Do Krakens exist?

[HouseFossoway]

Do Krakens exist in ASOIAF?

Krakens are of course mythical in the real world, but so are dragons, and Dragons exist on planetos.

Varys speaks about krakens to the small council, but, it's never been confirmed whether that was just a wild rumor.

According to the wiki, krakens are considered to be myth by the westerosi, but then again, so are the white walkers.

However, since snarks and grumkins probably don't exist, I don't think we can rule out the fact that krakens could be another myth.

 

I guess what I'm asking is: do Krakens fall into the snarks and grumkins category of magical creatures (don't exist), or into the direwolf and dragons category of magical creatures (do exist).

 

[LordImp]

I think Krakens exist , but i doubt we will see one. 

[LiveFirstDieLater]

Krakens exist in real life... Aka giant squid...

not as aggressive dragon like mythical monsters, but tentacles wash up on shore from time to time... Probably started the ledgends like dinosaur bones did for dragons.

But I don't think there is any reason to think they don't exist in ASoIaF

[Sir Matthis Light]

Where did the Greyjoys get the idea for their banner then? <--- Thats the way I see it.

[Light a wight tonight]

Just now, Sir Matthis Light said:

Where did the Greyjoys get the idea for their banner then? <--- Thats the way I see it.

Where did Wales get the idea for the griffin on their flag?

[Light a wight tonight]

I want krakens to be real, and I want one to eat one of the dragons.

[Raisin' Bran]

I am in the existing camp. Though I think Varys report was to throw the small council off the news of Dany's dragons, at least for the time.

[LynnS]

I think so but they are deep ocean creatures, rarely seen.  The wider waters of the oceans aren't known or mapped.  Shipping is primarily across the Narrow Sea and hugging the coastlines.  A medieval society might have rare reports of them; but few people would actually see them.

As many times as he had visited White Harbor, Davos had never set foot inside the New Castle, much less the Merman's Court. Its walls and floor and ceiling were made of wooden planks notched cunningly together and decorated with all the creatures of the sea. As they approached the dais, Davos trod on painted crabs and clams and starfish, half-hidden amongst twisting black fronds of seaweed and the bones of drowned sailors. On the walls to either side, pale sharks prowled painted blue-green depths, whilst eels and octopods slithered amongst rocks and sunken ships. Shoals of herring and great codfish swam between the tall arched windows. Higher up, near where the old fishing nets drooped down from the rafters, the surface of the sea had been depicted. To his right a war galley stroked serene against the rising sun; to his left, a battered old cog raced before a storm, her sails in rags. Behind the dais a kraken and grey leviathan were locked in battle beneath the painted waves.  aDwD Davos III

As for snarks and grumkins; Arya tells us that grumkins are Faceless Men.

Jaqen still owed her one death. In Old Nan's stories about men who were given magic wishes by a grumkin, you had to be especially careful with the third wish, because it was the last. Chiswyck and Weese hadn't been very important. The last death has to count, Arya told herself every night when she whispered her names. But now she wondered if that was truly the reason she had hesitated. So long as she could kill with a whisper, Arya need not be afraid of anyone . . . but once she used up the last death, she would only be a mouse again. aCoK Arya IX

 

[Blackfyre Bastard]

I think there are plenty of mentions and reports about krakens to not disregard the possibility of their existence. 

In ASoS, Varys reports that a kraken attacked an Ibbenese whaler, and Jorah tells Dany of legends of dragons so big they pulled krakens from the sea.

In AFfC, we get the legend of Nagga, referenced by Jorah.

and also 

Spoiler

in TWoW preview of Arianne I, she gets news of "krakens off the Broken Arm, pulling under crippled galleys"

 

[Mat92]

I can't remember where I saw this, but I remember reading that someone asked GRRM if we would ever see a kraken before the end of the series and he was surprised by the question.

I don't think we're going to see one in the series, however I do believe that they exist or did exist at one point in history - or at least a variation such as a giant squid that may have been exaggerated over the years.
 

[GyantSpyder]

You can prove the existence of Krakens using the ontological argument -

• The Kraken is the greatest octopus that exists.
• The Kraken exists as a family sigil.
• A real Kraken would be greater than a Kraken on a family sigil.
• If the Kraken is not real and just on a sigil, we can imagine an octopus greater than the Kraken (a real one).
• But we cannot imagine an octopus greater than the Kraken.
• Therefore, the Kraken exists.

[Lord Lyman]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 5:18 PM, Light a wight tonight said:

Where did Wales get the idea for the griffin on their flag?

They didn't. That's known as "The Red Dragon of Cadwaladr". Cadwaladr is considered a mythical redeemer figure in Welsh culture.

[LiveFirstDieLater]

11 minutes ago, GyantSpyder said:

You can prove the existence of Krakens using the ontological argument -

• The Kraken is the greatest octopus that exists.
• The Kraken exists as a family sigil.
• A real Kraken would be greater than a Kraken on a family sigil.
• If the Kraken is not real and just on a sigil, we can imagine an octopus greater than the Kraken (a real one).
• But we cannot imagine an octopus greater than the Kraken.
• Therefore, the Kraken exists.

This is not only illogical and fallacious... It's silly

[Macgregor of the North]

I believe they exist and will play a part.

The Kraken horn at Claw Isle will be found (possibly by Salla) and Krakens will enter the fray and inspire on page chaos at sea. My personal belief anyway. 

[Beautiful Bloody Sword]

3 hours ago, Macgregor of the North said:

I believe they exist and will play a part.

The Kraken horn at Claw Isle will be found (possibly by Salla) and Krakens will enter the fray and inspire on page chaos at sea. My personal belief anyway. 

Yup, I agree. We have dragons and a dragon horn, many sightings of krakens and a kraken horn. Potato Potato.

[[Deleted]]

They are most likely real. You've never heard anyone scoff and dismiss them the way they have the Others, giants, dragons, etc. They just seem to take in stride "Oh, yeah, krakens. Bad news, that lot. Anyway, what's for lunch?"

[Zoo_Dane]

I believe that they exist but we won't see any. Dany would be the only POV I could see coming into contact with a kraken, on her way to westeros, but I'm not sure what that would add to the story. 

[Lord Vance II]

If there are dragons, ice dragons, wyverns, mammoths, giants and white walkers, I don't see any reason why there wouldn't be gigantic, sometimes aggressive squid. Doubt we'll actually see one though. 

 

[estermonty python]

I can see why GRRM would have been surprised by the question.  The kraken is partially just a pirate reference but mostly is a Lovecraft homage.  You don't make easter eggs into important plot points, they are just there so readers in the know will get that the Ironborn are part of the Cult of Cthulu.  I think its fairly transparent that the Greyjoy sigil isn't a kraken at all, but rather is supposed to be the head of the Drowned God, aka Cthulu.

There's a wild theory out there that Euron's endgame is to bring about the return of Cthulu, actually, which is totally bananas IMO but would be the only way we'd see a "kraken," as it were.  

[Wrl6199]

Yeah Krakens exist. Well They are talked about but their mythical in westeros. An iron-born legend was that a sea dragon named Nagga was able to feed  on Krakens and leviathans. The south sea of drone was supposed to be infested with krakens. Plus the arms of house grey-joy was a kraken.