Comments on: Some Kraken thoughts…

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 12 May 2007 23:59:02 +0000

Elliot – Well, you seem to have done a lot of the research yourself already… As Daniel said, the word itself seems to be German but the myth is Norwegian (which would make sense, since a lot of Germanic mythology derives from the Norse anyway; See Siegfried/Sigmund, for example [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried]).

Just for further commentary – the monster described in the Perseus legends is properly called Ketos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketos, but this may or may not be the monster itself or, as it says, “a personification” of similar sea creatures), which the constellation Cetus is named after… and I think Ray Harryhausen, the “Clash of the Titans” animator, once mistakenly claimed that the name originated from John Wyndham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kraken_Wakes) – I think the quote is in the commentaries on the DVD version.
So it’s no wonder people are confused.

Alex

By: Margaret

Margaret — Fri, 11 May 2007 01:21:47 +0000

I love those silly Pirate movies.

My personal favorite kraken is in the end of the 1st book in the Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:41:55 +0000

Well. wikipedia dubs it a norwegian myth…
But the word is from the nordic languages and german.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken

By: Elliot Kane

Elliot Kane — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:37:13 +0000

More Kraken: According to The Ultimate Ecyclopaedia Of Mythology Perseus killed ‘a sea monster’ to rescue Andromeda. That seems to be general canon, with no name given. Indeed, the number of references to a Kraken in the various books I own is very slight.

I find no references to the Kraken in Viking mythology either, however. Alex, are you sure the root is not Gemanic? The two mythologies were very similar in many ways.

By: Elliot Kane

Elliot Kane — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:23:01 +0000

Nope – I’m wrong. Clearly too long since I hit the books. According to The Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of Myths & Legends, the Kraken derives from the medieval legends of Western Europe, and is an updated version of the Jewish Leviathan.

By: Elliot Kane

Elliot Kane — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:15:00 +0000

M – you could be right A lot ofpeople do draw inspiration from novels, TV & film, and it’s easy to presume a source which is not so

Alex – according to the many books on Mythology I own, the Kraken appears in the myths of Perseus pretty much as shown in the film Clash Of The Titans. Not that the Norse didn’t have an equivalent, I’m sure, but many mythologies had similar stories. I may not be entirely obsessive, but I’m not wholly reliant on films, either

By: Alex Taerg

Alex Taerg — Thu, 10 May 2007 02:59:20 +0000

“The Kraken is Greek myth.”
Actually, it’s Norse. The name is the Norse word for “twisted monster” (or something similar – kind of like the English “wraith”) and the monster was originally called “lyngbachr”… and Ray Harryhausen mistakenly attributed it to John Wyndham…
But you’re close enough for anyone who’s not a mythology obsessive.

Alex

By: M.

M. — Thu, 10 May 2007 01:41:16 +0000

Elliot – No one would think POTC invented the Kraken, more that it is being used here because it was used in POTC. It’s like how when Underworld came out, ALL my friends suddenly started writing about a war between werewolves and vampires. When LOTR (the movies) came out, ALL my friends suddenly started writing about elves. These were the same friends, too. Some people just go with whatever is popular at the time and as a creative person, it’s such a let down to be lumped in with these people due to an accident of timing or some other silliness

Nastajia! You are so mean! Jealousy is one thing, but that’s just being nasty

By: Allison

Allison — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:08:51 +0000

I also love Clash of the Titans! I’m excited to see what you’ve done for THIS Kraken.

By: Elliot Kane

Elliot Kane — Wed, 09 May 2007 13:20:03 +0000

The Kraken is Greek myth. No-one would ever think it was original to the Pirates films, I’m sure.

I won’t watch the Eragon film because I think it’s insanely stupid to film part one of a trilogy when book 3 has yet to be released, and utterly duplicitous to pretend it is a stand alone story when it is not.

Star Wars – like The Matrix – is a fairy tale, but it’s a fairy tale set in space. The main problem with the prequels is that Lucas didn’t understand there is a vast difference between a fairy tale and a story made for children, so he left out the archetypes that make the difference. Oops, eh?

***

Oh yeah – still loving Dreamland Nastajia might be being mean to Fliss, but she DOES have a point…