:''There is also a town called
Vágur
Vágur, meaning ''bay'' (), is a town and municipality on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands.
It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has mea ...
on
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 ...
.''
Sørvágur () is a village on the island of
Vágar
Vágar (; ) is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the ''large islands''. With a size of , it ranks third in size, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy. Vágar Regions of the Faroe Islands, region also ...
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 located at the landward end of
Sørvágsfjørður. Sørvágur is the largest village in
Sørvágur Municipality
Sørvágur Municipality (), is the westernmost municipality in the Faroe Islands.
It consists of the villages of Sørvágur :''There is also a town called Vágur on Suðuroy.''
Sørvágur () is a village on the island of Vágar in the Faroe Isl ...
.
Name
The name Sørvágur translates to "The Bay of Sør". While the second half of the name makes sense given the fact that the village is located at a bay, the first 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 (seyr is also a word for foggy rain). 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 course 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 a reasonable explanation for the origin of the name Sørvágur.
First settlement
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 school's gymnastic hall, they excavated an old Viking settlement. Sørvágur – alongside
Leirvík
Leirvík is a town on the Faroe Islands and was an important regional ferry harbour at the east coast of the second-largest island Eysturoy.
It was the only town in the municipality of Leirvík (''Leirvíkar kommuna''), however on 1 January 2009 ...
,
Tjørnuvík
Tjørnuvík () is the northernmost village on Streymoy in Sunda Municipality, 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 ...
and
Sandur – is one of the few places in the Faroe Islands where archaeologists have been able to find substantial proof that these places were 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 the thirteenth century.
History
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 abandoned, 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 the 15th century to the late 17th century, the
Norwegian nobles, the Benkenstock family 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 the 17th century was around fifty. In the first census in the Faroes in 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, only the big farmers had fishing boats. The first person in the Faroes who did not 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
fish factory
A fish factory, also known as a fish plant or fish processing facility, is a facility in which fish processing is performed. They are commonly located near bodies of water but can be located inland and on fishing vessels. The availability and var ...
in the Faroe Islands was built in Sørvágur in 1952.
The locals from Sørvágur formed a part of the backbone of fishermen who went to
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
to fish. Faroese fishermen were instrumental in teaching the inhabitants of Greenland to do deepsea fishing.
In the period 1902–1912, there was a whaling station in the nearby bay of
Selvík
World War II
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Sørvágur was home to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
, who lived at Uppi á Mýrum. They built all the main infrastructure in Sørvágur including
Vágar Airport, the harbour in Sørvág, Niðaraveg (the main road to the harbour) and several bridges. To accomplish this, they had to move entire houses to other locations.
Geography and landmarks
Districts (''býlingar'') in Sørvág:
Climate
Vágar has colder and snowier winters than most places in the archipelago. Lower temperatures combined with higher precipitation are responsible for this, and measurable snow cover can be seen- a rarity in the Faroe Islands, in which snow cover (in areas which regularly experience it) is usually limited to a thin coating. The airport, at which data is recorded, is also located at a higher altitude on the island (84 meters above sea level
), which might result in lower temperatures and higher precipitation than lower-lying areas on the island. Frost occurs on average on 62 days of the year,
the most out of all stations included in the records of the Danish Meteorological Institute.
See also:
*
List of districts in Sørvág
Small and big rivers in Sørvág (note: rivers in the Faroe Islands may be considered a mere stream in other places):
*
Breiðá
*
Tunguliðsá
*
Hanusará
*
Kirkjuá
*
Stórá
*
Skipá
Mountains surrounding Sørvág:
*
Vørðufelli
*
Líðarnøva
*
Skeiðin
*
Nónfjall
*
Høgafjall
*
Bólafløttur
Valleys in and around Sørvág:
*
Húsadalur
*
Kjóvadalur
Major bays:
*
Selvík
Other landmarks:
*
Middagsvarði
*
Vesturvarði
*
Norðurvarði
*
Seyðagarðar
Industry
Fishery

Sørvágur has always been a place where
fishery
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...
