“they were surprised by the bright rays of daybreak”
The geography of Iceland - another key interest of TEOTRC’s editors - turns out to have relevance to our remit of documenting gigantic, monstrous, or robotic poignancy. Drangey or Drang Isle, which is the remnant of a 700,000 year old volcano, has a sad tale attached to it. Wikipedia recounts it thus:
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, all three were turned into stone. Drangey represents the cow and Kerling (supposedly the female giant, the name means “Old Hag”) is to the south of it. Karl (the male giant) was to the north of the island, but he disappeared long ago.
And here is Kerling, now bereft of her petrified husband:
