Creatures of the Deep: Legends of Sea Monsters

The myths and legends of Sea Monsters are endless. Here we look at some of the more infamous creatures such as Mermaids, Sea Serpents and the Kraken.

Sea Monsters go hand in hand with the folklore of Pirates and the sea. There are as many different monsters as there are stories from overgrown sharks to dolphins that were known to save shipwrecked sailors.

_Source

Many of these monsters are impossible to categorize but let us look at some of the most commonly named ones.

The most common of the Sea Monsters is the Sea Serpent.

The reptile is described as being miles long with a vertical movement to its body. As well it is described as having a horse’s main that goes down its back and is covered in scales along with multiple fins. These animals have been spotted all over the world by many different people.

_Source

The HMS Daedalus reported a sighting off the Cape of Good Hope in 1848. Sailors reported that the creature has a diameter of 15ft and swam with its heads 4ft our of the water.

Mermaids are not only a staple to fairy tales but to maritime lore as well, however, mermaids do not have the same pleasant tendencies they do in fairy tales.

From the waist up they are beautiful maidens but from the waist down they have the body of a fish. They are often seen sitting on rocks combing their hair and admiring themselves. They sang very sweetly but their appearance signals the oncoming of a storm.

_Source

This wasn’t by accident, it is said that they avidly sought human lives along with an enjoyment of luring young men to their deaths and to provoke misfortune. The young men that were lured weren’t just drowned, they were devoured.

Mermaids had no soul; the only way that they could get one was to marry a mortal man. There were sightings of mermaids too, including a provincial governor who claimed to have married one and kept her in his bathtub for 4 days.

Perhaps the most hideous and infamous of all sea monsters was the Kraken. Scandinavians used to describe the creature being close to a gigantic octopus, very close but totally different from the portrayed in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

_Source

This monster could easily consume a whole fishing fleet. It would circle ships with its massive body and then drag them down into the ocean. The whirlpool that it created by doing this sufficiently captured anything that the Kraken might have missed. When it was at rest it looked like a large floating island, mariners who tried to land on it soon learned their mistake.

_Source

However, very large schools of fish swam out before it, any fisherman brave enough to risk being eaten by the Kraken was rewarded by his catch. Just as with any good sea monster there were sightings for this monster too, one in the 1680’s off the coast of Norway and then again in 1775 in Scotland.

These monsters of the deep have captured our imaginations and at times our nightmares. Whether we believe in them or not they are as a part of the maritime lore as are the sailors and other creatures that charter the seas.

Increasing the Visibility of Original and Engaging Content

_{Like @Curie? Support by voting Curie as Witness! https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Join us in Discord https://discord.gg/G6RPUMu}