Frøya is an
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
in the western part of
Bremanger Municipality
Bremanger is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village of Svelgen is the administrative centre of the municipality. Other villages include Bremanger, Berle, Davik, Isane, Kalvåg, Svelgen, Rugsund, and Ålfoten. Bremanger i ...
in
Vestland
Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The island is located just to the southwest of the big island of
Bremangerlandet
Bremangerlandet is an island in Bremanger Municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in Vestland county, Norway. The island is one of the largest islands in the county. The highest point on the island is the tall mountain Svartevass ...
and its highest point is Fanneskarvarden at an elevation of .

Almost all the residents of the island live on the southeastern shore. The island contains the main village of
Kalvåg
Kalvåg is a village in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southeast side of the island of Frøya, Bremanger, Frøya on the coast along the Frøysjøen strait, the southern entrance to the Nordfjorden (Vestland ...
as well as the minor settlements of Liset, Steinset, Nesje, Stranda, and Frøyalandet. Frøya is located on the northern side of the
Frøysjøen
Frøysjøen is a fjord (or more accurately, a strait) in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is about long and between wide. The fjord runs on a northeast–southwest axis between the mainland of Norway (on the east) a ...
strait, which is part of the seaway between the towns of
Florø
is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn which is in Vestland county, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjord ...
and
Måløy
Måløy () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in the List of municipalities of Norway, municipality of Kinn in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southeastern side of the Vågsøy (island), island of Vågsøy, about northea ...
. The island is connected to the nearby island of Bremangerlandet by a series of small bridges, and Bremangerlandet is connected to the mainland via an undersea tunnel and a bridge.
The population (2001) of the island of Frøya (including the small nearby islets) is about 560. The main industries on the island are
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
and
fish processing
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...
.
Frøya Church
Frøya Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kalvåg, on the southern coast of the small island of Frøya. It is the church for the Frøya parish ...
is located on the southeastern side of the island.
Name
Although ''Frøya'' is the name of the Norse goddess ''Frøya'' or ''Freya'' (
Freyja
In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a char ...
), the
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
form of the name was ''Frøy'' or ''Frey''. Therefore, the name of the island has probably the same root as the name of the
Norse god Freyr
Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested Æsir, god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was ...
, brother of Freyja. The names originally were titles: "
lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
"/"master" or "
lady
''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men.
"Lady" is al ...
"/"mistress". The oldest meaning of the common word was "(the one) in front; the foremost, the leading" and here in the sense "the island in front of Bremanger".
See also
*
List of islands of Norway
This is a list of islands of Norway sorted by name. For a list sorted by area, see List of islands of Norway by area.
A
* Alden
* Aldra
* Algrøy
* Alsta
* Altra
* Anda
* Andabeløya
* Andørja
* Andøya, Vesterålen
* Andøya, Agder ...
References
Bremanger
Islands of Vestland
{{Vestland-island-stub