Icelandic Legends and Aurora
Elizabeth M. Ryan;
Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt
Legends collide in this dramatic vista of land, sea, and sky.
The land is Iceland, specifically
V�k � M�rdal, a southern village known for its beautiful
black sand beaches.
The sea, the Atlantic Ocean, surrounds
Reynisdrangar, a sea stack of eroded basaltic rock
pillars that
Icelandic folklore
tells are the petrified remains of
trolls
once attempting to drag a three-masted ship onto land.
Watching from overhead and shining bright on the upper right is the
god of the sky, according to
Greek mythology: the
planet Jupiter.
Also visible in the sky are several other Greek legends encapsulated as
constellations, including a lion
(Leo),
a big bear (Ursa Major),
and a water snake (Hydra).
One might guess that all of this commotion caused the
spectacular
aurora pictured -- but really it was just
explosions from the Sun.