In this travel blog, I am going to show you Skessugarður - the Rampart of the Giantess. It is a natural phenomenon in East Iceland, often called one of Iceland's most amazing natural formations.
It consists of massive boulders (porphyritic basalt) forming a 300-meter-long, 5-meter-high natural wall. Folklore is connected to Skessugarður, which tells us about the giantesses who built this wall.
Top photo: At Skessugarður
Skessugarður - the Rampart of the two Giantesses
Skessugarður is a geological phenomenon: an ice-age glacier, the Brúarjökull, formed it.
This was then followed by a flood, which washed this area clean of smaller rocks, leaving behind the big ones.
It is really amazing visiting Skessugarður, and you feel so tiny compared to the massive wall of boulders. But I would much rather believe the troll story connected to this area.
The story goes that two giantesses built their landmark here as they wanted to split the fishing on the heath between them, but one end of the rampart is in the lake.
Checking out Skessugarður - the Rampart of the two Giantesses
I found their story in Þjóðsögur Jóns Árnasonar - the Compilation of Folklore of Jón Árnason, which I often refer to in my travel blog, and translated it into English:
"A long time ago, maybe before the settlement of Iceland, two giantesses lived in East Iceland; one of them lived by the sea, but the other one by the glacier. At one time, they met.
They started quarreling over the land, and both wanted to own half of the land.
Skessugarður - the Rampart of the two Giantesses
But now they had to find the middle of the land. As they parted, they made an agreement that both of them should start their walk at the same time of the day - one of them by the sea, but the other one by the glacier.
And that they should stalk and at the spot where they would meet, they should make a marking of some sort.
They met on a particular hill in southeast Möðrudalsland, which has since been called Grjótgarðsháls, or the Stone Wall hill, and stacked a massive stone wall, much of which still stands today and would be quite a phenomenon were it erected by humans.
Skessugarður - the Rampart of the two Giantesses
This stone wall is one mile long and is partly buried in the sand, but it is still four to five fathoms high, and the cliffs are so huge that they are two and up to three fathoms in the perimeter in many places."
(Translated into English from Þjóðsögur Jóns Árnasonar - the Compilation of Folklore of Jón Árnason - RHR).
It is really something visiting Skessugarður. There are huge boulders all over the place, some of them forming this massive wall, just like they have been stacked there by trolls.
My husband at Skessugarður
We have many troll stories in Iceland, and we listened to them as children, which has given me (and many other locals) a fear of trolls!
If you visit Skessugarður with the mindset that trolls actually stacked these boulders, the experience becomes more dramatic!
Here you are alone in the wilderness in the middle of nowhere - nobody around - only these huge boulders - what if the trolls were to return...! It felt as if we were alone in the world, and it grew quite eerie.
Thinking about the trolls at Skessugarður
I recommend watching the Norwegian film Troll Hunter before you visit this place. I had just watched it, and the fear of trolls was still in my heart ;)
Skessugarður is located by Lake Grjótgarðsvatn, west of Sænautasel turf house on the other side of Mt. Sænautafell.
I know that many people drive by without knowing about this special place in Iceland. To visit this place, you can rent a car in Reykjavík and drive the ring road of Iceland.
The road sign for Skessugarður
Turn left onto the old ring-road (number 907, a gravel road) after you leave Sænautasel and drive for a couple of km.
Then turn left onto a dirt road, which turns into a track until you reach Skessugarður after 2 km. This is a summer visit only.
Here you can see the location of Skessugarður on Google Maps.
Also check out the self-drive tours: Self-drive tours including East Iceland to make the most of your Iceland visit.
And once in the Eastfjords, you can join many tours. Here is a selection of the best Eastfjord tours: Eastfjord tours.
Skessugarður and Lake Grjótgarðsvatn
If you want to find out more about the Icelandic trolls, then I have written a couple of other travel blogs about them:
Kerlingarskarð Pass in Snæfellsnes in West Iceland - the Folklore of the Giantess & her Fiancé
The 3 Trolls who wanted to separate the Westfjords from the Mainland of Iceland - Icelandic Folklore
The Giantess Hít in Hítardalur Valley and the Party of the Trolls - Folklore from West Iceland
Have a lovely time in East Iceland :)
