This legend is an epic blend of the ancient myth of the Argonauts and early Croatian maritime traditions, perhaps even a distant reflection of the arrival of Croats to the Adriatic.

Ancient seafarers, the Matâni ziunê Tjarnemuôri (from the Black Sea), sailed across the Mićapônt, Gȁrske muôri, and Velemuôri (the Marmara, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas). Led by Khulȁp (Poseidon), god of the open sea, they faced attacks from the storm demon Šyũun and the sea monster Orkũul (Leviathan). When they reached the island of Krk in the Adriatic (skopãal Khârk vaonȅ Sinȉe muôri), they found flocks of golden sheep grazing on green meadows. Their admiral decided they should settle there and build a town. A white fairy, Divŷca, guardian of the golden sheep, marked the land for settlement near a spring using a ball of wool, but forbade them from looking at the sheep. When they disobeyed, the golden sheep turned into stones (khôguli). Since then, the island of Krk has been covered with rocks, from which our seafarers built the fortifications of vârda Koryntija, between Vrbnik and Baška, at Artu Sokuõl, home to the largest, yet scarcely studied, ancient hillfort on our islands. Tradition holds that these seafarers brought the Veyska zayk (Veljotski language), giving rise to toponyms like the islet Matãan, Matanȍva Bay, Artamatân Cape, Varmatân Peak, Matanistân Fortress, and Matâni Port in Krk.