Image: Kraken size (Olaus Magnus)

Description: The size of the kraken according to Olaus Magnus's indications of the circumference of the eyes of his unnamed monster, which German Conrad Gessner later named: Bart-wal ("bearded whale"), if applied to a giant squid with a body-length/eye-diameter ratio of 1:48 (calculated from a 13 meter long giant squid with 27 cm in eye-diameter); in Carta marina (1539): 16 to 20 feet, in Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (1555): 8 to 10 cubits, assumed as Swedish feet and ells (according to the Swedish translation of the latter, 1909), equivalent to: 4.75 to 5.94 meters, giving an eye diameter of 1.51 to 1.89 meters and a length of 72.5 to 90.7 meters (with a margin up to 92 meters). For comparison, a 32 meter long blue whale, and an approximately 1.8 meters tall human, are shown.
Usage Terms: Public domain