When the Vikings of the Old Norse sagas sailed the seas and fought as heroes, they are said to have tackled sea monsters so intimidating and terrible that even they sometime lost their courage when faced with them.

These giant, octopus-like creatures are said to have lived in the waters off the Icelandic and Norwegian coasts, and were so huge that they were sometimes mistaken for outlying islands. Their sheer mass meant that upon diving back down to the depths, they would suck whole ships under with them.

This may sound a far cry from the Kraken we know of in popular culture, tangled in legends and curses in the depths of the Caribbean Sea, but this may not be so far from the truth either. Huge, octopus-like creatures have been sighted there too, some over 75 feet long, and sections of bodies which remain impossible to identify as any smaller, known species have washed up on the shores there. Stories passed on by word of mouth of ships having been attacked by these creatures are common in the region.

Plausible explanations do exist. The Giant Octopus, of the Enteroctopus family, is said to live in the world’s colder oceans and its arm span has been known to reach thirty metres. The Seven-arm Octopus, the largest cephalopod species ever officially recorded, is found most often off the coast of New Zealand, and the Colossal Squid of the Southern ocean has been caught and documented many times, its largest example measuring ten metres. Experts seem convinced that many of these species have the potential to become much, much larger and some, particularly the giant squid, are known to have attacked small ships in the past, so there is plenty to suggest that we should keep looking for a real version of the mythical Kraken.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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