Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Kraken \Kra"ken\, n. [Prob. from OSw. krake, or ODan. krage the
   trunk of a tree, the branches of which are not entirely cut
   off, to which it was likened by the Norwegian mariners.]
   A fabulous Scandinavian sea monster, often represented as
   resembling an island, but sometimes as resembling an immense
   octopus.

         To believe all that has been said of the sea serpent or
         kraken, would be credulity; to reject the possibility
         of their existence, would be presumption. --Goldsmith.

         Like a kraken huge and black.            --Longfellow.