Drangey Bird Cliff in North Iceland and the Viking Grettir the Strong

I went on a truly memorable trip when I sailed by boat from Drangeyjarferðir tours, and climbed up to the top of the steep Drangey Island sea cliff in Skagafjörður fjord in North Iceland.

There is only one accessible path to the top of Drangey Island - on the man-made path at Uppgönguvík or the Climbing-Up-Cove. It is a steep path up to the top of the 180 m high cliff, but there are ropes and chains to make the ascent easier. And a ladder on the final climb. 

Top photo: Puffins on Drangey Island - all my photos are taken in fog, so they are a bit gloomy

On the boat tour arriving at Drangey island

Drangey cliff is well known in Icelandic history, as here one of the best-known Vikings in Iceland, Grettir the Strong Ásmundarson (around 996) from the Grettis Saga, sought refuge for his 3 final years of being an outlaw.

Grettir is known for being the longest-surviving outlaw in the Viking history of Iceland; he was an outlaw for almost 20 years!

Climbing up Drangey

When I joined this tour I had a fear of heights and I was terrified of being so high up, and I was holding on to the rope for dear life, as you can see in the photo below.

Fortunately, I was mostly cured of this phobia by hypnosis a year later.

Grettir stayed on Drangey Island for 3 years with his brother Illugi, and Glaumur, who had asked to come with them and work for them - and here Grettir was brutally slain when he was 44 years old.

I was holding on to the rope for dear life 

Grettir was terrified of the dark after his battle with the feared ghost Glámur, who hunted Grettir's dreams. He did not want to be alone in Drangey, so his brother Illugi offered to stay with him.

Their poor mother, Ásdís, had to say goodbye to her boys, knowing that she would never see them alive again.

Grettir had chosen the Drangey cliff as his asylum, on the advice of Guðmundur ríki - the rich, who was a well-known character in the Sagas, as there is only one way to climb up to the top of this very steep cliff in the middle of the sea.

When Grettir was living on the island 2 ladders were put up to climb up on top of Drangey, but if the ladders were removed there was no other way to access the island, so Grettir was safe here. 

This made Drangey a great hideaway for Grettir, who was hunted for his entire outlawry.

Drangey Island - we were quite high up and I felt dizzy

Nowadays there are ropes and chains to help visitors climb up to the top, and the final climb is done via a ladder. It is quite steep in parts, but even kids can go on this tour, and they seem to love it.

My cousin told me that while she was on the path where I was holding for dear life to the rope, she had completely frozen and couldn't move as she was so scared, but her little daughter had just run on this path in front of her completely unafraid!

Praying by Gvendaraltari on Drangey Island

We arrived at a spot called Gvendaraltari - the altar of Gvendur, named after bishop Guðmundur the Good, who consecrated the island after a row of accidents.

You will find a plaque on the rock with Faðirvorið - the Lord's Prayer in Icelandic. Guests on the island are supposed to say the prayer out loud before ascending any further.

I said my prayers, as I was pretty scared.

Climbing further and further up Drangey Island into the fog

My next photo is taken from the ladder and one can see how steep this route really is.

We encountered fog on the cliff, so that affected my photos, but the sea, way beneath the ladder, can be spotted in my photo. 

I was absolutely terrified of being so high up, and dreaded the descent. I thought to myself that I would have to be rescued by a helicopter, but that is what fear of heights does to people! But it is pretty steep for everybody, I guess.

Pretty steep, eh!

Once on top of the cliff, we visited Drangeyjarskáli hut, which was built in 1984, and our guide, Helgi, took a group photo. 

Helgi then walked us to the spot on the island where Grettir the Strong had built a hut. One can still see the hole in the ground where the hut stood. It is called Grettisbæli or the Lair of Grettir, and we can find several of his lairs in Iceland.

Here Grettir had shelter from the northern wind and could collect water in small water bowls in the rock.

It was amazing seeing these holes, from which Grettir the Strong drank water some ten centuries ago!

By Drangeyjarskáli hut

We Icelanders study the Sagas in college, and I remember vividly the Saga of Grettir the Strong. I am a big fan of the Sagas and have read them all (approx. 44 Sagas). Grettissaga is one of the longest sagas, but a very good read.

