Scientists unravel the mystery of the sea monster “hafguf” from myths

Scientists from the Australian University of Flinders have found out what actually was the monster “hafguf” from Scandinavian myths. The creature, described in the ancient sagas, froze in the water with its mouth wide open in an upright position and waited for fish and even ships to swim inside.

How write in The Telegraph, the mention of “hafguf” was found in the myths of Iceland until the 18th century as often as descriptions of mermaids and krakens. Some legends said that sailors could end up in the monster’s mouth, mistaking its teeth for rocks.

Now researchers have found out that the monster from the legends actually exists: sailors mistook whales for it. So, it turned out that the way to wait for prey, described in the sagas, corresponds to the behavior of whales.

Since 2011, these mammals have been spotted hunting in this manner several times, with marine life frozen vertically on the surface with their mouths wide open and waiting for a fish to land there.

At first, scientists believed that this way of getting their own food appeared among whales recently, but studying the literature on animal behavior, including legends, changed their point of view.

“I was struck that the Scandinavian description of “hafguf” is very similar to the behavior shown in the video, where whales hunt with such a “trap”,” explained marine archaeologist Dr. John McCarthy, admitting that he initially thought it was an interesting coincidence.

Dr. Erin Sebo clarified that the behavior of the monster from the myths is one of the ways of hunting whales, which was recorded in the legends of people in antiquity.

Previously REN TV wrote that a “monster fish” was found on a beach in the UK. The frightening creature, more than a meter long, was found to be a conger fish.