The mountain features in Ferðalok (Journey's End), a poem written at the end of his life by Jónas Hallgrímsson, who was born at Hraun. The last stanza of the poem alludes to a legend that the saga hero Grettir the Strong climbed it and left his knife and belt on the peak as proof; Hraundrangi was supposedly also called Grettisnúpa (Grettir's Crag) by the people of Öxnadalur.