We sat down here by Grettisbæli - the Lair of Grettir and listened to Helgi tell us the story of Grettir and his life here on Drangey.

The group consisted of Icelanders and two French tourists, so Helgi told these stories first in Icelandic and then in English.

Grettisbæli - the Lair of Grettir on Drangey island

The top of this steep rock is covered in grass and in the years Grettir was living here some 80 sheep, belonging to the farmers, were grazing on the island, so Grettir and his companions had plenty to eat.

The farmers were not at all happy that Grettir was eating their sheep, and tried their utmost to drive him away from the island.

There is also a myriad of birds on the Drangey and eggs in abundance. So Grettir and his companions were not lacking in food at that time. 

After a couple of years though, they had eaten all the sheep but one, which was a ram called Hösmagi, which they didn't kill as he was so entertaining ;) 

Leader sheep in Iceland

I guess that Hösmagi was a forystusauður - a leader sheep and that they were badly in need of entertainment after such a long time on the cliff!

Grettir lived on Drangey for approximately 3 years until he was slain on the island. A sorceress had cast a spell on a log, which landed by Drangey.

Grettir wanted to chop it up as firewood, but due to the spell his axe landed on his foot and he got a bad wound. His leg got infected, swelled up, and turned dark blue. 

At Drangey

Grettir's enemy and the owner of the island, the Viking Þorbjörn Öngull, and his men managed to climb up the cliff after Glaumur had fallen asleep and didn't pull up the ladder, so the coast was clear for the enemies of Grettir.

They attacked and killed Grettir while he was fatally wounded and helpless in bed, and Þorbjörn Öngull cut off Grettir's head with Grettir's own sword. They also killed Illugi and Glaumur.

Grettir slain - photo taken at the Saga Museum in Reykjavík which I recommend visiting

Grettir's outlawry was built on a misunderstanding. He was believed to have intentionally burnt alive some 12 men, amongst them 2 brothers.

Grettir had entered the rest house, where these men were staying, and wanted to ask them for fire; they mistook him for a troll.

They attacked him and some hit him with firebrands, resulting in a fire spreading out (you can read about this terrible event in the 38th chapter of the Saga of Grettir). 

Looking into the fog - zero view - we heard the birds so we knew that we were standing on a sheer cliff!

After listening to Helgi's interesting stories about Grettir's life and death on Drangey, we made the final hike to the top of the around 180 m high cliff.

On the way - up to the top - we stopped by the very steep cliff edge and were shown Grettisbrunnur or the Well of Grettir, where Grettir collected water supplies. Several places on the cliff are named after Grettir. 

Looking into the fog

When we got to the top of the cliff, Helgi the tour guide, took us to the edge of the cliff, which was quite scary in the fog, and asked us to hold our hands behind our ears.

That way the sound of the birds beneath in the cliffs multiplied. It was quite something, standing there in the fog, listening to the squawk of the myriads of birds in the cliffs.

And everywhere we looked there were birds. Only the fog prevented me from taking more photos.

Their squawks and the echo of the spirit of the Saga of Grettir, seem to meet in the cliffs, and I would strongly advise you to read the Saga of Grettir before you visit Drangey Island.

Puffins in the fog on Drangey Island

Drangey is the home of a myriad of birds and the guano has coloured the cliff white in places. This only adds to the rugged beauty of the island in my opinion.

The bird species that can be found in abundance on the cliff are guillemot, puffin, and auk, plus many other species, f.ex. the fulmar, the puffin, the kittiwake, the raven, and the falcon.

We also saw several young ravens in the fog. And a lot of puffins.

If you are a bird lover then you will love visiting Drangey Island.

Birds on Drangey Island

The cute puffin is the most popular bird in Iceland and most visitors seek it out when visiting Iceland. With its multi-coloured beak and orange feet, it is quite cute.

And on Drangey you will see puffins all over the island and one can get beautiful photos of them. It must be breathtaking visiting Drangey Island on a sunny day.

