Who are the Faroese?

Photo: Jeppe Michael Jensen

International football match at Tórsvøllur

Intriguing archaeological excavations and DNA studies have thrown new light on the origins of the Faroe Islanders. New evidence has called into question where the first inhabitants of the Faroe Islands came from.

It was traditionally believed that the first settlers of the Faroe Islands were Irish monks who set sail across the North Atlantic in tiny coracles, wooden boats wrapped in leather, in search of solitude and the chance to worship away from prying eyes. Indeed, place name evidence in the Faroe Islands supports the theory of early Irish settlement since some place names in the Faroe Islands are Celtic in origin. Historians have estimated the arrival of the Irish monks in the islands at some time around the year 650 though thwere is no written evidence that Irish monks ever lived here.

However, two highly significant events have turned the once accepted version of Faroese history on its head. Firstly, in 2006/07, exciting new archaeological digs, underway on the island of Sandoy, turned up the remains of a Viking longhouse within the sand cliffs, which were crumbling under coastal erosion. As exciting as this was, it did not prepare the archaeologists for what they discovered next. Below the longhouse structure, and therefore older than it, charred grains of barley were found in patches of burnt peat. As they were carbon dated, a nation held its breath. Once the results were in, it was clear that the site had been settled as early as the 4th Century – before the time of the Irish monks and the Vikings and therefore the earliest documented settlement of the Faroe Islands. DNA evidence proves where the Faroese people came from

The second breakthrough came when DNA from both Faroese men and women was analysed in an attempt to ascertain, once and for all, the nation’s heritage. The results were astonishing. It had traditionally been believed that the Faroese were originally Vikings from Norway who arrived on the islands during the 8th Century. However, the DNA evidence clearly meant it was time for a rethink. Whilst Y chromosomes in Faroese men, tracing male descent, can indeed be traced back to Norway and are 87% Scandinavian in origin, this is not the case for the female population of the Faroe Islands. Studies of mitochondrial DNA, tracing female descent, show an 84% affinity with Scottish and Irish DNA. It’s assumed, therefore, that men did indeed arrive in the Faroe Islands from Norway. However, contrary to popular belief, they didn’t take Norwegian women with them. Instead, they sailed via the British Isles where British and Celtic women were taken onboard for the journey north to the Faroe Islands.