The Land of Maybe

The Land of Maybe

words and photographs by Katie Currid

N

othing is ever certain in the Land of Maybe.

In fact, it is uncertain whether you will ever get there or not. The weather defines the land in the Faroe Islands, dictating all travel, apparel and as a result, disposition.

In the Land of Maybe, you might get to work on time.

It has gotten better since the building of highways between the Faroe Islands’ 18 islands, but before the tunnels and connecting dams, if the ferry didn’t arrive because of the rain, fog or wind, you may just have an impromptu day off work.

The weather inhibits travel to the country itself. The only airline that flies there, which may just have the bravest pilots in the world, is the local Atlantic Airways. And often its flights are delayed, diverted to Norway or cancelled altogether.

And because of this unpredictable weather, one must always be prepared. A favorite saying of the locals is, “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing,” which seems overly optimistic to any tourist or traveler not used to the unexpected five-minute rain showers followed by blaring sunshine.

The unpredictability of the small country and autonomous province of Denmark, nestled in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Norway, has resulted in quite the laid back attitude. No one is ever in a hurry to get anywhere, because they may not even get there in the end. Faroese time always seems to run 10 minutes behind what the clock actually reads.

And there is always a coffee break to look forward to, as working too hard without a break for social chat would just be silly.

Welcome to the Faroe Islands, home to 18 islands, 50,000 people, 110 villages and one unique culture.

THE LAND

T

he landscape in The Land of Maybe is beautifully unforgiving. Its mountains, fjords and valleys are almost as predictably gorgeous as the unpredictability of the weather. Shaped by a series of volcanoes and ensuing erosion over the years, the Faroe Islands are a visual wonder despite the fickle weather.

Because of the weather and the drastic landscape, farming is not easy. Sheep and rhubarb seem to have survived the climate and therefore make it into a lot of Faroese foods. Wooly ewes and their spotted sheep run up and down the hillsides, drinking from freshwater streams provided by the massive amounts of rainwater daily. Rhubarbs grow tall and expand after years of successful crop and make their way into jams and pies made by locals.

Other crops and livestock aren’t so lucky. Cows must be housed in barns, as they lack the warm layer of protection sheep have. Potatoes are grown privately but are too unreliable to be sold as a crop or harvested for profit. And greenhouses and other domestic animals such as pigs and chickens have been attempted to be raised, but always are so costly to keep up that they end up bankrupting the farmer.

Sam Gleðisheygg, 10, experiments with cutting whale blubber during a whale hunt, or grindadráp, in the village of Syðrugøtu in the Faroe Islands. This particular grindadráp had a kill of 204 whales, which all went to the people of Syðrugøtu. Leftover meat is also given to hospitals and the poor.

The small country with their small farms has allowed the people to form a unique relationship with the animals that will one day be their food. The connection of man and their livestock is strong — Heimustovu and his family have slaughtered sheep as a family event and even documented it with their video camera for home movies.

“If you are living in a big city, the only thing you learn about is the right thing to do is go to the shop and buy beef and meat in the freezer,” said Heimustovu.

“You are human and you’ve done nothing wrong. But I have been killing cows and am killing lambs. And I am never happy to do it. But somebody has to and I will not be a better person if I go to the shop and buy it.”

But though the weather makes it brutal to farm for the Faroese, the surrounding waters make up for any loss of food. The Faroe Island’s main export is fish — mostly haddock, cod and salmon. The fishing industry is the source of the most jobs.

Fishing jobs vary greatly in the Faroe Islands. Of course, individuals can be fishermen, but they can also be engineers on fishing boats, quality control executives for the industry or work in the packing plants.

And fishing often becomes a family business. Private fisherman Magnus Andreasen is from a long line of fishermen — all of his brothers are in the business. Now, his son, Torfinn, who is 15, is learning the trade from his father. And Torfinn’s brother, Josias, has been working at a local salmon farm for the last five years.

For private fishermen, trips are made on a daily basis, and often they don’t venture out if the weather is bad. But then there are also the larger fishing vessels that travel the waters of the Faroe Islands or also farther out, from Greenland to the south near Mauritania. Those fishing trips, with crews of 30-80 men, can up to a few months.

