5 Sea Monsters: Truth Or Legend?
Man’s relationship with animals has changed in many ways throughout history. The human imagination has created a great variety of stories that have animals as protagonists, where fantasy and reality often mix. Thus many terrifying creatures are born, such as sea monsters.
Sea Monsters: Truth or Legend?
The vast depths of the world’s oceans and seas and little knowledge of them has spawned numerous myths and legends regarding alleged sea monsters. However, the existence of most of them is impossible from a purely scientific point of view.
However, there is a pseudo discipline, cryptozoology, which studies animals whose existence is hypothesized on circumstantial grounds. Among them, there are creatures such as sea monsters.
5 sea monsters
Kraken
This creature from Scandinavian mythology is usually described as a giant octopus with many tentacles. It was a terrible animal that suddenly emerged from the depths of the oceans, sinking ships and devouring its occupants.
It is assumed that this legend – born towards the end of the 13th century – is based on the sighting of giant squid. The human imagination and the scientific limitations of the time turned them into ruthless sea monsters. Kraken’s destructive action was also featured in several films, including those in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga.
Leviathan
If we travel much further back in time, we find a monster that inhabited the seas in Semitic legends. Leviathan was a heavenly being who ended up serving the forces of evil.
This fearsome creature, mentioned in the Old Testament, was described by sailors as half dragon and half snake. It was also said to be a massive whale capable of devouring, with its enormous jaws, entire ships with crews and that it had a penchant for human flesh.
Jörmundgander
Again, Norse mythology is the primary source of sea monster legends. In this case, it is a giant snake that, if it bit its tail, could surround the world.
Also known as the “serpent of Midgard”, referring to the world of men, the Jörmundgander was the son of Loki, god of evil and the giant Angrboda. His greatest enemy was the god Thor , who managed to kill him, but ended up dying from his poison.
Hydra, one of the oldest sea monsters
In Greek mythology, the most famous sea monster is certainly the Hydra, a large sea snake with multiple heads covered in scales and with a poisonous breath. Daughter of two other monstrous creatures ( Typhoon and Echidna ), she inhabited the waters of the Gulf of Argolis.
Hydra was able to regenerate her heads when they were cut off and was the guardian of the entrance to the Underworld, the realm of the dead. She was able to annihilate all those who wanted to enter that territory, until Hercules managed to kill her.
Morgawr
Much more recent, the appearances of the so-called Cornish monster are quite famous now. It is assumed that this creature, a huge sea snake, inhabits the coasts of Cornwall, England.
Most of the sightings occurred around the mid-1970s of the last century. Morgawr remembers Nessie, the famous creature that would live in Loch Ness. However, it seems that both are just an invention to attract onlookers and tourists.
