The Lóndrangar () are a pair of

rock pinnacle A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (, ''Felsturm'' or ''Felszinne'') in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire. is a natural geomorphological ...

s in

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 ...

. They are

volcanic plugs A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcano, volcanic object created when magma hardens within a Volcanic vent, vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if risi ...

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

, that have been hewn out from softer surrounding rock by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

. At 75 and 61 m tall, they are a singular sight, rising above and outside the ocean front due east across from Malarrif and some 10 km from

Hellnar Hellnar () is an ancient fishing village, a cluster of old houses and buildings situated close to Arnarstapi on the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Iceland. Although Hellnar village used to be a major port of call for fishing ves ...

, on the southern coast of

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The peninsula has a volcanic origin having the Snæfellsnes volcanic belt down its centre, and the Snæfellsjökull volcano A volcano is com ...

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

. History has it that the taller of the cliffs was ascended in 1735, while the smaller one was not climbed until 1938. The Lóndrangar are remnants from a bigger

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

which has mostly eroded away. It is reckoned that the rock in the slopes of nearby Svalþúfa is an isolated part of the original rim around the crater itself, with the rest eroded away by the sea. There are many

bird nest A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and Avian incubation, incubates its Bird egg, eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structures built by animals, structure made by the bird itself—such as th ...

s in the steep slopes of the twin towers and birds which can be observed are black-legged kittiwake,

common murre The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a Subarctic, circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming ...

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

and

northern fulmar The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is an abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hemisphere, ...

. At one time the coastal area around Lóndrangar, Drangsvogur , was used for the landing of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

vessels Vessel(s) or the Vessel may refer to: Biology *Blood vessel, a part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body *Lymphatic vessel, a thin walled, valved structure that carries lymph *Vessel element, a narrow wat ...

with up to 12

fishing boats A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

making use of it as a natural

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

Legend

In the Hauksbók recension of the 13th-century ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...

'', the two pinnacles now called Lóndrangar are referred to as the "Drangar rock towers". There, the settler Lón-Einarr is said to have encountered a

troll 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 bei ...

seated on the stacks, whose beating of its feet against the water created great waves and who recited a verse describing how the giants of old once cast boulders into the sea to swamp ships.

References

Sources

West.is 14 July 2010
* Þorsteinn Jósepsson, Steindór Steindórsson, Páll Líndal; Landið þitt Ísland, L-R Örn og Örlygur 1982 {{DEFAULTSORT:Londrangar Snæfellsnes Tourist attractions in Iceland Volcanic plugs of Iceland