Saksun and Tjørnuvík

Saksun is a village on the North-west coast of Streymoy island. It lies on the bottom of what used to be an inlet of the sea and is surrounded by mountains. The church was originally built in Tjørnuvík and you can also find a 17th century farmhouse called Dúvugarður. The farmhouse belongs to the Dúvugarður farm, which is still an active sheep farm.

Tjørnuvík is the northernmost village of Streymoy island and lies in the bottom of a creek on with a view towards the rocks ‘Risin og Kellingin’.

‘Risin og Kellingin’ means ‘the Giant and the Witch’ (or Hag). These are two sea stacks just off the northern coast of the island Eysturoy. Tradition says, once upon a time, the giants in Iceland were envious and decided that they wanted the Faroes. So the giant and the witch (his wife in some versions of the story) were sent down to the Faroe Islands to bring them back.

The giant stayed in the sea while the witch climbed up the mountain with a heavy rope to tie the islands together so that she could push them onto the giant’s back. However, when she attached the rope to the mountain and pulled, the northern part of the mountain split. Further attempts were also unsuccessful, and they struggled through the night, but the base of the mountain was firm and they could not move it.

If the sun shines on a giant or witch, it turns to stone. So it was that as they continued to struggle they didn’t notice time passing, and as dawn broke a shaft of sunlight put a stop to their efforts by turning them to stone on the spot. They have stood there ever since, staring longingly across the ocean towards Iceland.