kraken

kraken, a mythical sea monster of enormous size said to inhabit the waters off the coasts of Norway and Sweden. According to one legend the kraken lies sleeping on the seabed battening on huge sea worms in its sleep; when the waters at the bottom of the sea grow warm from the fires of hell, the monster will rise to the surface and die. Another legend has the monster rising from the sea and lying on the surface like an island, only to sink again to the bottom. It is sometimes depicted in the form of a giant squid.

Belief in the kraken's existence can be traced back at least to 1555 when Bishop Olaus Magnus of Sweden described it as having a skin which looked like gravel on the seashore so that men were tempted, when it appeared on the surface, to think it was in fact an island, and to land on it and light fires to cook their victuals. It was also reported that in 1700 a Danish priest celebrated mass on its back. Bishop Pontoppidan of Norway described the kraken as an enormous sea monster but poured scorn on it rising to the surface in the shape of an island.