Faroe Islands

“ Though I cannot assert that no intrusions of gabbro or of granophyre exist among the Faroe Islands, I feel confident that any such masses which may appear at the surface must be of quite insignificant dimensions, and do not make the important feature in geology and topography which they do among the Inner Hebrides. It is, of course, possible that, vast as the denudation of these islands has undoubtedly been, it has not yet trenched the plateau deeply enough to expose any great intrusive bosses and sills which may underlie and invade the basalts. ”

“ So now, every night, around the galley fire, songs were sung and stories told, and by day many a jocund laugh around the fo’c’s’le mingling with the scream of the circling sea-birds told of light hearts and minds that were free from care.
Everything in these seas was new to young Douglas and Leonard. They passed the strange-looking Faroe group of islands to the north, and in good time Iceland to the south, and bore up, straight as a bird could fly, for Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland.
Those Faroe Isles, as seen from the sea, are indescribably fantastic and picturesque. ”

“ Throughout the Western and Faroe Islands the level bars of basalt present their truncated ends in the great escarpment-cliffs which wind mile after mile along their picturesque coasts. Where they front the open sea, it is obviously impossible to say how much further seaward they once extended. But where they retire in fjords or sea-lochs, and sweep inland into glens, it is easy to measure the distance from the bottom of the eroded hollow to its bounding watersheds, and to estimate the amount of material that has been worn out of it. ”

“ It was at this time that Iceland and the Faröe Islands were colonized by people driven out of Norway, and others went to Shetland and the Orkneys and Hebrides and joined their countrymen there; others settled in Ireland, and others, again, lived a roving life, marauding on the coasts of their own country in the summer, and in other lands in the winter season; so that Norway itself was not free from their raids. King Harald fitted out a fleet and searched all the islands and wild rocks along the coast to clear them of the vikings. ”

“ Many of them settled on the Faroe Islands and the Scotch islands, and in the summer they would make viking cruises and harry the coasts of Norway to revenge themselves on the king. To stop this Harald sailed westward one summer with a fleet, fought the vikings and took possession of Shetland and the Orkney Islands, and placed an earl in charge of them. Many of the fleeing Northmen then sailed northward with their goods and men and settled in Iceland, where they established a free state, which existed for nearly 400 years. ”

“ NAALSÖE—FARÖE.
The weather is all we could desire. The sailors are singing some curious Danish songs, with the time well marked, as they heave the anchor; and at 20 minutes 213past 6 o’clock P.M. we are steaming out of the bay. The evening is lovely, and the Thermometer, on the deck, stands at 68°. Thorshavn soon disappears, and we leave the Faröe islands astern, relieved against an amber sky, Dimon being the most striking and conspicuous of the group. A few stars shone overhead, and I walked the deck till midnight. ”

“ If the people seek their living on the sea by fishing, it is usually in boats belonging to the proprietor of the estate, who consequently receives a large share of their profits. The condition of the common people in the Orkneys, and in the Shetland Isles, is certainly not at all enviable, even in comparison with that of their Scandinavian kinsmen on the poor and more remote Faroe Islands and Iceland; although commerce is still limited and oppressed there by a monopoly which was soon abolished in the Orkneys and Shetland Isles after their separation from the united Norwegian-Danish kingdoms. ”

“ Faro, a seaport of Portugal, province of Algarve, 62 miles S.E. of Cape St. Vincent. It is surrounded by Moorish walls, and has a convenient harbour. Its trade is considerable. Pop. 12,680.
Faro, a promontory forming the north-east point of Sicily at the entrance to the Strait of Messina. The point is strongly fortified, and on it there is a lighthouse over 200 years old.
Faroe Islands (fā ́rō; Dan. Färöer, 'Sheep Islands') , a group of islands in the North Atlantic, lying between Iceland and Shetland. They belong to Denmark, and are twenty-one in number, of which seventeen are inhabited. ”

