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- [00:00]
Ryan Reynolds
Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless build? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan $15 a month, even unlimited. That's it. Happy ending, zero tears. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment
- [00:23]
Mint Mobile / Shopify Advertiser
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- [00:40]
Aaron Manke
As long as humans have been sailing, we've had a challenging relationship with the sea. On the one hand, the currents of the ocean have been the lifeblood of human connection. The highway for trade, for travel, and in some cases, for takeover. On the other, riding the wrong waves can quickly land you in a watery grave. And while we've gotten better at predicting marine disasters, ships still suffer at the hands of storms, icebergs, tsunamis, and rogue waves. The sea is an unstoppable force, after all, and a ship not exactly an immovable object. And so it's only natural that historically, those who sailed the seas were a superstitious lot. To avoid misfortune, there were rules to follow. You must never launch a journey on a Friday. You should avoid carrying passengers that are clergy, redheads or women. And unless you want a storm to start brewing, you must never whistle on a ship. Some of these rules might sound a little ridiculous to us today. Others are undoubtedly a product of their time. But many sailors treated them as law. As odd as they seem, though, it's only human to want to control things in the face of danger. But when you're at the mercy of the sea, the only thing you can really control is yourself. In seeking to make sense of the sea, people the world over have come up with a shockingly similar hypothesis. Boats didn't just disappear because of weather or wind or bad timing. These weren't tragic accidents or terrible mistakes. They instead, something stalked these ships with a deadly purpose. They weren't simply lost at sea. They were hunted. And their hunter, a monster from the deep. I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore Legends. As long as we've been crossing oceans, we've been worried about what lurks underneath the waves. For example, Inuit people along the Bering Sea have long told tales of the Akhlut, a ferocious creature the same size and shape as a killer whale. A fisherman being chased by one of these predators might think reaching shore would keep them safe. But sometimes, as they pull their boat up onto the ice, they'll discover that this is no normal orca. The killer whale's limbs would grow long and dark fur would sprout from its skin. And then finally, a wolf would emerge from the surf and the hunt would would be on again. In Japan, people feared the akugyo, a mermaid like creature with the head and arms of a woman, the body of a fish and twin white horns. The akugyo was an opportunity killer. It laid in wait just under the surface, waiting for a boat to sail too close. Hidden in the water, its back would act like a sandbar, causing the boat to get stuck. And then, with a flick of its tail, the akugyo would capsize the boat and eat everyone on board. But I'm guessing that there was a particular image that appeared in your mind when I first said the word sea monster. A giant gelatinous head, long tentacles covered in suckers, and of course, a wicked sharp beak. I'm speaking, of course, of the kraken. Now, the idea of a giant squid
- [04:03]
Sponsor Announcer
like creature can be traced all the
- [04:05]
Aaron Manke
way back to ancient Greece, where Aristotle wrote of a beast he called Teuthos back in 350 BC. But the classic version that we picture today and the word kraken itself both come from medieval Scandinavia. Around the 1200s, Scandinavian sailors returned to shore with fantastical tales. They claim they saw a creature with long, muscular tentacles strong enough to completely destroy a ship. Around the same time, a Norwegian manuscript called the King's Mirror told of an indescribably large fish in the sea near Iceland. The beast was the size of an island and its mouth was as large as a fjord. It wasn't until the modern era that scientists discovered the legends of the kraken may not have been legends at all. They might have been sightings of an incredibly rare but very real the giant squid. These squids can stretch up to 43ft in length and make their homes in the deep ocean where light and warmth never penetrate. Even now, little is known about them. In fact, the earliest footage we have of a living one comes from just 20 years ago. Whether or not a giant squid ever attacked a ship, we don't know. But perhaps one day we may learn that part of the Kraken myth is true as well. The kraken, though, wasn't the only supernatural sea monster with a real life counterpart. In New Zealand, the indigenous Maori told tales of the Tanifa, a race of divine water spirits. Individual tenifa claimed water spirit streams or particular bays, or sometimes even took over caves. And according to different tribes, they appeared in different disguises as reptiles, sharks, octopi, or even unassuming logs. And while some spent their time kidnapping and eating humans, others delighted in helping them. And none more so than pelorus Jack. In 1888, a steamship was heading from Wellington on New Zealand's north island to Nelson on the south. This region of New Zealand is a maze of inlets and winding bays, all difficult to navigate. But the ship encountered a surprising guide, a species called Rizzo's dolphin. The dolphin swam with the ship through the passage before finally leaving it at a strait called French Pass. And for the next 24 years, it proceeded to do exactly the same thing. Pelorus Jack, named after Pelorus Sound, where it seemed to live, would meet ships at either end of the maze and guide them through. And because of this, it was widely accepted that Jack was a Tanifa. And while he seemingly wanted to help humans, he also had no problem leaving them to their fates. In one famous incident, a sailor aboard the SS Penguin took a shot at Pelorus Jack in the early 1900s. And although Jack survived, he seemingly remembered the attack and refused to guide the penguin ever again, which wasn't a good thing. In 1909, the penguin was shipwrecked on its way to Wellington, killing 75 people. It was probably an accident, or perhaps Pelorus Jack took his revenge. All that said, whether Jack was truly a Tenifa or just a particularly clever dolphin is difficult to say. He wouldn't be the first whale spirit to help a human, though. And he certainly wouldn't be the first to hunt one.
