Färöer

A few hundred miles southeast of Iceland, 50,000 descendants of North Germanic settlers live on a string of islands called the Faroes. For more than 1,000 years, the people here have hunted pilot whales, and whale meat continues to be an important part of their diet. But when pictures of whale hunts first appeared in the media during the 1980s, many from the outside world were shocked and animal rights activists unfamiliar with Faroese culture mounted an anti-whaling campaign, despite the fact that the Faroese are not involved in commercial whaling. In addition, the islanders now face a new threat to their way of life, caused by the global pollution of the world's oceans: A landmark 20-year study of Faroese children has found that high levels of methyl mercury and other contaminants in the whale meat are harmful to a child's neurological development. The study's findings have rubbed against deeply held traditions in this beautiful and remote part of the world.




The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Great Britain and Iceland. After their colonisation by Norse settlers, the population of the islands never exceeded 5,000 until the 18th century. Only with the rise of deep-sea fishery (and thus independence from agriculture in the islands' harsh terrain) was rapid population growth possible. From the 18th century onward, the population increased tenfold to almost 50,000 in 2010.

The Faroese language is one of the least commonly spoken Germanic languages, but very much alive. Faroese grammar and vocabulary are most similar to Icelandic and to the extinct language Old Norse. In contrast, spoken Faroese is very different from Icelandic and closer to Norwegian dialects of the west coast of Norway. Faroese language policy provides for the active creation of new words in Faroese instead of imported loan words. Although a rich spoken tradition survived, for 300 years the language was not written down. This means that all poems and stories were handed down orally. These works were split into the following divisions: sagnir (historical), ævintýr (stories) and kvæði (ballads), often set to music and the mediaeval chain dance.

Ólavsøka is the national holiday of the Faroe Islands. On the eve of Ólavsøka, the Ólavsøka Boat Race is held, one of the highlights in Faroese sports. In addition, there are art exhibitions, folk music, and Faroese chaindance performances. The culture of the Faroese people has its roots in Nordic (North Germanic) culture. Long isolated from the main cultural phases and movements that swept across Europe, they have maintained a great part of their traditional culture and contemporary Faroese artists continue to be strongly influenced by it.