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1818.]

On the Kraken and Great Sea Serpent.

649

That the animal mentioned by Wormius, though classed by him among the whales, is the same as the kraken, we have the testimony of Crantz the missionary, who wrote the history of Greenland. In his description of rare and huge sea-monsters, there is the following passage, in which he seems to be equally sceptical with some modern philosophers:

"But the most horrible and hideous monster, that the fables of the Norway fishers have invented, is the krake, sea-horse, or hafgufa, which nobody ever pretends to have seen entire; yet the fishers give out, that when they find a place which is usually 80 or 100 fathoms deep, to be at certain times only 20 or 30, and see also a multitude of fishes allured to the spot, by a delicious exhalation which this creature emits, they conclude that they are over a krake; then they make haste to secure a good draught of fishes, but take care to observe when the soundings grow shallower, for then the monster is rising. Then they fly with speed, and presently they behold, with the greatest amazement, in the compass of a mile or two, great ridges like rocks rising up out of the sea, dented with long lucid spikes, that thicken as they rise, and at last resemble a multitude of little masts."—Vol. i. p. 117.

Thomas Bartholinus describes the same animal likewise, under the name of Hafgufa;^[1] and his relation is confirmed by Olaus Magnus, in his work de Piscibus Monstrosis.^[2]

According to Olaus Wormius, the kraken is likewise alluded to in the ancient manuscript called Speculum Regale, said to have been written by Sverre, one of the Norwegian kings.^[3]

in these animals, great numbers of them being found dead in the paths every August, without any apparent cause.—Bingley.

↑ "Vigesimum secundum (genus) hafgufa, vapor marinus, quibusdam lyngback, quod ejus dorsum ericeto sit simile. Extat historia de episcopo quodam, Brandana, qui in hujus belluæ dorso tabernam fixit missam celebravit, et non multo post hanc, ut putabant insulam submersam esse. Quando cibum capere constituit, quod semel tantum in anno contingit, horrendum emittit rectum, quem tantas sequitar fragrantia, ut omnia, quæ in propinquo sunt piscium genera ad eum congregentur. Ipse vero rictum aperit, quem instar sinus aut freti pisces catervatim intrant. Quo stratagemate omnes capiunter. Terram potius, quam balænam similitudine refert. Duo tantum esse existimatur, sed non multiplicari, alias metuendum esset, ne victus, aut locus, ipsis suffectura essent." Thom. Bartholin, in Hist. Anatom. cent. 4, hist. 24, p. 284.
↑ "Confirmat etiam hoc præsens propositum divi Brendani Britanniæ pontificis marina peregrinatio in septennium usque deducta, atque in catalogo sanctorum commemorata, quod videlicet ipse cum suis socijs piscem ingentem, nomine Jasonem, in venerit: in quem, insulam eum sibi persuadentes, descenderunt ignemque accenderunt; dumque piscem se movere sentirent, ad navem repente fugiendo vix vitam illo se continuo mergente servarunt. Præterea jussu Brendani pisces super undas se levarunt, voceque tonante Deum laudaverunt. Cetus non comedit ut alii pisces, manducando scilicet, cibumque dentibus comminuendo: sed tantummodo glutiendo intra ventriculum pisces immitit. Habet enim oris meautus strictos ad pisces abglutiendos, quos odorifero anhelitu attractos devorat; et in ventrem mittit. Habet insuper in gutture quadam pellem membranæ similem, quæ multis meatibus perforata, non sinit quicquam nisi minutum, ingredi ventrem." Olaus Magnus, de Pisc. monstr. cap. 26, p. 755.
↑ Concerning this curious writing, there is the following information in the preface to the second volume of Pontoppidan's Natural History of Norway: "I have one thing to observe, in this place, with regard to a literary article mentioned in my preface to the first part of this work: I there reckoned the ancient treatise, called Speculum Regale, amongst the books that are lost, and lamented the want of intelligence that might have been collected from it; but I have since been informed, with the greatest pleasure, to the contrary, in a letter from the Honourable Mr Luxdorph, counsellor of state, dated the 20th of January last. I find likewise, (though too late) that a copy of that ancient manuscript is to be found in the university library at Copenhagen, among many other manuscripts given to the university by the late Professor Arnus Magnæus—a catalogue of whose donations deserves to be printed, at least for the information of foreigners and others.

