Suur Tõll and the laughing women of Karja

Karja church in northern Saaremaa is famous for its medieval stone carvings, and the island has its own explanation for them. The legend says the giant Suur Tõll agreed to build the people of Karja a church and hauled limestone from Pamma hill. Night after night his walls were knocked flat, until a wise man told him to load the corner stones on a cart pulled by black bulls and build wherever they stopped. They halted on Karja hill, and the walls rose quickly. When his son pointed out that the tower was leaning, Tõll blew through one nostril with such force that a whirlwind shoved the church. The women of Linnaka laughed at him, so he carved their heads in stone with mouths wide open and set them in the wall. Some can still be seen.