IntroductionThe kraken myth was certainly a mysterious one - it tells of a very dangerous creature than can devour ships and disguises itself as an island to attract sailors. Yet no morals were shown by any people in history - it was regarded literally for the majority of the time until the 20th century as an actual colossal squid that roamed around Iceland and Norway. However, there are a few morals to the tale that could have been reasons as to why the Kraken was created as a folk tale.
PiratesAlthough not many sources point to this, there were quite a few pirates roaming the seas of the Arctic, from Iceland and Norway. Although they did not always plunder ships, they would occasionally take a ship here and then so as to not cause a commotion and it would be in the middle of the sea so traces could not be found with the primitive technology of the eleventh century. If you were to skip ahead to the sixteenth century, the atrocious Barbary corsairs of the Mediterranean were also pushing into Scandinavia through obscure routes after hearing of the wealth of the Swedish Empire, so they could have attacked trade ships going from Iceland to Norway. The Celts that inhabited Northern Scotland also had a few ships and could have easily been mistaken as pirates.
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Rough seas
The most probable reason for the kraken becoming a folk tale is due to the erratic conditions of the Arctic Sea. The sea is constantly refreshed with water periodically from the ice cap extensions and that makes the seas very wavy and almost as if tentacles are splashing around, causing huge ripples out of seemingly nowhere. Sailors could have misinterpreted this for that of a giant octopus, as octopus were known in Scandinavia to flail about in water and cause a general mess in the water. However, as the Nordic people did not know about the Arctic ice cap extensions, they probably assumed it was the Kraken as that was the capabilities of their thinking.
Weariness at sea
Another reason for the Kraken could have been sea weariness. In the Arctic climate, there is not much cloud cover and many sailors would faint and even die on voyages to Iceland or Norway. There are also apparitions of that of islands and when sailors got close enough, the island disappears. This could have been misinterpreted as a kraken, or his "heather-back" being like an island as referenced in the tales of Örvar-Oddr. This could have merely been weariness at sea, the expanse between Norway and Iceland is almost 1500km wide with no significant islands in between.
Fishing lore
Although the kraken was atrocious, it was not completely avoided. Many were told that the Kraken hoarded only the biggest fish to hide itself from the sea surface, so naturally, fishermen would seek out this kraken to fish the biggest fish from him. This tale could express that the Kraken was not so evil but could have been a guardian of the sea creatures, as it often snapped up fishermen as told in Jacob Wellenberg's major work, Min son på galejan.
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Sources (Allusions)
Sarah Sawyer. (2011). Mythic Creatures: The Kraken. Available: http://www.sarahsawyer.com/2010/10/mythic-creatures-the-kraken/. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Monstrous. (circa 2004). Kraken. Available: http://monsters.monstrous.com/kraken.htm. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Asphodel. (2013). "Kraken". Available: http://www.mythcreatures.co.uk/dragons/kraken.asp. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Bengt Sjögren (1980). Berömda vidunder. Laholm, Sweden: Settern. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3379193W/Bero%CC%88mda_vidunder.
Monstrous. (circa 2004). Kraken. Available: http://monsters.monstrous.com/kraken.htm. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Asphodel. (2013). "Kraken". Available: http://www.mythcreatures.co.uk/dragons/kraken.asp. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Bengt Sjögren (1980). Berömda vidunder. Laholm, Sweden: Settern. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3379193W/Bero%CC%88mda_vidunder.