One of the most profitable fishing ventures is that of the salmon farms, which provide many jobs on the Faroe Islands. Both the fishing farms and the factories are located on the island. Just in Klaksvík, there are 1.3 million salmon in the farm owned by Bakkafrost, a fishing company, which will be shipped around the world to the U.S., Russia, Poland and China.

With a profitable fishing industry and fluctuating crops, the Faroese have learned to deal with the harsh climate of their land, embracing its daily transformations by learning to adapt and enjoy their gorgeous surroundings. social atmosphere and, well, the people really just like whale meat.

THE GRIND

P

erhaps the most unique and controversial of the traditions of the Faroese people is the grindadráp — Faroese for whale hunt. The grindadráp derives itself from necessity. Because of the landscape of the Faroe Islands, before the industrial revolution the Faroese people had few choices for food after lamb and potatoes.

To many of the people of the Faroe Islands, the pilot whale is God’s gift to them.

Without the whale, the Faroese people would have gone hungry to feed their people. Today, the grindadráp is kept alive for multiple reasons — it provides a social atmosphere and, well, the people really just like whale meat.

But the grindadráp is at risk of dying out. It has been criticized by many environmental organizations such as Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd and local doctors have found that the meat may actually be poisonous, due to the high levels of mercury.

The grindadráp is not scheduled. Some years, it doesn’t happen. The Faroese people never know how many whales will come or how many there will be when they do. Locals spot the whales coming close to shore — they do not go out and actively hunt them — and then drive out in small wooden boats to corral the whales close to shore.

Once the whales are driven close to the beach, locals rush out with hooks, which they then insert into the blow hole of the pilot whale and sever the spinal cord.

Above: Children run around and play during Norðoyastevnuskráin, a summer festival in Klaksvík in early June. During the summer in the Faroe Islands, the sun is typically only down for three hours and sets sometime around eleven at night.

Because of this, children are still out in the streets playing because the sun is up and do not believe their parents when they ask them to come in for bedtime.

Left: A Faroese woman stands in front of the harbor in Klaksvík as a rowing competition goes on in the water behind her. The sweater she is wearing is a traditional Faroese knit made by Guðrun and Guðrun, a local Faroese clothing store from Tórshavn. This particulate sweater became very famous after being featured in the Danish TV crime drama, “The Killing.”

Clockwise from left: Harriet O. Davidsen knits a scarf for a friend in her home in Tórshavn during a meeting with her knitting group. Many younger women belong to knitting circles and get together every once in a while to knit, gossip, drink coffee and eat chocolate cake.

Josias Jacobsen throws out an anchor as Torfinn Andreasen, 15, looks on during a fishing trip from Klaksvík to collect fishing bait. Torfinn is the son of a long line of fishermen, as both his father and son are also in that line of business, along with all of his father’s family.

Church-goers exit the chapel doors of Christianskirkja after service on Sunday in Klaksvík. Chiristianity is very popular in the Faroe Islands, and the country is seen to be oddly religious and conservative compared to the rest of Europe. Most Faroese people belong to the Lutheran church.

The entire killing is very quick and beaches must be shallow and approved to make it less painful for the animal. In a whale killing that occurred in the village of Syðrugøtu in May 2011, 204 whales were killed in less than twenty minutes. The Faroese strive to make it a quick process that is as painless as possible for the animals.

But the grindadráp is not exactly easy to watch. As the animals are killed, the beach water turns red, making it look like a blood bath.

However, many Faroese people say that the criticism of the process is unfair, as all animals bleed when they die. They say the same process happens in a slaughterhouse, but it is behind closed doors.

“In reality, it’s no more dramatic than if you go into a slaughterhouse and you see 200 cows and you slit their throat,” said Pál Weihe, chief physician at the Faroese Hospital System.

The meat provided by the grindadráp goes to the people by of the islands — it is illegal to sell it. Those who spot the pod of whales and who participate in the killing get the largest share. Then, there is a list of individuals the meat goes to, and those individuals must come and cut the meat themselves or have someone do it for them. Portions of the meat also go to the local hospitals, elderly and poor, as it provides a large free meal to those in need.

