Jökulsárbrú, the present bridge was built in 1994, about 1 km south of that built in 1931. The river runs through a fairly deep, narrow (17–18 m) gorge at this point. The new bridge is the highest in Iceland, 40 m above the river. The first bridge, sponsored by German merchants, was built before 1564. According to the folktales of Jón Árnason, a monster, said to have been somewhat bigger than a horse, was seen in the river above the bridge and was also seen from several farms swimming upstream. At one place it stranded on shallows but nobody dared to go and take a closer look.