The Kraken - Alfred TennysonAlfred, Lord Tennyson was one of the great poets that wrote of the Kraken. It was said that Alfred had been inspired to write of the Kraken due to Bishop Pontoppidan's analysis on the creature. He wrote to Great Britains with this poem but also allowed the work to be published in other countries. Lord Tennyson's goal with this poem, The Kraken, was to provide entertainment but also skepticism and fear within the hearts of the British people. The Kraken was often being treated as a joke as it was merely used by fishermen to track good fishing spots, and as seen in the poem, Lord Tennyson appropriates the Kraken as a vicious creature that could devour humans. His works were useful for understanding the mentality of the British Renaissance of that of the Kraken and mythos, as the graphical depictions by this poem effectively communicate fear and danger towards the creature. The poem also is useful as it shows that the British valued mythology as at the time it was believed that the mythology had become - more or less - real, due to the evidence bestowed by Bishop Pontoppidan. The source is highly reliable as it was a primary source of the Renaissance's reaction to the Kraken but is also a secondary source of the Kraken myth. The poem is also written by a Poet Laureate, Lord Tennyson, a reputable poet, and any ignorance would have been pointed out by the crowds.
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Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee About his shadowy sides: above him swell Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light, From many a wondrous grot and secret cell Unnumbered and enormous polypi Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green. There hath he lain for ages and will lie Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep, Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die. The Kraken - Alfred Tennyson (1830) |
Colossal Octopus - Pierre Denys de Montfort
Pierre Denys de Montfort was a famous French malacologist, the science of mollusks and was a professional in his field. Unfortunately, his obsession with mollusks were what sent him into international dysphoria. During his travels, he met a French sailor that had stated that he had been attacked by a "giant squid" during his voyages. Pierre jumped at the witness and began research into giant squid and also found evidence of an eight-metre long tentacle in a sperm whale's mouth. This led him to paint vividly images of his newfound Kraken which was being talked about by Bishop Erik Pontoppidan during the time. This particular image, Colossal Octopus, was painted for the public domain in order to promote the existence of such a creature. He continued to paint a number of these images depicting varying sizes of the kraken and giant squid. This source is useful that although only a secondary source of the legitmacy of the kraken, it effectively communicates the research and involvement during the European Renaissance, particularly that of the scientists, albeit only that of one scientist. It also gives historians a comparable size that the Kraken was described as, the size of a boat, for the time period. The source is limited however, as Montfort was a cephalopod extremist and his works were untrusted after his accusations of "army of krakens" attacking ships. Montfort also did next to no research on mythology, instead trusting the idea of a giant squid solely on that of Pontoppidan's words.
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Min son pa galejan - Jacob Wallenberg
Jacob Wallenberg was a Swedish writer who studied the Kraken was well as a number of other mythical sea creatures. He was a devout Christian and this may have influenced his work. He wrote to the public domain in a joking manner through the use of humorous travel books of each part of Europe and his Norwegian books, particularly the one in context, was written to entertain and also inform of myths. This source is very useful as it gives a number of geometrical measurements which gives a good reference frame for the size of the kraken at the time. Specifically, this is useful as it shows how the Kraken's size has shrunk in tales over time. His writing is also influenced by Bishop Pontoppidan as many are and Wallenberg reinforces the Bishops' points via the refinement of his points. It also highlights the fishing tale about the "excrements nurture in the following an army of lesser fish, and for this reason, fishermen plumb after this resting place". This source is also useful as it reflects what the Kraken was being alluded to at the time - the Leviathan in the book of Job, which was also a sea creature of similar proportion. This source is restricted by the fact that it was written by somebody who had not witnessed the Kraken and had only learnt of it via the media. The source is very much reliable and covers a wide range of aspects of the Kraken.
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… Kraken, also called the Crab-fish, which [according to the pilots of Norway] is not that huge, for heads and tails counted, he is no larger than our Öland is wide [i.e. less than 16 km] ... He stays at the sea floor, constantly surrounded by innumerable small fishes, who serve as his food and are fed by him in return: for his meal, if I remember correctly what E. Pontoppidan writes, lasts no longer than three months, and another three are then needed to digest it. His excrements nurture in the following an army of lesser fish, and for this reason, fishermen plumb after his resting place ... Gradually, Kraken ascends to the surface, and when he is at ten to twelve fathoms, the boats had better move out of his vicinity, as he will shortly thereafter burst up, like a floating island, spurting water from his dreadful nostrils and making ring waves around him, which can reach many miles. Could one doubt that this is the Leviathan of Job?
Min son pa galejan (1781) Jacob Wallenberg |
Orvar-Oddr - Icelandic formaldarsaga
Written by an unknown Icelandic traveler, this legendary saga was written to record the history of Iceland and was open to the public domain for the intent of allowing the people to absorb the knowledge of a great evil that lurked in the waters between Iceland and Norway. It probably acted as a mental barrier so that sailors did not leave Iceland and get killed by the storms and cyclones. This was one of the first references to the Kraken and could be considered as a primary source, as it follows a witness, Orvar-Oddr, hero of Iceland. This source is very useful as it explores the late Dark Age descriptions of the Kraken and was one of the first scripts to describe the Kraken. It also shows that the Icelandic people believed in magic as seen by Ogmund's "magic to cause the death of you" and that the Kraken could have been treated literally and fundamentally as a deep creature rather than a warning of rough seas. The source can be questioned to its reliability as it has no named author and could have been an act of forgery however the source remains fairly reputable as it was kept in the hands of a reputable king, Hakon Haakonson, King of Norway.
