Drangey

Drangey is a steep island in Skagafjörður in northern Iceland, 180 m high and 0,2 square kilometres in size. It is the remnant of a 700,000 year old volcano, mostly made of volcanic tuff. The island is central in the Icelandic classic Grettis saga as being the refuge of the outlaw Grettir, who spent his last years there with his brother Illugi and his slave Glaumur. In 1031 Grettir was killed where by his enemies. There is a rich bird life in Drangey. The most common birds are guillemot, auk, puffin, black-legged kittiwake and fulmar. Every spring, residents of the region visited the island to collect eggs and birds. They used ropes to climb down the fowling cliffs for the eggs, but the birds were caught using rafts placed on the sea underneath the cliffs. At peak seasonal periods, there were as many as 200 men engaged in fowling and the catch was in excess of 200,000 birds when the yield was best.