“ The prevailing opinion in Court circles was against the sale, based on no antagonism to the United States, but on the desire that Denmark should not lose more of its territory. The Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland were still appendages; but Iceland was always restive, and Greenland seemed, in the eyes of the Danes, to have only the value of remotely useful territory. They had been shorn of territory by England, by Sweden, and, last of all, by Germany. ”

“ These were the times of Norse colonization; proud Norsemen flying into other lands, to freer scenes,—to Iceland, to the Faroe Islands, which were hitherto quite vacant (tenanted only by some mournful hermit, Irish Christian fakir, or so) ; still more copiously to the Orkney and Shetland Isles, the Hebrides and other countries where Norse squatters and settlers already were. Settlement of Iceland, we say; settlement of the Faroe Islands, and, by far the notablest of all, settlement of Normandy by Rolf the Ganger (A.D. 876?) ”

“ Where few but nature’s footsteps yet have been.” IN our outward as well as return voyage we passed near the Faroe Islands. These, like Iceland, are under the jurisdiction of Denmark, and, though near 300 miles from their northern neighbor, have many features in common with it. The scenery is singularly wild and picturesque. We sailed nearly under some of the tall cliffs, and could plainly see the pillared columns of basalt, so common throughout Iceland and nearly all the northern isles. ”

“ Disputes - international:
Faroese are considering proposals for full independence; Denmark
dispute with Iceland over the Faroe Islands fisheries median line
boundary of 200 NM; Denmark disputes with Iceland, the UK, and
Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside
200 NM ”

“ The island of the demon horse-racing may give us a picture of the first meeting of the Irish with the Norse dwellers on the Shetland or Faroe islands, and their love for horse-racing. The adventure of the color-changing sheep has also its probable origin in circumstances special to the Faroe islands. Another element in our romance is the Christian legendary one; the story of the great bird renewing its strength is obviously a variant of the Phoenix legend, which, though originally of pre-Christian origin, was developed and interpreted in a Christian sense. ”

“ Diplomatic representation from the US: none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Flag description: white with a red cross outlined in blue extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted toward the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)
Economy Faroe Islands Economy - overview: The Faroese economy has had a strong performance since 1994, mostly as a result of increasing fish landings and high and stable export prices. Unemployment is falling and there are signs of labor shortages in several sectors. ”

“ Farnese, Pietro Luigi, a natural son of Pope Paul III., who figures in Benvenuto Cellini's Life; received in fief from the Papal See various estates, including the dukedom of Parma; he ill requited his father's trust and affection by a life of debauchery and finally suffered assassination in 1549.
Faroe Islands (13) , a group of 22 islands of basaltic formation, about 200 m. NW. of the Shetlands; originally Norwegian, they now belong to Denmark; agriculture is limited, and fishing and sheep-farming chiefly engage the natives; there is an export trade in wool, fish, and wild-fowl leathers. ”

“ A flying visit for fresh water was then paid to the Faroe Islands, and, after touching at Newfoundland, the Half Moon sailed down the coast of North America, anchoring on the 18th July, in a large bay, probably that of Penobscot. Here a party of Indians, already used to peaceful trading with the French, came out in two canoes to make acquaintance with their visitors, and were met—to the shame of the Dutch be it spoken—by a boat-load of armed sailors, who took many of them prisoners, and afterward burned their village. ”

“ The basalt-plateau of the Faroe Islands exhibits with remarkable clearness the lenticular character of the basalt-sheets, and a number of examples will be cited in the description of that region to be given in Chapter xxxix. In these northern climes vegetation spreads less widely over rock and slope than it does in the milder air of the Inner Hebrides. Hence the escarpments sweep in precipices of almost bare rock from the level of the sea up to the serrated crests of the islands, some 2000 feet in height. ”

“ Allinson was Dean of Women in the University of Wisconsin.
Elizabeth Taylor still lives in the Faroe Islands, with whose customs and mode of life she has the familiarity of a native, with more than a native's appreciation. ”

