Just off the shore of the Vatnsnes Peninsula on the Northern coast of Iceland sits Hvítserkur. It is a 15 meter high sea stack that was once the plug of a volcano. Over the years, the surrounding rock has given way to the sea leaving only this unusual outcropping behind.

According to Icelandic legend, Hvítserkur is the petrified remains of a troll who lived on the other side of the water in Strandir. One evening, the troll crossed the water to tear down the bells at the nearby monastery. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the monastery), on the way across the sun rose and, as everybody knows, trolls turn into stone in daylight!

From this angle, some say that it resembles a rhinoceros, a dragon or a dinosaur drinking from the water. I can sort of see the rhinoceros…so I named this one “Thirsty Rhino”.