- [07:31]
Sponsor Announcer
Stop me if you've heard this one before.
- [07:33]
Aaron Manke
A ship full of explorers are sailing across the seas when they happen upon a small, strange island. It's low and sandy, not rising far out of the water. To the sailors, it seems like a promising place to stop. Perhaps they're hoping to find treasure or in need of a resupply. Maybe they just want to rest on land for the night. Whatever the reason, they drop anchor and come ashore. Before long, the explorers grow hungry. One decides to light a fire and cooks them all something to eat. It's pleasant there on the island. The breeze is soft, the fire is warm, and the ale is flowing. The but as the flames grow higher, something happens. Perhaps the ground shakes or the waves rise. Whatever the sign, one sailor finally realizes what's going on. The island is alive. The sailors, of course, flee for their ship and cast off just in time, because as they retreat, they finally see that the mysterious island is not an island at all. It's the body of a great whale, and it's now thrashing in pain at the fire on its back. Had they stayed one moment longer, they would have been dragged to the bottom of the sea. Now this whale of a tale, with all its variations, appears across cultures and centuries. A letter from 300 AD refers to Alexander the Great encountering a whale disguised as an island and nearly losing his crew. Two hundred years later, the Talmud told the same story, but this time the captain was a hero named rabba. In the 6th century, the Irish explorer Saint Brennan took a band of monks to an island somewhere in the northern Atlantic. When they lit a fire upon it, they only had moments to flee. As the island came alive, they spent hours watching a gargantuan whale, illuminated by their fire, swimming off into the distance. And a few hundred years later, another mysterious whale story appeared, this time in A Thousand and one nights. Like St. Brennan, Rabba and Alexander before him, Sinbad the sailor also mistook a whale for an island, with disastrous results. Over the years, this folkloric tradition came to be called the Devil Whale. With its immense size and volatile nature, the Devil Whale seems to be part of a metaphor for the sea itself. It's too vast to be known and too unpredictable to control. Or perhaps, like the kraken, the Devil Whale could come from something more real. Even without supernatural powers, whales are colossal creatures, and being in their enormous presence can remind us just how insignificant we are. Especially if, like the devil whale, they decide to attack. In 1911, Captain Robert Falcon Scott was leading an expedition to the South Pole. The team had prepared for a hard winter, cold winds and limited food. But they were surprised when a new threat appeared from beneath their feet. When crossing a field of floating ice, Scott and the others noticed a group of orca whales surfacing near the edges of the ice floe they were standing on. That fascination turned to terror, though, when one whale erupted through the middle of the sheet of ice, violently breaking the ice up around it. The orcas weren't just friendly observers. They were actively trying to break the ice beneath the expedition's feet. Scott and his expedition managed to get away safely. He later wrote that the whales were simply after their sled dogs. But it's easy to believe that the orcas may have wanted something more, because whales are intelligent creatures. They can reason things out, they can build a plan and in at least one case, it seems they can even plot their revenge. It was the whaling capital of the world.
