Pen and wash drawing by malacologist Pierre D??nys de Montfort, 1801, from the descriptions of French sailors reportedly attacked by such a creature off the coast of Angola.
Description The Legend of The Kraken
Tennyson's poem is based on the legendary sea monsters said to have been seen off the coast of Norway and Iceland. According to sailors' reports, Kraken were creatures of enormous size,who would attack a ship, wrap their arms around the hull and capsize it. The legendary Kraken is probably what we know today as the giant squid.
According to Kraken this image was based of a creature French sailors reported attacking their ship off the coast of Angola.
Source from Image:Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort.jpg where it was uploaded by user:Salleman.
Date 1810
Author Pierre Denys de Montfort († 1820)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Colossal_octopus_by_Pierre_Denys_de_Montfort.jpg |
