After 700 years, scientists solve mystery of sea monster of Norse legend

The mythical creature was said to have massive jaws and prey on other marine life... not unlike a whale (right)

Sarah Knapton

March 01 2023 02:30 AM

The dreaded sea monster “hafgufa” of Norse legend was said to emit an irresistible perfume that lured fish straight into its open mouth while it lay stationary in the water.

In the 14th-century saga of Orvar-Odds, the creature was said to stay largely beneath the waves, only breaching the surface so it could open its massive jaws, and wait patiently for prey to sail between its treacherous teeth.

Now, researchers believe that what ancient sailors were reporting was actually the feeding behaviour of whales.

In 2011, scientists first documented whales feeding at the surface of the water with their jaws wide open at right angles, passively waiting for shoals of fish to swim directly into their mouths.

This strategy seems to work because the fish think they have found a place to shelter from predators, not realising they are swimming into danger. Marine biologists began hunting through the literature to see if it had been recorded earlier. They found similar reports dating back more than 2,000 years, in ancient accounts of sea monsters.

“It struck me the Norse description of the hafgufa was very similar to the behaviour of trap-feeding whales, but I thought it was just a coincidence,” said Dr John McCarthy, a maritime archaeologist at Flinders University, Adelaide. “Once I started looking into it, we realised that the oldest versions of these myths do not describe sea monsters at all, but a type of whale.

“The more we investigated it, the more interesting the connections became and the marine biologists we spoke to found the idea fascinating.”

The research was published in the journal, Marine Mammal Science.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2023]