Norway’s a fishing nation. With miles of indented coastline, glacial fjords and deep bays, Norwegians have always relied on seafood. Warm Gulf Stream waters keep the channels open and the harbors largely ice-free. Locals dry their catch to be re-hydrated during freezing winter months. To be a fisherman in Norway is to be honored, feted and lavished from all corners of society.
Fishing in Norway is dangerous. Historians from the Norwegian Historical Society estimate that up to 10 percent of 16th-century Norwegian ships were lost at sea. Storms, collisions, rogue icebergs and poor ship design played a role as did piracy and navigational error. But to nautical explorers of yore there was another cause of shipwrecks at sea: mythic sea monsters prowling the vast oceans searching for seamen to devour.
All fishermen were familiar with whales. These enormous creatures uttered low-toned guttural roars and struck the hulls of ships creating colossal wave formations. During evenings when visibility was low, creatures even more ferocious than whales emerged. In 1539, a cartographer named Olaus Magnus created a map called the Carta Marina. It was an accurate detailing of Norwegian coastal geography. It was also a chart with illustrations of sea monsters reportedly encountered by sailors.
The fiercest beast was a Sea Orm. This massive serpent was 200-feet long and 20-feet thick with sharp teeth and an abnormally long tongue. Depicted in the upper right corner of the map, a Sea Orm could wrap itself around a fishing vessel and plunge the ship into the depths. Magnus reported 10 vicious attacks upon Norwegian vessels resulting in hundreds of deaths. His description of the feared Sea Orm was translated into English in 1658.
On the Coasts of Norway, they who employ themselves in fishing do all agree that there is a Serpent of a vast magnitude wont to live in Rocks and Caves toward the Sea-coast which will go alone from his holes in a clear night, in Summer and devour Calves, Lambs, and Hogs. He hath common hair hanging from his neck, and sharp Scales, and is black and hath flaming shining eyes. This Snake disquiets the Shippers, and he puts up his head on high like a pillar, and catcheth away men, and devours them.
Another sea monster described by Magnus was a Kraken. This was a giant squid considered to be the largest creature in the sea. Kraken were inspired by Old Testament references to leviathans found in Psalms, The Book of Job and The Book of Isaiah. Norwegian seafarers believed the Kraken was an agent of Satan attracting sinners to their deaths. Its breath was sweet, its jaws voracious and it hid among floating tree logs. When it attacked, it overwhelmed a ship with 30-foot long tentacles capable of destroying a vessel in minutes.
The legend of the Kraken originated with sightings of giant squids at sea. These beasts were also called “harrow” from which the term “harrowing” arose. These myths evolved into complex stories and cautionary tales. In 1866, Victor Hugo wrote The Toilers of the Sea, a novel about a giant man-eating octopus. Four years later Jules Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea also featuring a murderous giant squid.
Another vintage beast was a Prister (Figure B on the map). This creature was 200-feet long with a face resembling a warthog, a huge forked tail, finned feet and dual blowholes atop the head. Pristers were fierce and aggressive and coiled their long muscular tails around ships squeezing until the vessel was destroyed. They sucked in massive quantities of water to be spouted over a ship until it toppled. Magnus counseled that one way to fend off a Prister was through blowing a trumpet. This technique derived from the Book of Isaiah and Revelations where angels announced themselves with trumpet calls before engaging in battle with demons.
Pristers were also called Physeters (“blowers”) a term associated with sperm whales. (The scientific name of a sperm whale is physeter macrocephalus.) In 1532, Rabelais published a comic novel called Pantagruel about the adventures of a popular giant in France. The main character encounters a Prister spouting water higher than a ship’s masts. Pantagruel (the giant) shoots arrows at the Prister until it “turns belly up as do all dead fish.”
Magnus also wrote about Moskstraumen, a phenomena of tidal eddies and whirlpools strong enough to sink a ship. Gigantic whales masquerading as land formations at sea supposedly caused these treacherous conditions. Rather than attack ships, Island Whales waited for mariners to dock their boats and come ashore. The sailors made camp, lit fires and prepared for a restful night on land. Once the seamen were asleep, the Island Whales plunged into the depths taking the men with them.
Island Whales were inspired by tales of actual whale attacks at sea. Whaling played an important role in Norwegian culture. Locals used whale oil to heat their homes and ate whale meat as part of their diet. Though whale attacks were rare, the act of hunting and killing a whale was violent enough to capsize a ship. Two centuries later, the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820 inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.
An obvious question is why did ancient Norwegians so readily believe in monsters? One reason is their wholesale belief in Norse mythology. Creatures like trolls, elves, jötnars (giants), draugrs (zombies) and fenrirs (werewolves) were actual beings to Norwegians. Food and drink were offered to appease these unseen creatures.
Another reason people believed in monsters was to help cope with the rigors of ocean life. Monsters reflect our shadow side, that which we fear most. Dependency on the ocean for survival is terrifying. Many go to sea and never come back. Imagining a monster gives shape to one’s nightmares and helps ease fears. A monster might be horrific, but it’s a known quantity. The only thing more terrifying is the unknown.