Drangey

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Drangey (Drang Isle), with its steep sea cliffs towers majestically in the midst of Skagafjörður fjord in Iceland. From the island there is a wide view of the surrounding districts. The island is mostly made of volcanic tuff, a massive rock fortress. It was first mentioned in the Icelandic classic Grettis saga as being the refuge of the outlaw Grettir who spent his last years there together with his brother, Illugi, and his slave Glaumur. Grettir was assassinated where he lay virtually dying in his shed in the island. Þorbjörn Öngull and his men were the perpetrators. This happened in the late autumn of 1031.

The bird life in Drangey is varied and lively but most common are diving birds, the guillemot, auk and puffin. The guillemot nests in the cliffs but the auk mostly in deep cracks underneath the cliffs. The puffin on the other hand digs holes in the edge of the cliffs. In addition to these species the kittiwake and fulmar nest in the cliffs and the raven and falcon also have their sanctuaries there. An old legend says that two night prowling giants, a man and a woman, were traversing the fjord with their cow when they were surprised by the bright rays of daybreak. As a result of exposure to daylight they and the cow were turned into stone. Drangey represents the cow and Kerling (female giant) is to the south of it. Karl (male giant) was to the north of the island but he disappeared long ago. Drangey has for ages been a harbinger of spring boon for the local residents. Every spring they have visited the island to collect both eggs and birds. They used ropes to go down the fowling cliffs for the eggs but the birds were caught by using rafts placed on the sea underneath the cliffs. These rafts were covered with bird snares made of horsehair. The bird catchers mostly found shelter in sheds on the beach on the southernmost tip of the island. From this point they also used to go fishing in their boats. At peak seasonal periods there were as many as 200 men there engaged in fowling and the catch was in excess of 200,000 birds when the yield was best. The use of snares was discontinued in 1966.