Legends from the Faroe Islands

by Various

67 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2026

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Honza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Accidentally discovered this book in one of the Faroe Islands' bookshops. The title sounds promising; one can learn a little about their legends and tales. The book really needs an editor to give it a storyline. Many of the tales felt like a list of paragraphs without any common thread between them; it was hard, or for me even impossible, to find any narrative. Even though I really appreciate the idea behind the book, if there ever is a reworked edition, I'd buy it without hesitation. Unfortunately, as it stands, I quite missed the opportunity for a really nice souvenir from the Faroe Islands.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked to learn about the local folklore and knowing the places where the legends take place made them seem so much more alive.
However, I disliked a few things. First is the storytelling. It was often hard to follow storylines, paragraphs were somewhat random, and sometimes the legends were more like lists of things someone allegedly had done. I missed a bit a special storytelling language, which I know from fairytales or other legends. I suspect this might be a translation issue.
Second, there was often lack of context. A glossary explaining placenames meanings, or describing e.g. the shape of a roof which then the legend is about would give non-Faroese readers (who this book is intended for) some context, some base ideas why this story is important. This could also be in the form of a question: Why do we shape our roofs like this? Why do we only catch birds one day per year on that cliff? ...
Third, and this is non-specific to these legends: Many of them are sexist, objectifying, and violent, often against women. Stories were told differently in former ages, and yet I struggled reading about women 'taken' and beaten and kicked out of the house. I dont know how to tell old tales without these themes.