Fugloy

Island of the Faroe Islands
name = Fugloy

---

municipality = Fugloyar
area = 11.2
area_rank = 11
population = 44
population_rank = 13
population_year = 2007
population_density = 3,9
location = coord|62|20|N|6|18|W||

Fugloy is the eastern-most island in the Faroe Islands. The name means "bird island," after the large number of birds that nest on the island's cliffs.

Geography

There are two settlements: Kirkja on the south-coast and Hattarvík on the east-coast. The Eystfelli cliffs, which are 448m are located on the east coast. Nearby there is also a lighthouse, a natural arch feature and what looks like the outline of an Egyptian Pharaoh (the Pharaoh's Face).

Mountains

There are three mountains on Fugloy:

Future for Fugloy

Because the harbour of Fugloy is not protected by breakwaters, it has stopped any form of economic growth since the early 20th century. The island's only income has been small agricultural and partly fishing, but also the famous catching birds such as the puffinhave been used a lot on Fugloy to this day.The Løtinget has tried to work out plans for the future of the island, such as the island getting electricity in the 1960s. In the 1980s a road from Kirkja to Hattarvík was built and a helicopter route was made there as well.When the population was at its peak, there were around 250-300 people, at the beginning of the 20th century. With the emergence of a more modern lifestyle and changing norms island life has become less popular and people have moved away as a result. Today there are only five people living all year around in Hattarvík and some 20 in Kirkja. There are few jobs on the islands; one shop and few jobs on the harbour are all that there is, therefore Fugloy is not heading for a bright future.

History

The island has been populated since the Viking age.

One of the most important stories of the island is that of the Floksmen. They were a flok (group) of rebels, in the middle ages, from Fugloy.The most notorious of the separatists, (referred by the Danish governmental and officials in Thorshavn) were Høgni Nev, Rògvi Skel, Hálvdan Ulvsson from Hattarvík and Sjúrður við kellingar, from Kirkja.These men controlled and savaged the northern parts of the Faroe Islands for a long time.This is one of the most important separatist myths of the Faroe islands.

The smarter Sjúrður við kellingar was forced to go the more militant way of rebellion by Høgni Nev and Hálvdan Ulvsson who were more criminally minded.All the four men were later caught and sentenced to death. Sjúrður við kellingar was shown mercy and amnesty, but the story is that he could not live on with the crimes that he and the others had committed under their "little" rebellion and asked to be executed with the other Floksmen.

Mythology

There are several myths connected to this island. In old Faroese Culture trolls played a large part in the mythology of the Faroe Islands,

The Floating Island of Fugloy

It was said that Fugloy was once a floating island with trolls living on it. Men had tried several times to approach the island, but every time they tried, the trolls threw stones and curses at the men in the boats.After a long time the men grew tired of trying and were close to leaving the trolls with the island. But one of the men, a priest, wanted to try one more time, before giving up. The men got in the boats again and rowed once more to Fugloy.In the first boat to approach the island were the priest and some other men. When the trolls saw what was happening, they started to collect stones, and began throwing them at the men. All the men in the first boat were scared and wanted to sail home again at once, with the big stones flying through the air! They were about to turn round and sail home, when the priest got so angry and was in such great despair that he threw the bible that he had brought with him on the trip at the trolls. The bible landed right in front of the trolls, the ground started shaking, the island stopped floating, and in a split second all the trolls were transformed into little grassy hills, and now the men could at last settle Fugloy.

The little grassy hills are still located around the island, and particularly, close to the Bygd (Kirkja).

Tourism

As the name Fugloy Faroese Fugl means Bird so on Birds island, there is a rich fauna of sea and Land birds, specifically puffins(Faroese: lundi) inhabit the island in hundreds of thousands of pairs. Also the
Black Guillemot is in great numbers on Fugloy.The view over to the nearest islands Svinoy and Borðoy is excellent, and sunsets that can be seen are among the things that make Fugloy feature in old pictures of the Faroe islands.

Másin the mail boat

It is a great experience to see when the mail boat Másin docks in Kirkja.Passengers have few minutes to jump ashore and get bags and their things with them. Oil for the electricity plant on Fugloy is transported in oil barrels and garbage is transported with Másin in garbage wagons.They also have to be landed at the same time, and therefore, time is very important when landing on Fugloy.The weather can change quickly so they always want to land the passengers and any form of cargo fast and then fill the ship up again and leave.

External links

* [http://heima.olivant.fo/%7Eanfinn/fugloy.htm personal website] with 6 aerial photos of Fugloy