Ancient Kracken Shield Ring

In Nordic folklore, the Kraken or Krabben (perhaps the largest sea monster) is said to haunt the seas from Norway through Iceland and all the way to Greenland. The Kraken had a knack for harassing ships and many pseudoscientific reports (including official naval ones) said it would attack vessels with its strong arms and drag it to the bottom of the sea.

The history of the Kraken goes back to an account written in 1180 by King Sverre of Norway securing the Kraken in Norse mythology. For ancient navigators, the sea was treacherous and dangerous, hiding a horde of monsters in its inconceivable depths. Any encounter with an unknown animal could gain a mythological edge from sailors’ stories.

With the retelling of the sailor’s stories of the Kraken the strength of the myth became so strong that it still could be found in Europe’s scientific surveys of the natural world in the 18th century.

But then, in 1853, a giant cephalopod was found stranded on a Danish beach insuring what had be legend officially entered the annals of science, returning our image of the Kraken to the animal that originated the myths.

After 150 years of research into these giant sea monsters that inhabits all the world’s oceans, there is still much debate as to whether they represent a single species or as many as 20.

Measurement: 17mm

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