Sørvágur
| Sørvágur | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
Looking towards Mykines Island
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 Sørvágur
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| Coordinates: 62°4′13″N 7°19′20″W / 62.07028°N 7.32222°WCoordinates: 62°4′13″N 7°19′20″W / 62.07028°N 7.32222°W | |
| State |
 Kingdom of Denmark
|
| Constituent country |
 Faroe Islands
|
| Island | Vágar |
| Municipality | Sørvágur Municipality |
| Population (2013) | |
| • Total | 998 |
| Time zone | GMT |
| • Summer (DST) | EST (UTC+1) |
| Postal code | FO 645 |
| Climate | Cfc |
Sørvágur (Danish: Sørvåg) is a village on the island of Vágar in the Faroe Islands.
It is located at the landward end of Sørvágsfjørður. Sørvágur is the largest village in Sørvágur Municipality.
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 at reasonable explanation to the origin of the name Sørvágur.
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 schools gymnastic hall they excavated an old Viking settlement. Sørvágur - alongside Leirvík, Tjørnuvík and Sandur - is in 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 thirteenth century.
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.
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Wikipedia