Old World Monsters
This week took a look at “old world” monsters. When I think of these monsters, my mind goes way back to early mythology. There are many ancient cultures that had monsters as part of their folklore.
One such culture that comes to mind is the Scandinavian culture. These people lived along the area that is now Norway and Greenland. The main body of water to this area is the North Atlantic.
These people were haunted by a legendary gigantic creature known as the Kraken. This creature was gigantic size and had a cephalopod appearance. Cephalopods include creatures like such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus.
The Kraken has ancient origins, but it also has stories being told in modern history are recently as the 18th century.
Swedish 18th century naturalist Carl Linnaeus wrote about the Kraken in the journal called Systema Naturae. In this journal he called the creature Microcosmus.
We also find the Kraken in modern cinema as seen in the movies Clash of the Titans and also in Pirates of the Caribbean.
In the modern day I picture the Kraken causing all kinds of mayhem. If the Kraken was a monster that could be summoned like in the movies, then that opens all kinds of opportunities for a cool story.
Image this, the Kraken lays dormant at the bottom of the ocean waiting to be awakened and summoned to do its masters bidding. In this story a scientist on an archeological dig finds the ancient scrolls with the incantation for summoning the Kraken.
This scientist maybe has a character flaw where is becomes drunk with the thought of possessing such power. Maybe he is even sociopathic with delusions of grandeur and the desire to kill.
Next, he studies the scrolls in an attempt to try and master them so that he can control the. He carefully selects his targets, along the coastline of the North Atlantic.
Then on the big day, the scientist recites the incantations that release the Kraken. The Kraken is awakened, and he is angry and hungry. He is on a mission to wreak havoc on the entire north Atlantic coastline. The Kraken will do the evil destructive bidding of the mad scientist.
The Kraken proceeds to create tidal waves that pummel the coastal cities and drag them into the ocean. Then after the entire coast is washed away, the Kraken will head inland to stomp on more communities.
Of course the Kraken in our day and age would be all the rage on social media.