. However, when the remains of this monster stranded on the coast of Albaek, Denmark in 1853, the scientists began to realize that the legend about the Kraken might indeed be based on something real such as Giant Squid, Colossal Squid, or Giant Octopus.
The Significant Appearance
In 1801, Pierre Denys de Montfort who investigated about the Kraken found that in St.Thomas Chapel in St.Malo, Brittany, France, there was a painting depicting a giant octopus attacking a ship by rolling it with its tentacles. The incident in the painting was based on real events. It is said that the ship was a Norwegian ship on the coast of Angola. When getting the unexpected attacks, the crew then took the ax and began to fight the monster by cutting off its tentacles and then the monster left. the crew then visited the Chapel of St.Thomas at Britanny and hung the painting as an illustration of the events that happened to them.
Besides the painting story, Mr. Moonfort also told other appearance that experienced by Jean-Magnus Dens captain of Denmark who met the creature also off the coast of Angola. This story occurred on November 30, 1861. Captain Dens estimated the monster had a length of 11 meters. While sailing on the Canary Islands, the crew of the French ship Alencon witnessed a giant sea monster swimming not far from the ship.
In October 1873, a fisherman named Theophile Piccot and his son managed to find the giant squid tentacles in Newfoundland. Once measured, the researchers concluded that the animal was likely to have a length of up to 11 meters. Today, the theory of giant Calamities or Octopus is considered to be the most sensible explanation of the Kraken legend.