Krakens Informative Speech

A kraken is an enormous mythical sea monster said to appear off the coast of Norway. However, in a more exaggerated definition, a kraken is an island sized sea monster that not only rules the ocean, but terrorizes it. For years krakens have been a popular topic in the mythical fantasy of people’s minds, from legends of the appearance to stories of attacks. All in all, krakens are known to be humongous sea creatures feared by all sailors from their history in killing and their disastrous behavior.
For centuries some of mankind has pondered the existence of krakens. Some believe them to be a myth while others believe them to be real. What is it about them that intrigue people? To begin with, krakens are massive. In source one; it says that

krakens are “believed to be one mile long”. Furthermore, it is stated that “stories said that sailors would confused the krakens for an island, and try to sail to it.” (Source four) If sailors actually thought the kraken was an island, they would not only get a huge surprise, but also an underwater grave bed. Another reason why some people find krakens interesting could also be the way krakens feed. It is stated that the kraken “-would trap the surrounding fish by stretching its neck with a belch releasing food from its mouth. The fish would be lured by the food and would enter the kraken’s mouth to feed. As a result, vast quantities of them would be trapped.” (Source one). People and krakens both use food as bait to lure fish, but krakens obviously go another way when deciding what bait to use. Although, the logic is similar to human being’s, the whole process is a lot more superior. Along with their size and eating habits, krakens are also thought to be crab-like (source one). Even though this is taken into consideration when deciding what a kraken resembles, it is unlikely that krakens look like crabs. They most likely look more like an octopus or squid which is what is thought more of when thinking about krakens.
Over the years legends of krakens have been passed down for centuries, from father to son and mother to daughter. Krakens were originally talked about in the orvar-oddr, the 13th century Icelandic saga (source one). It is the story of a father and son who stumble into two sea creatures that start the idea of the kraken (source four). This story helps give the sea monster its current name, kraken, which comes from “-the Norwegian word krake, which means octopus.” (Source six). In this legend, krakens were thought as the Hafgufa. People think that the Hafgufa is a kraken because of “their gigantic size and their inclination to attack ships and their crews”. (Source seven). In another legend, describing the krakens appearance, Olaus Magnus states the kraken as “-a ‘monstrous fish,’” portraying the kraken as possessing stretched out and pointed horns, giant red eyes, and “‘hairs like goose feathers, thick and long, like a beard hanging down.’” (Source three). Another legend would include the kraken being compared to a giant squid or octopus. If the kraken is a giant octopus, then the origin of the name kraken suits the beast well. All of these legends have played a part in creating the design people think about when imaging the kraken.
Even though there are stimulating details about krakens, there are still dangers.

When sailors saw the kraken, they knew that death was staring them dead in the face. It was known that Krakens could demolish anything in their path. In source five, it states “when the kraken attacked a ship, it wrapped its arms around the hull and capsized it. The crew would drown or be eaten by the monster.” Along with drowning or being eaten, a person could be punctured by a piece of the destroyed ship. In source two, Pontoppidan says “that the most danger the kraken represented to ships came from the disturbance it made as it came to the surface or whirlpool as created as it descended below.” The kraken was so large that a large portion of the ocean would be affected and anything in that area would fall into the depth of the ocean and become damaged. This also makes sense as to the majority of the sailors on the ships would die when the kraken emerges from the ocean and the other sailors that survived would die when the kraken goes back under the

water.
It is said that krakens are the size of islands. If so, then where are they? In source four, it says that krakens live at the bottom of the Ocean. It is most likely that that is where they stay. The ocean floor has more than enough space for a creature of the kraken’s size. Krakens tend to stay hidden seeing as it is said that krakens get pleasure from isolation. (Source four). If this is true, then why are there recorded accounts of them attacking ships and accidentally luring sailors towards them for centuries? The answer could be that they just want to eat something different than fish. Another reason could be that ships may agitate krakens and make them frustrated. Boats can disturb the water by moving or when people are fishing. Also the nets that people use to fish with may trigger a krakens aggravation as well. Krakens can get stuck in the nets that fisherman put out and may decide to attack them. There are many possible reasons why krakens attack ships and people, maybe they do it for fun, but no one will ever really know the true reason.
In connection to the modern world, the kraken is present in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man’s chest”.

In the movie, the kraken is summoned by black beard with three words; “release the kraken!” these words then lead up to damaging events. In matters of seconds, several slimy tentacles emerge from the water up from under the boat. One by one, men are yanked from the ship to their death. The tentacles envelop around the waist of the men. They were either thrown into the mouth of the beast or drowned in the ocean. The arms then rose up over the main mast and crashed down on the ship, breaking the boat into two. Bodies’ flying everywhere, the kraken demolishes the vessel. In one scene, the kraken’s mouth opens up and one of the arms throws a man into the razor sharp teeth opening. This scene in the movie portrays what many people imagine an encounter with a kraken would

resemble.
In conclusion, krakens are massive and dangerous creatures that stay anonymous in the real world and safe in the heart of fiction. To sum them up, krakens are known to be humongous sea creatures feared by all sailors from their history in killing and their disastrous behavior.
Krakens are thought to be the size of islands; they look like squid or octopus like creatures, and can capture fish in an unusual way. It is not sure if they are real or not, and it is not sure of what these creatures look like, but it is sure that the kraken lingers in the back of people’s minds, waiting to come forward into the light of reality.