The kraken is generally considered to be a mythical creature that lives in the sea, rising from the waves to terrify sailors. As a result, the beast has featured in the stories and legends of various cultures for centuries, although it is still generally believed to be a fictional creature much like the Lockness Monster in Scotland. However, did you know that there are various accounts of “real” kraken-like creatures? For example, there have been numerous sightings of sea creatures that are extremely large in size spotted off the coast of countries like Norway and Greenland.

Some historians believe the monster in legend of the kraken is actually a number of myths stuck together into one horrific creature, that had grown is size each time the story was embellished.

In 1180, King Sverre of Norway wrote about the kraken. As with many other legends of the time, the King of Norway described the kraken as some kind of large squid-like monster. He warned sailors about the dangers of the seas, claiming that there were hordes of sea monsters in many forms protecting the shores of Norway.

The kraken contains aspects of the aspidochelone, or island whale, as well as the Charybdis and Scylla sea monsters from Greek mythology. Whatever it was a patchwork of, or name it went by, the kraken was still thought to be deadly.

Eighteenth century writer Erik Pontoppidan believed there was a worse threat to a ship than the tentacles of the kraken:

"After this monster has been on the surface of the water a short time, it begins slowly to sink again, and then the danger is as great as before; because the motion of his sinking causes such a swell in the sea, and such an eddy or whirlpool, that it draws everything down with it."

Giant squid have eight arms and two long tentacles to grab things, each lined with sharp-toothed suction cups - so pretty scary and difficult to fight off.

They are known to latch onto the heads of sperm whales that try to eat them. Many whales have been found with suction cup scars, but there have only been a few stories of a giant squid actually attacking a boat, and no one is sure if they're true accounts. 

People have had unfortunate encounters with Humboldt squid. Known as "red devils" due to the color they take on when they are in attack mode. They are much more aggressive than giant squid, or so it would seem.

On average, a giant squid measures around 33 feet, including the tentacles. That's about the size of a school bus, but even these monsters of the deep are still 7,887 feet smaller than the kraken was believed to be. That is how absurd myths can be.

GIANT SQUID - It is easy to see how the legend of the Kraken began. As with Mermaids, it only takes an active mind to imagine what they fear, rather than what they are actually looking at.

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