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Now I will tell you that there are two sea-monsters. One is called the hafgufa (sea-mist), another lyngbakr (heather-back). It (the lyngbakr) is the largest whale in the world, but the hafgufa is the hugest monster in the sea. It is the nature of this creature to swallow men and ships, and even whales and everything else within reach. It stays submerged for days, then rears its head and nostrils above surface and stays that way at least until the change of tide. Now, that sound we just sailed through was the space between its jaws, and its nostrils and lower jaw were those rocks that appeared in the sea, while the lyngbakr was the island we saw sinking down. However, Ogmund Tussock has sent these creatures to you by means of his magic to cause the death of you (Odd) and all your men. He thought more men would have gone the same way as those that had already drowned (i.e. to the lyngbakr which wasn't an island, and sank), and he expected that the hafgufa would have swallowed us all. Today I sailed through its mouth because I knew that it had recently surfaced.
Orvar-Oddr, circa 1250, Icelandic traveller |
Konungs skuggsja - for K.Magnus LagaboteThis was one of the first two accounts of the Kraken, written by an anonymous writer in the mid 13th century. The script was intended to educate King Magnus Lagabote, Hakon Haakonson's son and is written in a patriarchal tone, so the writer could have very much been King Hakon Haakonson. The education of King Magnus was essential as he was the leader of a powerful naval and military fleet and needed to know of any dangers in the ocean, particularly one of this importance and danger. The hafgufa is a clear reference to the kraken as it acts much like the kraken of later texts. This source is very useful as it provides an excellent starting point to see how the myth of the Kraken has evolved from being a trapping colossus the size of an island to that of almost a barbaric aggressor the size of a ship. It also explains the concepts of weariness where sailors mistook the hafgufa as an island rather than a creature. The source also tells that there must not be many and that they probably can not reproduce, so this gives an idea of the lifespan of the kraken. The source is only limited by the fact that the author is unknown. Other than that, the source is very reliable as it was written for royalty, thus portraying the culture and ideas of the time due to the lordship of the time.
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There is a fish that is still unmentioned, which it is scarcely advisable to speak about on account of its size, because it will seem to most people incredible. There are only a very few who can speak upon it clearly, because it is seldom near land nor appears where it may be seen by fishermen, and I suppose there are not many of this sort of fish in the sea. Most often in our tongue we call it hafgufa. Nor can I conclusively speak about its length in ells, because the times he has shown before men, he has appeared more like land than like a fish. Neither have I heard that one had been caught or found dead; and it seems to me as though there must be no more than two in the oceans, and I deem that each is unable to reproduce itself, for I believe that they are always the same ones. Then too, neither would it do for other fish if the hafgufa were of such a number as other whales, on account of their vastness, and how much subsistence that they need. It is said to be the nature of these fish that when one shall desire to eat, then it stretches up its neck with a great belching, and following this belching comes forth much food, so that all kinds of fish that are near to hand will come to present location, then will gather together, both small and large, believing they shall obtain there food and good eating; but this great fish lets its mouth stand open the while, and the gap is no less wide than that of a great sound or fjord, And nor may the fish avoid running together there in their great numbers. But as soon as its stomach and mouth is full, then it locks together its jaws and has the fish all caught and enclosed, that before greedily came there looking for food!
Konungs skuggsja, circa 1250, Anonymous, edited by Rudolph Kreyser |
Sources (Original)
The Kraken: Alfred, Lord Tennyson. (1830). The Kraken. Available: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/kraken. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Colossal Octopus: Pierre Denys de Montfort. (1810). Colossal Octopus. Available: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colossal_octopus_by_Pierre_Denys_de_Montfort.jpg. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Min son pa galejan: Jacob Wallenberg. (1781). Min son pa galejan. Available: http://www.bokborsen.se/Jacob-Wallenberg/Min-Son-P%C3%A5-Galejan/1156238. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Orvar-Oddr: Anonymous. (circa 1250 / edit circa 1375). Orvar-Odds saga (Chapter 21). Available: http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/orvar.htm. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Konungs skuggsja: edited by Rudolph Keyser, Peter Andreas Munch, Carl Rikard Unger. (circa 1250). Konungs skuggsja. Available: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=LgtIfLwQgX4C&pg=PA32&q=hafgufu&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=hafgufu&f=false. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Colossal Octopus: Pierre Denys de Montfort. (1810). Colossal Octopus. Available: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colossal_octopus_by_Pierre_Denys_de_Montfort.jpg. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Min son pa galejan: Jacob Wallenberg. (1781). Min son pa galejan. Available: http://www.bokborsen.se/Jacob-Wallenberg/Min-Son-P%C3%A5-Galejan/1156238. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Orvar-Oddr: Anonymous. (circa 1250 / edit circa 1375). Orvar-Odds saga (Chapter 21). Available: http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/orvar.htm. Last accessed 30/8/14.
Konungs skuggsja: edited by Rudolph Keyser, Peter Andreas Munch, Carl Rikard Unger. (circa 1250). Konungs skuggsja. Available: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=LgtIfLwQgX4C&pg=PA32&q=hafgufu&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=hafgufu&f=false. Last accessed 30/8/14.