“ The Danish steamers mentioned in Murray's Guide-book have discontinued running.
Murray gives but little respecting, Iceland, but that little is good. The best book on it that I have met with is, An Historical and Descriptive Account of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faröe Islands, with Illustrations of their Natural History, by James Nicol: Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1844. It embodies the substance of all the best information in small space. ”

“ Similar rocks rise into an extensive plateau in the Faroe Islands, and it may reasonably be conjectured that the remarkable submarine ridge which extends thence to the North-west of Scotland, and separates the basin of the Atlantic from that of the Arctic Ocean, is partly - 182 - at least of volcanic origin. Still further north come the extensive Tertiary basaltic plateaux of Iceland, while others of like aspect and age cover a vast area in Southern Greenland. ”

“ The approach to the Faröe group is very fine, presenting to our view a magnificent panorama of fantastically-shaped islands—peaked sharp angular bare precipitous rocks, rising sheer from the sea; the larger-sized islands being regularly terraced in two or more successive grades of columnar trap-rock. Some of these singular hill-islets are sharp along the top, like the ridge of a house, and slope down on either side to the sea, at an angle of fifty degrees. ”

“ There are sufficient indications that anciently the Danes were accustomed to visit only the comparatively neighbouring countries of England, Holland, and France; whilst the Norwegians sailed also towards the north on the wide Atlantic, whose storms and dangers did not prevent them from constantly visiting the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and even America. The discovery and first colonization of these countries are, with just reason, the pride of the Norwegians and of their descendants the Icelanders. ”

“ The Tertiary volcanic series of Iceland reaches a thickness of upwards of 3000 metres, or nearly 10,000 English feet, but as its base is nowhere seen, it may be still thicker. Its successive sheets, piled over each other in parallel layers, form terraced hills and bold escarpments along the coast, whence they slope gently inland. The plateau, as in the Faroe Islands and in Scotland, - 261 - has been extensively eroded, and has been trenched by many long valleys and fjords The composition of the basalts remains remarkably uniform over the island. ”

“ Accompanied by three Norwegians, Otto Sverdrup, Lieutenant Oluf Christian Dietrichson, of the Norwegian army, and Kristian Trana, and two Lapps, Balto and Ravna, Nansen sailed on the Danish steamer Thyra from Scotland, May 9, 1888. The Thyra was to carry the little band of explorers the first stage of their journey to Iceland. At the Faroe Islands, Nansen learned of the extremely bad condition of the ice round Iceland. The east coast of the island was reported inaccessible. ”

“ The easier and more common way to Iceland, the one taken by the writer, is by the United Steamship Co.'s steamers (the Danish mail line) , which leave Copenhagen, at frequent intervals during the summer, stop at Leith, the port of Edinburgh, and then variously steam northward to Thorshavn on the Faroe Islands. and thence to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland at its 'southwestern headland, or turn to the eastern coast of Iceland at once, and circuitously, landing at the settlements and towns in the fiord valleys, circumnavigate it, finally disembarking the traveler at Reykjavik. ”

“ This, from people whom I had never seen before—a plain country family living in a wilderness where such luxuries as sugar and coffee could only be had at considerable expense—was absolutely refreshing. For the first time since my arrival in Europe, after having traversed the whole Continent, I had encountered a specimen of the human race capable of refusing money. Subsequently I learned that this was the common practice in the Faroe Islands. The poorest shepherd freely offers to the stranger the hospitality of his hut ”

“ Oil finds close to the Faroese area give hope for deposits in the immediate Faroese area, which may eventually lay the basis for a more diversified economy and thus lessen dependence on Danish economic assistance. Aided by a substantial annual subsidy (15% of GDP) from Denmark, the Faroese have a standard of living not far below the Danes and other Scandinavians. GDP: purchasing power parity - $1 billion (2001 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 10% (2001 est.) ”

“ As we paced the deck, talking about the old Norse language—which is still spoken in Iceland as it used to be in the eighth and ninth centuries in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, in the Orkney, Shetland, and Faröe islands, in the two northern counties of Scotland, and in other Scandinavian settlements along the British coast—Dr. ”