Gallery: Kraken and Owl Whales: Take a Dip With History's Most Terrifying Sea Monsters
01ziphius
Imagine you’re a 16th century Scandinavian sailor. Alright, I’ll help you. Just pretend you’re drunk and sway around a bit like you’re on a bobbing ship. And you have an eyepatch for good measure. Now comes along Olaus Magnus. He hands you the most magnificent map you've ever seen – his [*Carta Marina*](http://www.ub.uu.se/en/Collections/Map-collections/Section-for-Maps-and-Pictures-map-collection/Carta-Marina/), which happens to also include profoundly bizarre and ferocious sea monsters. Some are big enough to be mistaken for islands, others have blades on their backs for slicing open ships, and almost all have a taste for human meat. You're no longer lost, but unfortunately for you, you've gone catatonic with fear, because you're holding what is perhaps history’s premier document of sea monster lore. And you're on the sea. In a beautiful new exploration of the *Carta Marina*, [*Sea Monsters: A Voyage Around the World’s Most Beguiling Map*](http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo14717804.html), scholar Joseph Nigg dives deep into the history and wide influence of Olaus' bizarre creatures. "It’s like today’s whale-watching tours," Nigg told WIRED via email, "but this one is up a seam in time, just as medieval thought was fading and marine zoology was in its infancy." "I’ve always been fascinated by how the imagination creates its own beasts from those of the actual animal kingdom," he added. "By their very size, the medieval monsters in the northern seas of the *Carta Marina* dominate the hundreds of historical, cultural, and natural history figures on the map. To Olaus, the hearsay monsters were just as real as familiar land animals." Take the ziphius, shown above, which gets its name from *xiphias*, Greek for sword. It is so named because it swashbuckles all over the high seas, “doing mischief” by cutting open vessels with its sword-like dorsal fin. The critter has the head of an owl, which Olaus just calls “ugly.” And he can’t even bring himself to name the monster that’s in the process of taking a bite out of the ziphius, though if I were to take a stab at it, it’d be the stink-eyed saber-tooth mohawk fish. In the ziphius’ mouth is a seal, whose own mouth is agape, as if to say, “Oh, dang.” And the inspiration here, writes Nigg, is likely the orca, which has a similar dorsal fin and propensity for eating seals and sea lions in [the gutsiest way possible](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks40worW_gQ). We’ve compiled the most fearsome, weirdest, and most ridiculous creatures from Nigg’s book, which is available September 15. So come with us now on a journey through rough waters and nasty, big, pointy teeth. *Ziphius image courtesy James Ford Bell Library* *Click the map below for a high-res version.* [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2015/09/seamonsters-map1.jpg) *Map courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
02sea-serpent
The Sea Serpent --------------- You can thank the *Carta Marina* for popularizing one of the most famous marine monsters: the sea serpent. Olaus’ beast is some 200 feet long and 20 feet thick, with “hair hanging from his neck a Cubit long” – a cubit being about a foot and a half, which makes the serpent a sort of Santa Claus of the high seas. (The cartographer's descriptions of his beasts, released 16 years after the *Carta Marina*, at times contradict the map. Hence no beard here.) The sea serpent is, as you might expect, foul-tempered and mean-spirited. Olaus draws here from [the Norse myth of Jörmungandr](http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/J%C3%B6rmungandr.html), a serpent that Odin tossed into the ocean, where it grew so long that it eventually circled the globe. When it comes time for the Ragnarök, a kind of apocalyptic battle royale, Odin and Jörmungandr will kill each other. So get ready for that. Beyond legend, tales of sea serpents of course have their groundings in actual sightings of strange ocean creatures, such as whales or sharks. A more likely inspiration would be the patently ridiculous oarfish, pictured below. [Growing up to 56 feet long](http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8501000/8501251.stm) (the longest we’ve recorded – they may of course come larger), it’s the closest thing yet discovered to the sea serpent of lore. It usually calls the depths its home, but will at times surface or wash ashore, probably with the intention of [getting its picture taken with humans](http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/showthread.php/81929-Isla-San-Marcos-Sea-Story-09-01-07-%A1OARFISH!).  *Sea serpent image: courtesy James Ford Bell Library* *Oarfish image: [Wikimedia Commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mekongnaga.jpg)*
03pristers
