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Sørvag
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Sørvágur is a village on the island of Vágoy in the Faroe Islands. It is located at the landward end of Sørvágsfjørður. Sørvágur is the largest village in the municipality of Sørvágs Kommuna.
The name Sørvágur translates to "The Bay of Sør". While the first half of the name makes sense given the fact, that the village is located at a bay, the second half is more mysterious. Legend has it, that the first man to settle at this place, was called 'Sørli' and hence the village was named in honour of him. Another explanation on the origin of 'Sør' comes from the old-norse 'Seyr' which is a word for sand. Sørvágur has quite a large sandbeach in comparison with other faroese villages and towns, and therefore it was speculated, that the original name of Sørvágur was Seyrvágur, and during the curse of time, Seyrvágur became Sørvágur. During the first half of the 20th century local people in Sørvágur tried to correct this historical injustice and used the name Seyrvágur instead of Sørvágur. However, this trend died out again. One reason may be, that there is no proof in the Faroese historical records that justifies the name Seyrvágur.
As of today (2005) nobody has come up with at reasonable explanation to the origin of the name Sørvágur.
Sørvágur is considered to be one of the oldest villages in the Faroe Islands. In 1957 the locals decided to build a new school, and during the preparations to build the schools gymnastic hall they excavated a old viking settlement. Sørvágur - alongside Leirvík, Tjørnuvík and Sandur - is in one of the few places in the Faroe Islands where archeologist have been able to find substantial proof, that these places where built during the first 100-150 years after the Faroese Landnám in 825.
Even though the village is old, there is no mention of it, or the island of Vágoy, in the old Faeringa Saga from 13 century.
Between the years of 1200 and 1400 the village moved from its first settlements alongside the river Hanusará and further south between the rivers of Stórá and Kirkjuá. Historical records from 17th century show, that the original settlement alongside Hanusará was abandond, and the village was moved firmly to the new location between the two main rivers in Sørvág. The main reason for this was probably that the weather conditions between the two rivers are far superior to other places in Sørvág.
The first written record regarding Sørvág is from 1584. The record shows that there were only three small farms in Sørvág at that time. This coincides very well with the fact, that the land belonging to Sørvág is divided into three parts: Suðurtriðingur, Norðurtriðingur and Úttriðingur.
From 15th century to the late 17th century the norwegian nobels Benkenstock owned all the land in Sørvág. Around 1665 a dane - Severin Fohrman - bought all the land from the Benkenstock's and immediately started to sell it back to the locals. This meant that almost all the land in Sørvág is private property (óðalsjørð) instead of belonging to the king (kongsjørð).
Using the Land Books (jarðarbøkur) it is speculated, that the number of inhabitants in Sørvág in 17th century was around fifty. In the first counting of people in the Faroes 1801 the number of inhabitants in Sørvág had risen to a mere 86. In 1855 the number of inhabitants was 163. The reason for this slow progress is due to the special requirements for marriage, that were law in the Faroes. The law said, that in order to marry you would need to own land or have demonstrated that you were a faithful servant to someone who owned land. It was only the wealthy farmers who had a substantial amount of land, and therefore the birthrate in the Faroes was very low until this law was abolished.
During the feudal period, it was only the big farmers who had a fishing boat. The first person in the Faroes, who didn't own any land, and got his own fishing boat, came from Sørvág. His name was Gamli Dávur.
During the Sloop period Sørvágur had many sloops.
The church in Sørvágur is from 1886.
The first fishfactory in the Faroe Islands was built in Sørvágur in 1952.
The locals from Sørvági formed a part of the backbone of fishermen, who went to Greenland to fish. Faroese fishermen were instrumental in teaching the inhabitants of Greenland to do deepsea fishing.
The name Sørvágur translates to "The Bay of Sør". While the first half of the name makes sense given the fact, that the village is located at a bay, the second half is more mysterious. Legend has it, that the first man to settle at this place, was called 'Sørli' and hence the village was named in honour of him. Another explanation on the origin of 'Sør' comes from the old-norse 'Seyr' which is a word for sand. Sørvágur has quite a large sandbeach in comparison with other faroese villages and towns, and therefore it was speculated, that the original name of Sørvágur was Seyrvágur, and during the curse of time, Seyrvágur became Sørvágur. During the first half of the 20th century local people in Sørvágur tried to correct this historical injustice and used the name Seyrvágur instead of Sørvágur. However, this trend died out again. One reason may be, that there is no proof in the Faroese historical records that justifies the name Seyrvágur.
As of today (2005) nobody has come up with at reasonable explanation to the origin of the name Sørvágur.
Sørvágur is considered to be one of the oldest villages in the Faroe Islands. In 1957 the locals decided to build a new school, and during the preparations to build the schools gymnastic hall they excavated a old viking settlement. Sørvágur - alongside Leirvík, Tjørnuvík and Sandur - is in one of the few places in the Faroe Islands where archeologist have been able to find substantial proof, that these places where built during the first 100-150 years after the Faroese Landnám in 825.
Even though the village is old, there is no mention of it, or the island of Vágoy, in the old Faeringa Saga from 13 century.
Between the years of 1200 and 1400 the village moved from its first settlements alongside the river Hanusará and further south between the rivers of Stórá and Kirkjuá. Historical records from 17th century show, that the original settlement alongside Hanusará was abandond, and the village was moved firmly to the new location between the two main rivers in Sørvág. The main reason for this was probably that the weather conditions between the two rivers are far superior to other places in Sørvág.
The first written record regarding Sørvág is from 1584. The record shows that there were only three small farms in Sørvág at that time. This coincides very well with the fact, that the land belonging to Sørvág is divided into three parts: Suðurtriðingur, Norðurtriðingur and Úttriðingur.
From 15th century to the late 17th century the norwegian nobels Benkenstock owned all the land in Sørvág. Around 1665 a dane - Severin Fohrman - bought all the land from the Benkenstock's and immediately started to sell it back to the locals. This meant that almost all the land in Sørvág is private property (óðalsjørð) instead of belonging to the king (kongsjørð).
Using the Land Books (jarðarbøkur) it is speculated, that the number of inhabitants in Sørvág in 17th century was around fifty. In the first counting of people in the Faroes 1801 the number of inhabitants in Sørvág had risen to a mere 86. In 1855 the number of inhabitants was 163. The reason for this slow progress is due to the special requirements for marriage, that were law in the Faroes. The law said, that in order to marry you would need to own land or have demonstrated that you were a faithful servant to someone who owned land. It was only the wealthy farmers who had a substantial amount of land, and therefore the birthrate in the Faroes was very low until this law was abolished.
During the feudal period, it was only the big farmers who had a fishing boat. The first person in the Faroes, who didn't own any land, and got his own fishing boat, came from Sørvág. His name was Gamli Dávur.
During the Sloop period Sørvágur had many sloops.
The church in Sørvágur is from 1886.
The first fishfactory in the Faroe Islands was built in Sørvágur in 1952.
The locals from Sørvági formed a part of the backbone of fishermen, who went to Greenland to fish. Faroese fishermen were instrumental in teaching the inhabitants of Greenland to do deepsea fishing.
Alfred