I only knew one thing about the Faroes before this: I used to talk to a guy on IRC from there and he was a colossal dick who thought he was the world’s expert on Vikings solely because he was from and lived on the Faroes.
So now I know something about the Faroes which makes me think maybe they’re not all dicks. Also, I kind of want them to extend the tunnel system to Iceland and Scotland. And then you could drive from Iceland to the edge of China.
What I can confirm is that Tyr (Faroese Metal band) does more Scaldic rhythm fuckery than the rest of Scandinavia combined. That one is easy to explain: They’re still communally singing the sagas over there, they didn’t give up the oral tradition after the introduction of writing, after Christianisation. They’re growing up with the old poetic forms like the English are growing up with iambic pentameter.
Is Faroese culture the closest we currently have to what Norse people were like during the Iron Age? Definitely: Small, isolated island populations tend to be culturally conservative and the Faroese are no exception. Were they ever Vikings? Nope. The first settlers, arguably, were, but settling the Islands is about the greatest adventure the Faroese people ever had the rest of its history is being a rest stop. And I say that with love.
Also, I kind of want them to extend the tunnel system to Iceland and Scotland. And then you could drive from Iceland to the edge of China.
Well, that’d be quite a distance. Also you can’t drive through the channel tunnel you get loaded onto a train.
Fair enough, but this guy got caught out saying things that were simply not true before (or at least not supported by evidence), i.e., “the Vikings sailed down to Florida and perhaps Mexico!” and when he was called on it, his excuse was always that he was Faroese, so he knows because his ancestors were Vikings.
I wish at the time I had known that ‘Viking’ was a job, not a nationality. Because he clearly did not.
Well that’s very cool!
I only knew one thing about the Faroes before this: I used to talk to a guy on IRC from there and he was a colossal dick who thought he was the world’s expert on Vikings solely because he was from and lived on the Faroes.
So now I know something about the Faroes which makes me think maybe they’re not all dicks. Also, I kind of want them to extend the tunnel system to Iceland and Scotland. And then you could drive from Iceland to the edge of China.
What I can confirm is that Tyr (Faroese Metal band) does more Scaldic rhythm fuckery than the rest of Scandinavia combined. That one is easy to explain: They’re still communally singing the sagas over there, they didn’t give up the oral tradition after the introduction of writing, after Christianisation. They’re growing up with the old poetic forms like the English are growing up with iambic pentameter.
Is Faroese culture the closest we currently have to what Norse people were like during the Iron Age? Definitely: Small, isolated island populations tend to be culturally conservative and the Faroese are no exception. Were they ever Vikings? Nope. The first settlers, arguably, were, but settling the Islands is about the greatest adventure the Faroese people ever had the rest of its history is being a rest stop. And I say that with love.
Well, that’d be quite a distance. Also you can’t drive through the channel tunnel you get loaded onto a train.
Fair enough, but this guy got caught out saying things that were simply not true before (or at least not supported by evidence), i.e., “the Vikings sailed down to Florida and perhaps Mexico!” and when he was called on it, his excuse was always that he was Faroese, so he knows because his ancestors were Vikings.
I wish at the time I had known that ‘Viking’ was a job, not a nationality. Because he clearly did not.
NGL - it makes me want to visit! I don’t think I’d drive it myself, but I bet they do tours.