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Sponsor Announcer
Now that might not sound like a
- [11:28]
Aaron Manke
big deal by today's standards, but you have to remember, in the 19th century, whales were like the one stop shop of the post Revolutionary war economy. Whalebone and baleen was used in everything from corsets to carriage springs. Spermaceti, the white waxy substance that came from sperm whales, was used for candles and lotions.
- [11:48]
Sponsor Announcer
And in the era of oil lamps
- [11:49]
Aaron Manke
bright, burning smokeless whale oil was a hot commodity. No pun intended, I swear.
- [11:55]
Sponsor Announcer
Catching whales was big business and in
- [11:58]
Aaron Manke
Nantucket, business was booming. But as we all know, the markets can behave a lot like the sea. Sometimes you're riding high and sometimes it can all come crashing down. By November 20th of 1820, the 20 sailors of the Nantucket based whale ship the Essex had been at Sea for 15 months. They'd already bagged a few thousand gallons of whale oil on their way around Cape Horn to the Pacific. And now they were following a pod of sperm whales in the open ocean. According to first mate Owen Chase, things
- [12:28]
Sponsor Announcer
started pretty normal that day.
- [12:30]
Aaron Manke
Most of the crew had left the Essex in three small whaling boats. Their plan was to harpoon a whale, tire it out and then drag it back to the main ship. But not long after their launch, Chase's boat got damaged. He returned to the Essex to make some hasty repairs. And while on board the ship, he suddenly noticed a huge 85 foot male sperm whale acting oddly in the water. While the rest of the pod were busy trying to flee the small whale boats, this one seemed to be focusing on the Essex. Chase would soon realize the whale wasn't actually observing the Essex. Quietly, he was making a plan. By the time Chase figured it out, though, it was too late. The whale dove under the surface to gather speed, then swam straight at the Essex, ramming it hard enough to make the ship shudder. The impact punctured a hole in the hull and water began to pour in. As Chase watched in horror, the whale repeated its attack, this time making for the bow. It crushed the front of the ship and the Essex began to sink below the waves. Chase and the others still aboard quickly grabbed some supplies and sea charts.
- [13:35]
Sponsor Announcer
They loaded into the patched whaling boats
- [13:37]
Aaron Manke
and they shoved off. The two other boats in the water soon came to meet them, and while everyone had survived the devil whale's attack, and they now faced a terrifying new reality. They were just 20 men in three small open boats. They only had food or water for a few weeks and they were thousands of miles from the nearest shore. The three boats struck out for Chile. But after a month at sea, as food and fresh water started to dwindle, the men were growing desperate. On December 20, hope arrived in the form of a tiny island. The men landed and found fresh water, seabirds, crabs and some edible plants. But after just a few days, they had picked the island clean. Three men, too weak to continue, stayed behind While the other 17 were forced to move on. And the tragedies soon began to pile up after that. On January 10th of 1821, the first sailor died and was buried at sea. Two days later, a storm appeared on the horizon, sending the boats in different directions and causing Chase's boat to lose the others. By the 15th, Chase's boat was being harassed by a shark who smelled death upon them. Needless to say, things were bad. The food and water had completely run out, and by February 8th, one of Chase's crew members had succumbed to starvation. The three remaining men in the boat were faced with an impossible do the unspeakable or perish. With heavy hearts, they chose to live, and they ate the remains of their fallen comrade. Their sea mate's sacrifice kept them alive for another 10 days. When finally, on February 18th of 1821, a whole three months after the whale attack had sunk their ship, the men spotted sails on the horizon. Their salvation came in the form of a British merchant ship, the Indian. Imagine being on the crew of that ship. You happen upon a tiny whaleboat in the open ocean, three starving men inside and scattered around them, clothing, blood and bones. Clear signs that to survive, these men had done the ultimate taboo. A few days later, another ship happened upon a second of the Essex whaling boats. And months later, the three men who were left on the island were found as well. Ultimately, just eight of the 20 crew members survived their encounter with the whale. Owen Chase eventually returned to sea. He sailed for several more years, making trips to the same whaling grounds where the Essex had met its fate before retiring in 1840. But although he was back on solid ground, he still felt like he was drowning. And even as an old man safe on land, he squirreled food away in his attic. He couldn't control the sea, nor the whale, but he would make sure that he would never starve again. For the most part, these days, whales have lost their