BY PATRICIA STARD The Legend of the KRAKEN! Mysterious Phenomena: The Legend of the KRAKEN! From wikipedia.com

Introduction The Kraken is a s ss sea monster believed to exist off of the Norwegian Coast. Legends were created to explain the strange sightings of a giant creature in the water. Some theorize that t tt the Kraken is actually a giant squid. When ships are missing, they blame it on the mysterious s ss sea monster.

Many works of literature use the description of the Kraken in their stories.  “The Kraken” by Tennyson (1830)  “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Verne (1870)  Some say that “Watcher in the Water” and “The Fellowship of the Ring” in J.R.R. Tolkien's was based on Kraken.  “The Chronicles of Narnia” books by Lewis include a Kraken figure.

Facts In 1752, the Bishop of Bergen stated in his work, “The Natural History of Norway” that a Kraken is a "floating island" one and a half miles across. Colossal Squids live at the bottom of vast, deep bodies of water and rarely surface and are similar in appearance to the Kracken. Many stories have been told since the 1100’s. Colossal Squids are large and aggressive enough to wrestle with large sperm whales. There are confirmed reports in the 1930’s that these giant squids attacked ships.

Facts Olaus Magnus [1555] wrote about a water monster that has "sharp and long Horns round about, like a Tree root up by the Roots: They are ten or twelve cubits long, very black, and with huge eyes..." com/kraken.shtml

Conclusion The giant Colossal Squid exists and its other name is The Kracken. Squid can have erratic behavior that can threaten ships and even cause them to go missing in areas where giant squid exist. Also, the rich oral history leads me to conclude that the Kraken is not a real mystery; it’s just another name for the Colossal Squid.

Conclusion The Kraken is not a real phenomena. The mystery surrounding the Kraken can be explained by modern science. There is a Colossal Squid that is known to exist in these waters. The ancient stories told by generations are true but the character was not a monster; it was a squid. Even Olaus Magnus [1555], who wrote about the Kracken, described the creature with “big, black eyes” which also describes the Colossal Squid. Therefore, mariners need to heed the warning of the Kraken stories and be mindful of all of the creatures of the water, even giant squid.

Opinion Some say that the myth of the Kraken was meant to tell a cautionary tale that warns man to be good to the sea and uphold good morals, however, giant squid are unable to ‘think’ about things like humans and cannot ‘punish’ wrongdoers. Please call your animal control officers and support the idea that sea monsters are really giant squids and that people need to proceed with caution in deep water where squid thrive.

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