Unfortunately, it was foggy, but here is a link to Drangeyjarferðir tours, where they have some lovely, clear photos of Drangey Island and the puffins. 

A puffin at Látrabjarg

Where there are puffins there are puffin holes, called burrows. The puffins make around 3-meters long holes from the top of the cliff, so we were actually walking on top of the puffin holes while exploring the top of the rock.

It was quite strange knowing that we were almost stepping on the puffins and one has to take care not to stumble or get one's feet stuck in the holes as they are all over the grass.

A puffin hole on Drangey Island

Birds-eggs are collected in Drangey in the spring when both the eggs are collected and the birds are caught. We could see ropes and ladders for this purpose in many places on the island.

Drangey has always been a good food source for the people living in Skagafjörður and it is a landmark in the fjord, often called the Pearl of Skagafjörður.

To the south of Drangey, a lone steep rock stands in the sea. It is called Kerling (the old lady). Earlier on, a rock on the north side of Drangey was called Karl (the old man), but it collapsed in an earthquake centuries ago. 

Kerling rock - still foggy

In many places in Iceland, rocks like these can be seen, with similar names. They are trolls that have been caught in the sunlight, but as everybody knows then night trolls turn into stone by the first rays of the sun.

Karl and Kerling were crossing the fjord with their cow when the sun came up - and all of them turned into stone. The cow turned into Drangey Island.

Both Drangey and Kerling looked quite ominous in the fog. The fog sure added to the mystery of this awesome island.

We have many such stories in Iceland, f.ex. Kerlingarskarð Pass in Snæfellsnes in West-Iceland - the Folklore of the Giantess & her Fiancé 

A little bit earlier we were on top of the island in the fog

Now back to Grettir the Strong when he was still alive.

Fortunately, Grettir had some friends on the mainland, one of which lived at the farm Reykir in Reykjaströnd, Þorvaldur by name.

One day their fire was somehow extinguished and Grettir swam to the mainland to get fire from his friend there.

This deed has been named the Drangeyjarsund swim - Grettir swam for some 7 km in the cold sea!

Soaking in Grettislaug

After he came ashore he warmed up in a natural hot pool at Reykir. It is described in Grettis Saga how Grettir baked in the hot pool for the longest time before falling asleep in Þorvaldur's house.

Þorvaldur gave him fire and a lift back to the island in his boat. I have seen drawings of Grettir swimming with the fire, but even though Grettir was no ordinary man then it is impossible to do this swim with a lit torch in one hand.

There is now a replica of this hot pool, Grettislaug, next to the Drangeyjarferðir tour's Information Centre.

It was lovely warming up in Grettislaug and the newer pool next to it, Jarlslaug or the Pool of the Earl. The temperature of the pools is around 39° C. 

Soaking in Jarlslaug

Jarlslaug (the pool of the Earl) was built in honour of the late Jón Eiríksson Drangeyjarjarl, who was the tour operator for Drangeyjarferðir for many years and who built Grettislaug pool.

Jón Eiríksson's son, Viggó, and his grandson, Helgi Rafn, now operate Drangeyjarferðir tours. Helgi Rafn, who is in my photo below, was our very knowledgeable and friendly guide on the tour. 

There are daily boat trips to Drangey from June 1st - August 20th at 9:30 am. The tour lasts for 4 hours, of which the boat ride to Drangey is 25 minutes.

We took the boat from Reykir, but I see on their website that they depart from the Sauðárkrókur marina at 9:30.

Helgi Rafn, our tour-guide

The Drangeyjarferðir tour is a fantastic guided tour that I highly recommend when you are travelling in this area - Drangey is so rich in history and bird life and visiting it is a truly memorable experience.

To visit this area you can rent a car in Reykjavík and make it a part of your North Iceland experience. Also, check out the self-drive tours: the best self-drive tours in Iceland.

Here is the location of Drangey Island on Google Maps.

This was my view from the boat when we sailed back to the mainland ;)

I have written another travel-blog about Grettir the Strong and Grettisbæli Lair in Hítardalur valley if you want to know more about the hiding places of Grettir.

Have a lovely time visiting Drangey Island :)

Source: The Saga of Grettir