sinister reputation. Perhaps this is a symptom of something bigger. As technology's gotten better and sailing's gotten faster, the world, it seems, has grown smaller. A voyage that once took ship several months now only takes weeks. Sometimes even days. The ocean isn't a new frontier, but a well mapped thoroughfare. And with satellite phones, GPS tracking and safety improvements, it's a whole lot harder to get lost at sea. In this shiny new world, the sea beasts of old feel out of place. Strange new creatures of the deep are still being classified and cataloged. And with every new corner of the ocean we explore, we leave less room for monsters to hide. It feels a bit like the kraken and the white devil have served their purpose. They were used to make sense of the nonsensical, to explain why storms were whipped up, why rogue waves rolled in, and why even the most skilled captains went down with their ships. The same rings true for real life whalers. We're years removed from Nantucket's heyday, and most of us are more likely to go whale watching than whale hunting. Still, though, whales hold a certain fascination for us. And for one man in particular, they became more than an obsession. In 1841, a young sailor had taken work aboard a whale ship in the South Pacific. And one day the sailor ship encountered another vessel and the two crews spent several days together. The sailor quickly found a friend and a guy named William Henry Chase, a crew member from the other ship. And before they parted, William gave the sailor a gift, a copy of his father's book. You see, William's father was Owen Chase. And his book, it was a first person narrative of his survival after the whale sunk the Essex. As you'd imagine, this young sailor couldn't get the story out of his head, not while he was harpooning whales, not after jumping ship in the Marquesas Islands, not even after he returned home. There was something in the tale of the Essex that had gotten under his skin, something about man and God and the fury of the sea. So in 1851, he put his thoughts down on paper and that year he finally published his epic. Today, it's a book that most of us had to read in school, all because a young sailor couldn't let go of a haunting tale of tragedy at sea. The man, of course, was Herman Melville, author of the classic novel Moby Dick. For centuries, the ocean has been a source of wonder and of terror. I hope today's deep dive has given you a fascination for the folklore of the sea and a healthy fear of of what lurks beneath the waves. But it's not time to jump ship just yet. We've got one more tale left that should give you another chance to plunge back into the abyss. Stick around through this brief sponsor break to Hear all about it.
- [19:39]
Sponsor Announcer
This episode was made possible by Squarespace. Long before I created Lore, I was a branding designer. I was helping businesses craft a professional presence that customers could trust. Because if you don't put your best foot forward, it's hard to start the business journey at all, which is something that Squarespace allows anyone to do with ease. Squarespace is the all in one website platform that's designed to help you stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or you're scaling a growing business, Squarespace has you covered, giving you everything that you need all in one place. Whether you're offering consultations and services or selling physical goods or digital downloads, you can showcase your offerings with a website that's designed to attract clients and grow your business. Squarespace also helps you get paid on time with professional on brand invoices and online payments. And they streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools right on your website. Plus, by using basic information about your industry goals and personality, Squarespace can generate personalized design recommendations so that your digital home perfectly represents you. Get started today. Head over to squarespace.com lore for a free trial and when you're ready to
- [20:49]
Aaron Manke
launch, use the offer code LORE to
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Sponsor Announcer
save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Squarespace Build something Beautiful
- [20:59]
Aaron Manke
this episode was
- [21:00]
Sponsor Announcer
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Aaron Manke
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Sponsor Announcer
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- [24:58]
Aaron Manke