"I am further informed, in that learned gentleman's letter, that the old notion of the Speculum Regale being written by the wise and valiant king Sverre, or at least by his order, and consequently in his time, is entirely without foundation; for Mr Luxdorph observes, that it was written about the latter end of the thirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth century. The author calls himself one of the first in rank at the king of Norway's court, and informs us that he lived in Helgeland, in the diocese of Tronheim. This book is written in the manner of a dialogue betwixt a father and son; containing, besides many good rules, both political and civil, several observations in natural philosophy, relating to the northern countries, but not so much of Norway in particular, as of Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland."—P. viii.

[2] "Vigesimum secundum (genus) hafgufa, vapor marinus, quibusdam lyngback, quod ejus dorsum ericeto sit simile. Extat historia de episcopo quodam, Brandana, qui in hujus belluæ dorso tabernam fixit missam celebravit, et non multo post hanc, ut putabant insulam submersam esse. Quando cibum capere constituit, quod semel tantum in anno contingit, horrendum emittit rectum, quem tantas sequitar fragrantia, ut omnia, quæ in propinquo sunt piscium genera ad eum congregentur. Ipse vero rictum aperit, quem instar sinus aut freti pisces catervatim intrant. Quo stratagemate omnes capiunter. Terram potius, quam balænam similitudine refert. Duo tantum esse existimatur, sed non multiplicari, alias metuendum esset, ne victus, aut locus, ipsis suffectura essent." Thom. Bartholin, in Hist. Anatom. cent. 4, hist. 24, p. 284.

[3] "Confirmat etiam hoc præsens propositum divi Brendani Britanniæ pontificis marina peregrinatio in septennium usque deducta, atque in catalogo sanctorum commemorata, quod videlicet ipse cum suis socijs piscem ingentem, nomine Jasonem, in venerit: in quem, insulam eum sibi persuadentes, descenderunt ignemque accenderunt; dumque piscem se movere sentirent, ad navem repente fugiendo vix vitam illo se continuo mergente servarunt. Præterea jussu Brendani pisces super undas se levarunt, voceque tonante Deum laudaverunt. Cetus non comedit ut alii pisces, manducando scilicet, cibumque dentibus comminuendo: sed tantummodo glutiendo intra ventriculum pisces immitit. Habet enim oris meautus strictos ad pisces abglutiendos, quos odorifero anhelitu attractos devorat; et in ventrem mittit. Habet insuper in gutture quadam pellem membranæ similem, quæ multis meatibus perforata, non sinit quicquam nisi minutum, ingredi ventrem." Olaus Magnus, de Pisc. monstr. cap. 26, p. 755.

[4] Concerning this curious writing, there is the following information in the preface to the second volume of Pontoppidan's Natural History of Norway: "I have one thing to observe, in this place, with regard to a literary article mentioned in my preface to the first part of this work: I there reckoned the ancient treatise, called Speculum Regale, amongst the books that are lost, and lamented the want of intelligence that might have been collected from it; but I have since been informed, with the greatest pleasure, to the contrary, in a letter from the Honourable Mr Luxdorph, counsellor of state, dated the 20th of January last. I find likewise, (though too late) that a copy of that ancient manuscript is to be found in the university library at Copenhagen, among many other manuscripts given to the university by the late Professor Arnus Magnæus—a catalogue of whose donations deserves to be printed, at least for the information of foreigners and others.

"I am further informed, in that learned gentleman's letter, that the old notion of the Speculum Regale being written by the wise and valiant king Sverre, or at least by his order, and consequently in his time, is entirely without foundation; for Mr Luxdorph observes, that it was written about the latter end of the thirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth century. The author calls himself one of the first in rank at the king of Norway's court, and informs us that he lived in Helgeland, in the diocese of Tronheim. This book is written in the manner of a dialogue betwixt a father and son; containing, besides many good rules, both political and civil, several observations in natural philosophy, relating to the northern countries, but not so much of Norway in particular, as of Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland."—P. viii.

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