Pristers -------- Pristers appear three separate times in the *Carta Marina*, and in each place they’re causing trouble for sailors by either firing ship-sinking torrents of water out of their dual blowholes or just going ahead and making themselves comfortable on the deck. They’re whales. Very angry whales. (Baleen whales do in fact have two blowholes, though they don’t exactly look like straws.) If you think you’re going to get away with firing a cannon at a prister, Olaus warns that its “Rampart of mighty fat” is virtually impenetrable, though the creature would startle a bit at the sound. More effective would be to pour lye in the water, in the chance you have a bunch of that just taking up space. Better yet, fire off some trumpets, apparently in case pristers hate jazz, and drop empty barrels in the water. According to another 16th century text, pristers “may play and sporte theym, because they are delited in playing with such thinges.” This is where we get the somewhat obscure proverb “like a tub thrown out to a whale,” meaning something that distracts from the issue at hand. Whale attacks on ships have been well documented in modern times. In 1820, the vessel Essex was [deliberately rammed twice and sunk by a sperm whale](http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/01/books/resurrecting-the-tale-that-inspired-and-sank-melville.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm), and 30 years later, the Ann Alexander suffered the same fate. The Essex was in fact the inspiration for *Moby-Dick*, which it turns out was a pretty realistic book, though probably a bit too long for most folks.   *Images courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
04the-rockas
The Rockas ---------- Sailors weren’t totally without monstrous allies, however. This is the rockas, a giant ray known to come to the rescue of swimmers beset by “Sea-Dog-fish,” which Nigg reckons are likely spiny dogfish, a kind of shark. These evil little bastards target a man’s “tender parts,” those being nostrils, fingers, and “Privities,” a terrifying scenario that almost played out but not really [in the waters of Denmark last month](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130813-pacu-piranha-testicle-biting-fish-invasive-species/). The idea of benevolent sea life goes back even farther to Odysseus, whose son Telemachus was supposedly rescued by dolphins, a behavior that’s been [well cataloged beyond mere legend](http://www.today.com/id/21689083/ns/today-today_news/t/dolphins-save-surfer-becoming-sharks-bait/#.UhT_ZWQ6VQ4). It’s hard to imagine a ray doing the same, however, even if they had a dolphin’s incredible intelligence, given that most species spend their time on river bottoms or sea floors. The monstrous rockas finds real-world counterparts in the enormous [manta ray](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yihoIvUBDM4) and the giant freshwater stingray of Southeast Asia, which was only discovered in 1989. [Growing up to 16.5 feet long](http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/giant-freshwater-stingray/), the giant stingray is docile and uninterested in rescuing humans, though when threatened it won’t hesitate to make use of its 15-inch barb. Which is toxin-coated. And has backward-facing serrations. So yeah if you’re drowning in a Southeast Asian river it might be best not to ask a giant freshwater stingray for help, just in case. *Image courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
05sea-swine
The Sea Swine ------------- Up until the era of modern science, folks used to think that every land animal had a corresponding version in the ocean. And a sea pig, according to Olaus, would look a little something like this. It had eight eyes, quite unlike a regular pig, “four feet like a Dragons \[sic\],” also quite unlike a regular pig, and “a quarter of a Circle, like the Moon, in the hinder part of its head,” which, let’s face it, is quite unlike anything to ever exist. The reason for these obvious discrepancies is that Olaus had created a rather thorough allegory for heretical people, according to Nigg. The dragon feet they use to spread around evil, the eyes represent their temptations to others, and the misplaced moon stands for their distortion of truth. Olaus really had it out for heretics, specifically Protestants. I’m not editorializing here. I don’t mind Protestants. But as a devout Catholic, Olaus really didn’t like them. Like, so much so that he created a monster to represent them. You’d be right to think the sea swine was probably based on a walrus, only with way more eyes. With its tusks – turned down as opposed to the pig’s upturned tusks – and its flippers, the walrus was likely the inspiration here, at least in part. Which begs the question: What do you get when you mix a Protestant and a walrus? A pretty clear indication of one mapmaker’s deep-seated religious rage. *Image courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
06the-rosmarus
The Rosmarus ------------ We might call the rosmarus the dandy of the high seas – a sea dandy, if you will. Just look at that coat. All swirly and resplendent. Anyway, like the sea swine, the rosmarus seems to have been based on a walrus, a walrus with awesome taste. Olaus tells us that the rosmarus is by no means restricted to the ocean lifestyle. They’re able to “raise themselves with their Teeth, as by Ladders to the very tops of Rocks,” though are prone to fall asleep while up there. In this case, men have been known to set upon the rosmarus and skin it alive (you can’t tell me you wouldn’t do anything for that coat), leaving the rascal to “descend, spoiled” back into the sea. *Image courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
07island-whale
The Island Whale ---------------- It’s a tale as old as time, or at least one that’s been told for a few thousand years. A ship sails up to an island, anchors to it, and unloads its crew. The men start a fire, and the island suddenly heaves up and sinks, dragging the poor souls with it. The moral of the story? Don’t start a fire on a giant whale’s back. Well, it’s more complicated than that. From Alexander the Great to the *Arabian Nights* on up to the *Carta Marina*, the island whale has served as an enduring sea myth. It can be just a regular old tall tale, or, as Nigg notes, it take on complicated religious symbolism: The whale is the devil, whose sweet breath lures fish, and fixing yourself to him will be your downfall. John Milton would later invoke the brute in *Paradise Lost*, comparing Lucifer – chained and sprawled out in a burning lake in hell – to an island whale, which I assume is some kind of fat joke. *Image courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
