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Lítla Dímun is a small, uninhabited island between the islands of
Suðuroy Suðuroy (pronounced: �suːwʊrɔior �suːri ‘South Island’, ) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region ( sýsla) comprise ...
and Stóra Dímun in the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
. It is the smallest of the main 18 islands, being less than a square kilometre (247 acres) in area, and is the only uninhabited one. The island can be seen from the villages of Hvalba and
Sandvík Sandvík (pronounced , "Sandy Bay"; ) is the northernmost village of the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the northern side of a shallow fjord. The village was previously known as Hvalvík (''Bay of Whales''). It changed ...
.


Etymology

The name means "Little Dímun", in contrast to “Stóra Dímun”, "Great Dímun". According to
Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...
, ''Dímun'' may represent a pre-Norse, Celtic
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
ic element meaning "double-neck". Stóra and Litla Dímun shows a pairing of two distinctive but separate localities in one name. Gammeltoft concluded Dímun is a Scandinavian place name for a double-peaked feature of a particular appearance, reflecting a linguistic contact between Scandinavians and Gaels.


Description

The lowest third of the island is sheer cliff, with the rest rising to the mountain of Slættirnir, which reaches . The island is only inhabited by Faroe sheep and
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s. Getting ashore is difficult, and can be performed only in perfect weather. The cliffs can be climbed with the aid of ropes placed by the owners of the sheep.


Important Bird Area

The island has been identified as an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
by
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
because of its significance as a breeding site for
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s, especially European storm petrels (5000 pairs) and
Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family (biology), family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin being found ...
s (10,000 pairs). There are no land animals beside sheep.


History

The island has never been inhabited by humans, but sheep were kept there from ancient times, being mentioned in the 13th-century work the ''
Færeyinga Saga ''Færeyinga saga'' (; Danish: ''Færingesagaen''), the saga of the Faroe Islanders, is the story of how the Faroes were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway. Summary The saga was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The auth ...
'' (Saga of the Faroese). The saga also features the island as the site of a battle between Brestur, father of Sigmundur, and Gøtuskeggjar. The battle resulted in the death of Sigmund's father and his men and the deportation of Sigmund to Norway, where he befriended Olaf Tryggvasson, the King of Norway from 995 to 1000. The island used to be property of the Danish King, but it was difficult to get anyone to settle the island as it is very steep and hard to land at, and it was thus decided to sell it; it was mostly men from Hvalba who had used and rented the island until then. The auction was held in Hvalba on 24 July 1852, and the final bid was 4,820 Rigsdaler or 9,640 Dkk, quite a sum for the time. Men from Hvalba and Sandvík together outbid the Factor for the royal sales-station in
Tvøroyri Tvøroyri is a village on the north side of the Trongisvágsfjørður on the east coast of Suðuroy island in the Faroe Islands. Together with Froðba, Trongisvágur, Líðin and Øravík it forms Tvøroyri Municipality. The village is considered ...
, who kept pushing the price up. The island was then given to the men from Hvalba and Sandvík as
Copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...
inheritance, against 40 Dkk in copyhold rent, and 10 Dkk every time there was a new owner. This money was in 1911 released with 1,000 Dkk, and thus did Lítla Dímun become the only privately owned island in the Faroes.


Shipwreck

In 1918, the Danish
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
''Caspe'', carrying a cargo of salt, was driven onto Lítla Dímun by a gale. The six crew were able to reach a narrow ledge just above the surf, but they had no stores, and the captain was severely injured. Eventually, they managed to move from the ledge, and found a cabin halfway up the island which had matches, fuel and a lamp. They caught two sheep and a sick bird, and were able to survive for seventeen days before being discovered and rescued by a fishing boat. One of the shipwrecked sailors eventually settled in the Faroes.


Sheep

The sheep now living on the island are Faroes sheep, but until the mid-nineteenth century it was occupied by
feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...
sheep, probably derived from the earliest
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
brought to Northern Europe in the
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
Period. The last of these very small, black, short-wooled sheep were shot in the 1860s. They were similar in appearance and origin to the surviving
Soay sheep The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') descended from a population of feral sheep on the island of Soay, St Kilda, Soay in the St Kilda, Scotland, St Kilda Archipelago, about from the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one ...
, from the island of
Soay Soay (pronounced "soy") is the name of several Scottish islands. It is Sòdhaigh (sometimes anglicised "Soaigh") in Scottish Gaelic, and comes from the Old Norse ''so-ey'' meaning "island of sheep". It may refer to: * Soay, Inner Hebrides off south ...
in the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. Soay is an island of very similar size and topography to Lítla Dímun, and has similarly difficult access. The modern Faroes sheep of the island are gathered each autumn. People sail to the island in a fishing boat, towing several rowing
skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats, usually propelled by sails or oars. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for work, leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-pers ...
s. About 40 people then form a chain across the island, driving the 200 or so sheep into a pen on the north side of the island. The sheep are then caught, restrained by tying their feet together, put in nets five at a time and lowered by ropes to the skiffs. Each skiff then takes its load of 15 sheep to the fishing boat, which returns to the island of
Suðuroy Suðuroy (pronounced: �suːwʊrɔior �suːri ‘South Island’, ) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region ( sýsla) comprise ...
. The sheep are unloaded on the wharf in the village of Hvalba, where they are placed in rows and distributed to their owners. A few sheep escape the gathering, and from time to time these are shot.


In popular culture

In Pierdomenico Baccalario's book trilogy Cyboria, New City, a futuristic utopic city, is located in this island and covered by clouds on top to not to be seen in the air.


Photos

File:Litla dimun map.jpg, Map of Lítla Dímun. File:Litla-dimun-photo.jpg, Clouds often cover the island. File:Little Dímun sheep.jpg, Museum specimens of the extinct feral sheep of Lítla Dímun.


References


Secondary sources


External links


Website
of Lítla Dímun (aerial photos) {{DEFAULTSORT:Litla Dimun Uninhabited islands of the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands Private islands of Denmark