has been very dominant. In older times it was said, that the only thing necessary for survival in Sørvágur was that you had a
fishing rod
A fishing rod or fishing pole is a long, thin rod used by angling, anglers to fishing, catch fish by manipulating a fishing line, line ending in a fish hook, hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic ...
and a pot to cook the fish. The fishing industry also plays a vital role in the industrial environment in Sørvágur today (2005). Today there is a modern fish factory producing mainly salt fish; a fish farm raising
salmon
Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
; one fish market; one major
fish factory ship, which produces fish directly to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
market; 6 smaller
fishing trawlers
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing n ...
and 50+ small
fishing boat
A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, arti ...
s.
Airport
The
Vágar Airport is the only airport on the Faroe Islands, and it is located just outside Sørvágur. Many residents of Sørvágur work there.
Shops and colonials
After the Royal
Monopoly trade over the Faroe Islands ended in 1856, everyone was able to start trading on their own. This led to an upsurge in colonial shops opening all over the place. In Sørvágur many colonials were started and one of the leading concerns on the Faroe Islands -
Niclasen - was started in Sørvágur. During the transformation of the Faroese society from a feudal to a semi-industrial these concerns played a major role in ensuring labour to the common man. The main colonial in Sørvágur -
Norði Stovu handilin - was originally started by the Niclasen concern. The other colonial -
Løðuhandilin - was started by the rival concern in Sørvágur - Rasmussen. These two colonials are the only two remaining in Sørvágur today (2005).
Norði Stovu handilin is better known under the name ''Hjá Valdemar'' and today it also contains a bakery.
At the harbour in Sørvágur lies a hardware store -
Hjá Niclasen - which also used to form a part of the Niclasen concern. Also placed in the proximity of the harbour lies a
Statoil
Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. In th ...
tank station which is run by the Niclasen concern. The tank station also includes a kiosk and grill.
Banks
The faroese banks
Føroya Banki and
Eik Banki are present in Sørvágur. There are two
automatic teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...
s, one at
Vágar Airport and the other at Eik Banki.
Tourists
In close proximity to the airport lies a hotel with restaurant - ''Hotel Vágar''. The hotel is a modern 3 star hotel.
During the summer tourist are able to make excursions in boats from Sørvágu
Tourists are also able to make excursion
on
Sørvágsvatn
Sørvágsvatn, sometimes called Leitisvatn, is the largest lake in the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the island of Vágar, between the municipalities of Sørvágur Municipality, Sørvágur and Vága Municipality, Vágar. The local reference is ...
.
There is a local museum is in Sørvágur and a small art galler
Public
*There is a daycare institution in Sørvágur
*A post office is in Sørvágur
Sport and other activities
Sport
The local sport association of Sørvágur is called
SÍ. They compete mainly in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
. The football club of Sørvágur has merged with the club from other villages on the island into the football club
07 Vestur.
There has also been an association for Faroese rowing called
SR.
There used to be a chess club called ''Rókur'', but it died out during the 1960s.
Religion
Religion plays a great role in the day-to-day life in Sørvágur. There are two main buildings – apart from the church – housing two different religious denominations: Libanon houses the Protestant ''Heimamissiónin'', and Kedron houses the Brethren/
baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
''Brøðrasamkoman''.
Literature
*
Sonni Jacobsen: ''Sørvágur og sørvingar''. Sørvágur: Forlagið Ytstifjórðingur 1995–1996. (2 vol.)
Abstract from vol. 1(Faroese)
(Faroese)
See also
*
List of towns in the Faroe Islands
This is a list of villages (and towns) of the Faroe Islands as of 29 of April 2025. :fo:Býir í Føroyum
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Towns In The Faroe Islands
Towns
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faro ...
References
External links
Images from SørvágurOfficial website for the municipality of Sørvágur (Faroese)The Sport Association of Sørvágur (Faroese)Live web-cam from Sørvágur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorvagur
Populated places in the Faroe Islands
Vágar
Fishing communities
Ports and harbours of the Faroe Islands