are impressive

sea cliffs A cliffed coast, also called an abrasion coast, is a form of coast where the action of marine waves has formed steep cliffs that may or may not be precipitous. It contrasts with a flat or alluvial coast. Formation In coastal areas in whic ...

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, just south of the abandoned farm

Keta Keta is a coastal town and the capital of the Keta Municipal District in the Volta Region of Ghana. Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they fe ...

on the

Skagi Skagi is the name of the peninsula between Húnaflói and Skagafjörður, which derives its name from Skagi. There used to be three municipalities in Skagi; two were and , now named Húnabyggð and Skagaströnd, on the western side, which bel ...

peninsula. The cliffs were formed from the remains of an

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

volcano the that the sea has eroded, resulting in rock pillar formations and a large cleft in the rocks. At , which is just over 120 meters tall, there is

columnar basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

and, outside of that, there are isolated rock pillars, the biggest of which is called or "old lady." The cliff is home to rich bird life and the cliffs are a protected site. The national highway used to follow the edge of the cliff and was sometimes considered difficult to travel though. This is because, according to folklore, there was a large settlement of

trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

in and the trolls held parliament in the cleft in cliffs, which was called ("Troll Legislature"). Priests at Keta's church, which was a church served by priests from Hvammur in Laxárdalur, were accustomed to ringing the bell when they arrived at the hill, called (Priests' hill), and continued when they rode alongside the cliffs. When Reverend Hálfdán of

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

served the congregation for a time, he succeeded in getting rid of the trolls using sorcery.

References

{{Authority control Skagafjörður Bird cliffs of Iceland