08the-kraken
The Kraken ---------- The Kraken is a brand of rum that I in no way recommend drinking in excess, as it is very powerful. But long before I may or may not have made that mistake – all the way back to antiquity, in fact – legends told of a creature that went by many names, though we know it today as [the kraken](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb2zIR2rvRQ). Olaus’ imagining of the fiend comes as a part walrus part cephalopod amalgam, with its strangely placed tentacles and large eyes like those of squids. It’s a beast whose roots trace back to Norwegian tales of the [hafgufa](http://books.google.com/books?id=6MUCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA649#v=onepage&q&f=false), more of a giant fish than a squid, with habits of sudden disappearance like that of the island whale and a propensity for belching. In time that beast morphed into a squid or octopus, with a bishop by the name of Erich Pontoppidan describing it in great detail in 1755, saying it was "about an English mile and a half in circumference" with arms as long as ship masts. Not that I think you shouldn't ever go in the ocean again, but just to be safe, you should never go in the ocean again, because the kraken kinda exists. Two types of kraken, actually: the [giant squid](http://news.nationalgeographic.com.au/news/2006/12/061222-giant-squid.html) and the [colossal squid](http://squid.tepapa.govt.nz/anatomy/article/the-arms-and-tentacles), which are quite capable of ruining your day. Both can grow to over 40 feet long. Giant squid have hundreds of [serrated suckers](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01435/giant_squid_1435919c.jpg), and to that the colossal squid is like, aw that's cute. Because its suckers hold swiveling hooks. [I'm not kidding](http://squid.tepapa.govt.nz/images/gallery/anatomy/article-03/tentacles/image-01.jpg). *Image courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
09sea-rhinoceros
The Sea Rhinoceros ------------------ In keeping with the marine counterparts for land animals theory, Olaus here has constructed his idea of a sea rhinoceros, which also assumes many characteristics of sea horses, except the whole being tiny thing. While Olaus did not describe this beast – unlike his other creations – we can divine where he found inspiration for it. In 1515 a German by the name of [Albrecht Dürer](http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/durr/hd_durr.htm) produced a bizarre woodcut of a rhinoceros (shown below) based only on other drawings and accounts of the creature. It’s gorgeous and of course highly inaccurate, what with the extra horn and all, and it had tremendous influence on mapmakers, quickly making its way into charts of Ethiopia and India. It’s clear that Olaus borrowed the skin patterns of Dürer’s rhino for his fearsome sea rhinoceros, Nigg notes. All of this figures into European culture’s obsession with the unicorn. Aristotle identified the Indian ass, likely a rhino, as one type of unicorn, the other being the oryx, [which in fact has two horns](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_Rainbirder_-_Beisa_Oryx_(Oryx_beisa).jpg). But one could have come off, or the observer only saw a profile of the animal, and you end up with a unicorn. As Albert Einstein once said, imagination is more important than knowledge.  *Sea rhino image: courtesy James Ford Bell Library* *Dürer rhino image: [Wikimedia Commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%BCrer%27s_Rhinoceros,_1515.png)*
10the-polypus
The Polypus ----------- Lobsters are delicious. Giant lobsters several times the size of a man, and indeed capable of plucking sailors off boats, are completely unacceptable, though probably still delicious. Olaus introduces us to such a pinchy fiend, the polypus, meaning “many-footed,” claiming that it pulls prey into “the holes where he resides” and skins them alive. Oddly, he also mentions that the polypus can change its color to match its surroundings, which is perhaps one of the [most defining characteristics of cephalopods](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDTtkZlMwM), such as the octopus. Nigg notes that Pliny the Elder, a Roman whose enormous and highly influential encyclopedia [*Natural History*](http://archive.org/details/plinysnaturalhis00plinrich) cataloged both real and imagined creatures, described spiny lobsters in the Indian Ocean as being up to 8 feet long. Olaus’ polypus wouldn’t be too far off this mark. The largest lobster ever was caught in 1977 in Nova Scotia and [clocked in at 44 pounds](http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2012/02/largest-lobster-ever-caught-in-maine-has-claws-that-can-break-your-arm-1.html), and while its length was not measured, it’s estimated to have been around 4 feet long. Scientists reckon lobsters might live for a century, and since they never stop growing – repeatedly discarding their carapaces and forming new ones – with enough time they can reach epic sizes. So while hyperbolically large, above all of Olaus’ creatures the polypus’ size was at least grounded in some science, given the beast could live for an unreasonable amount of time, like Joan Rivers. *Image courtesy James Ford Bell Library*