For a very long time, the sea and the monsters in it have been associated with the divine. In the story of St. Brennan the Navigator, it is God who reveals to him the true nature of that living island. In Moby Dick, the book inspired by the tragedy of the Essex, the fearsome Captain Ahab seeks revenge against the white whale that took his leg. But his larger battle is actually with God, who Captain Ahab believes is malevolent. It is his cursing of God, not just his quest for vengeance, that ultimately leads to his downfall. In many of these stories, whales and sea monsters are the instruments of the divine. They're often used to punish the disobedient, like the biblical story of Jonah, who at God's command, is swallowed by a whale. But in a very different twist. In one tradition, it was a sea monster who brought God to a nation. The Maldives are a small cluster of islands just south of India and Sri Lanka. Because of their location, they've been a crossroads for trade for hundreds of years. While historically the islanders were Buddhists, by the 12th century, the country had completely converted to Islam. This wasn't strange. Arab travelers, many of whom were Muslim, traveled and traded there all the time. But what was strange was how the change happened. There was no war where Muslims conquered Buddhists. There was no influx of Muslim immigrants to the island. Instead, the reason for the whole country's conversion, at least according to legend, was one man and one monster. Sometime in the 12th century, a man named Abu' l Barakat came to the Maldives. Now, Abul was a merchant, and he was a holy man who had committed the Quran to memory. But most of all, Abu' L was a clever problem solver. And before long, he realized the Maldivians needed his help. You see, the Maldives were under attack. Every month, a strange creature would arrive there. It was massive, appearing in the guise of a ship, all aglow with candles. It was said to be a jinn, a spiritual entity with supernatural powers. And specifically, they said it was the sea demon Rana Mari. And he was hungry. Every month, when Rana Mari would appear, the Maldivians took a young virgin woman, dressed her as a bride, and brought her at nightfall to a temple on the shore when the locals returned in the morning, the woman would be dead. Abul had been staying with an old woman when he came home one day to find her crying as she dressed her daughter in fine clothes. He learned that the Rana Mari had come once more. And that night, his host's only daughter would be sacrificed to appease him. Abu quickly told her to dry her tears, because he had a plan. That night, Ranemari approached the temple on the coast just like it had every other month. And just like every other month, he went inside looking for his bride. But this time, something was different. Because while the figure inside was wearing bridal clothes, it had a low, masculine voice.
- [27:48]
Ryan Reynolds
Voice.
- [27:48]
Aaron Manke
It was chanting something extremely powerful. The words of the Quran. When the old woman arrived the next morning at the temple, expecting to find Abul's corpse, she was surprised to find him alive. She was even more surprised when he told her of the previous night's experience and how the words of the Prophet Muhammad sent the Rana Mari fleeing into the sea. She took him to meet the king of the archipelago, where Abul made a pact. He would stay one more month and send the evil spirits fleeing into the depths again. And if he once more saved a young woman from the Maldives, the king and the whole island would convert to Islam. And here is where the stories diverge. According to some traditions, a month later, Abul had the same interaction with Rana Mari, and his recitation of the Quran was enough to save the island. In other versions of the story, he had a great battle with the monster, finally driving it off for good. But some believe that after the first run in with Abul, Rana Mari slunk off to the deep, never to be seen again. Abul stayed the second month, waited in the temple, but no monster ever came. The power of Abu' L's faith saved the island from a terrifying sea monster. And in return, the Maldives converted to Islam. And as a result, the islanders were never again forced to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. This episode of Lore Legends was produced by me, Erin Manke, with writing by Molly Quindlen Artwick and research by Sam Alberty. Just a gentle reminder that my newest creepy history book, Exhumed, comes out on August 4th. It explores the roots of the New England vampire panic and the story of Mercy Brown, specifically through the lens of centuries of folklore, medical advancements, and pseudoscience. It's available for pre order right now and if you pre order it, it would mean the world to me.
- [29:49]
Sponsor Announcer
If you pre order the hardcover, my
- [29:51]
Aaron Manke
publisher has a webpage set up where you can submit your receipt and get a free gorgeous tote bag. Head over to aaronmanke.comexhumed to lock in your copy today. And if you don't like hearing ads on Lore, don't forget there's a paid version available on Apple Podcasts and Patreon that is 100 AD free. Subscribers there also get weekly mini bonus episodes called Lore Bytes and Patreon. Members get discounts on Lore Merch and access to my Inbox. Learn more about how you can support the show over@lorepodcast.com support and follow the show on YouTube, threads, blue sky or Instagram. Just search for Lore Podcast all one word and then click that follow button. And when you do, say hi. I like it when people say hi. And as always, thanks for listening.
- [30:46]
Mint Mobile / Shopify Advertiser
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