Kraken sea monsters of giant proportions

Kraken sea monsters of giant proportions. Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort Pen and wash drawing by malacologist Pierre Dénys de Montfort, 1801, from the descriptions of French sailors reportedly attacked by such a creature off the coast of Angola. Many of his sources for the "kraken octopus" probably described the very real giant squid, Architeuthis, proven to exist in 1857.

Kraken are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. In modern German, Krake (plural and declined singular: Kraken) means octopus but can also refer to the legendary Kraken.

Pierre Denys de Montfort, (1766–1820) was a French naturalist, in particular a malacologist, remembered today for his pioneering inquiries into the existence of the giant squid Architeuthis, which was thought to be an old wives' tale, and for which he was long dismissed. He was inspired by a description from 1783 of an eight-metre long tentacle found in the mouth of a sperm whale.

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923, in this case 1801 ca., are now in the public domain.

This image is also in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris), in this case Pierre Denys de Montfort, (1766–1820), and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from the last day of that year.

By en:Pierre Denys de Montfort († 1820) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons +sookie tex

TEXT CREDIT:

• Pierre Denys de Montfort From Wikipedia
• Kraken From Wikipedia