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In Norse mythology, the Kraken is said to be a gigantic octopus (or sometimes a squid) that attack sailing ships. It is said that the Kraken would surface at Ragnarök.
So far, I haven't found any articles stating that the Kraken is a single entity. Nor have I found anything which denies it. Is the Kraken a single being or is it a species?
The Kraken is a single entity. However in modern times it became a more loose term having sailors during the 1500-1700s calling giant squids "Krakens". The possibility of so many sightings led people to believe that this was a race.
The Norse mythology named the beast Kraken based on the word Krake means "a twisted animal" while Krake in German means "Octopus"
The Kraken in Norse mythology was definitely a giant squid because octopus was too far south for Norsemen to come into contact with.
In Konungs Skuggsjá it is speculated that there are precisely two of them.
From Laurence M. Larson's translation, The King's Mirror P. 125:
There is a fish not yet mentioned which it is scarcely advisable to speak about on account of its size, which to most men will seem incredible. There are, moreover, but very few who can tell anything definite about it, inasmuch as it is rarely seen by men; for it almost never approaches the shore or appears where fishermen can see it, and I doubt that this sort of fish is very plentiful in the sea. In our language it is usually called the "kraken." I can say nothing definite as to its length in ells, for on those occasions when men have seen it, it has appeared more like an island than a fish. Nor have I heard that one has ever been caught or found dead. It seems likely that there are but two in all the ocean and that these beget no offspring, for I believe it is always the same ones that appear. Nor would it be well for other fishes if they were as numerous as the other whales, seeing that they are so immense and need so much food.
