Reynisdrangar — the caught trolls

OVERVIEW

Reynisdrangar are basalt sea stacks standing out of the water beneath the mountain Reynisfjall near the village of Vík í Mýrdal in south Iceland, framed by the black sand beach of Reynisfjara — ranked in 1991 among the ten most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world and still among the most visited places in the country.

HISTORY

The legend is that the stacks are two trolls who had dragged a three-masted ship towards the land and were still at it when day broke; the sun caught them and they became needles of rock. It is the standard Icelandic troll-petrification tradition, told here of a named and visible feature. A later story told in the district concerns a man who found his wife frozen, having been taken by the two trolls in the night, and made them swear never to kill again.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

A tradition rather than a body of sightings, and one still firmly attached to the rock. Reynisdrangar featured in NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on 8 December 2015 under the title 'Icelandic Legends and Aurora'.

VISITING

Reynisfjara beach is open and free, reached from Route 215 west of Vík. It is genuinely dangerous: sneaker waves have killed visitors here. Stay well back from the water, watch the sea, and obey the warning system.