The GCW Tour, the Frozen Cruise: Dimmuborgum

Following the black flies, we visited the trolls. Okay, they're really just sharp, pointy volcanic rocks, but the Icelandic story is that when trolls do something bad they turn into rocks. More specifically, there are thirteen sons of the supreme troll leaders and these thirteen are the "yule lads." Basically, for the thirteen days of Christmas, kids put out a shoe and each night one of the lads drops a present in the shoe for the good boys and girls. 

Bad boys and girls get a potato.

In any case, hiking through the rocks one is supposed to be able to recognize various troll faces in the formations. Worked for the EYO. He saw quite a few faces.

On our drive to the location, we also heard a bit about Icelandic sheep farming. In short, for nine months out of the year the sheep live in the barn and are fed hay by the farmer, since it's too cold to go out. (In ancient times, the barn and the house would be one and the same building, though that's no longer the case.) When the weather warms up in May, they kick the sheep off the farm to fend for themselves. The sheep wander the mountains and eat what they can find until September, when they're brought back and stuck in the barn. Fences in Iceland are thus used more to keep sheep away from the things you don't want them eating, rather than keeping the sheep contained.

Well, except for the times when they bring the sheep back. They build fenced areas -- or walled areas made from lava rocks -- to stick the sheep in until the individual farmers can figure out which sheep are theirs.

All things considered, Icelandic sheep farmer didn't sound like the most promising of career opportunity.