Lore of the Lighthouse

Vik, with a population of 300 presently, never bothered to build a harbor on this intense volcanic landscape. Instead, fishermen would dredge their boats onto the town’s black sand beach. While residents had been doing this for hundreds of years, according to local myths, trolls had a tougher time working with the unique port. As the Icelandic tale goes, trolls were trying to take a three-masted ship out to see, and misjudged when the sun would appear. Before they could get back to the mainland, the sun turned them and their vessel to stone. The Reynisdrangar sea stacks remain a landmark at the entrance of Vik to this day, and since no other sea stacks are present, one can assume the troll community learned their lesson around here.

Outside of mythological creatures, the Dyrhólaey promontory, with its dramatic sea arch, is a nesting place for arctic puffins. Visible from the lighthouse as well as other spots around Vik, these peaceful birds nest during the summer every year from May to September. Flying back and forth from their homes on the cliffs in search of food, these winged animals offer an amazing sight to any Dyrhólaey visitor, without any worry of petrification.