And hardly any parts of the whale are wasted. Individuals take the meat home to be frozen, salted, or dried in specially made and traditional lockers. The intestines are used as fishing bait. Those who like the taste consume the blubber, serving it on bread or with boiled potatoes.

Weihe has investigated the effects of mercury on the Faroese people and other cultures that traditionally eat whale meat. From his research, Weihe has found the levels of mercury inside a chunk of whale meat can be 1-200 times higher than the levels of mercury in a cod fish.

Because of this research, Weihe has determined whale meat dangerous to consume. He explicitly recommends that women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant do not consume whale meat. Weihe’s studies have shown that excessive exposure to mercury has associations with negative affects to the nervous system, has an effect on blood

pressure and also damages the immune system.

“The Faroese average intelligence could be even higher in a society without mercury,” said Weihe. “But for me, mercury is important because it’s preventable. We have plenty of alternative food sources like all this fish we have.”

But even though Weihe suggests the Faroese people discontinue their consumption of whale meat, he doesn’t say so because of environmental purposes.

“I’ve been a whaler myself, “ said Weihe. “I’ve cut the throat of a number of whales and it’s nothing personal against pilot whaling. I believe our catches of pilot whale is absolutely sustainable.”

Weihe’s research has shown that the levels of mercury in whale meat, and other marine animals, spiked after the industrial revolution. This leads researchers to believe that the cause is from water pollution. He hopes his research will actually lead environmental agents to curb this pollution so the Faroese people and other cultures can one day enjoy clean whale meat.

“Keep the whale clean and then we can, in the long run, continue consuming it as a clean animal,” said Weihe. “If it’s affecting us, it is probably affect the whales too.”

Not all Faroese people completely heed Weihe’s advise, but the consumption of whale meat has gone down in years because of the negative health affects. At the distribution of the grind, men constantly warn women of the effects of mercury if they plan to become pregnant.

But whether or not it is bad for your health, it is undeniable that the grind is a great social event. Villagers, whether or not they are participating, come out to chat with others and the village that receives the whale gets great pride out of what they see as a gift from God. “I think it’s a good thing,” says Jóannes Heimustovu, Klaksvík resident who has lived in the city just about all his life. Heimustovu continues to consume whale meat, though he jokes that it has made him crazy.

“We could live without it, no problem. But it’s like we are winning at football. Everybody is talking about it and how much they got. It’s like a good football match.”

THE ART Upon walking down to the harbor to see the recent grindadráp and the ensuing catch, Fríðhild Holmsund is not paying attention to the 200 whales lying on the ground in front of her, being cut up and distributed by the locals. She is looking at the knitting patterns on other people’s sweaters.

“Oooh, look at that one!” said Holmsund, the 27-year old Faroese native from the southern Faroese island of Suðuroy, admiring an individual’s sweater as they innocently walk past. “I wonder if I could make that pattern.”

Art, in the form of balls of yarn and knitting needles, jewelry made with found objects or improvised singing on a karaoke night, is rampant in the Faroe Islands. Although the country may be small, they are not small minded — modern sculptures and abstract paintings decorate the villages, proudly shown and discussed at length.

Knitting is by far one of the most popular hobbies on the Faroe Islands — so much so that it seems as though there is a wool shop for every grocery store, or the two are combined into one.

Faroese knits have gotten popular lately, and not just among the Faroese.

Guðrun and Guðrun, a local Faroese clothing store, has gotten a lot of publicity because of the American and British adaptations of the Danish crime drama “The Killing.”

The show features the lead actress in a traditional Faroese knitted sweater, made by Guðrun and Guðrun, which has been quite the hot item because of the show’s popularity. The sweater is now selling for €280 and has put the shop, which meshes the traditional Faroese knits with modern couture, into the spotlight.

Art seems to run in the veins of the Faroese, though, and they greatly enjoy making beautiful products for others to enjoy. The city of Tórshavn, the largest city in the Faroe Islands, publicly funds a series of courses that highlight the arts. From chorus to athletics to pottery, citizens of Tórshavn can learn and practice their craft for a small fee at various institutions around town. Óluva Hermansen is an instructor at one of these institutions, Tórshavnar Kvøld, Ungdóms og Listaskúli. Hermansen has been teaching there for the last few years, ever since she had to stop working full time from a medical surgery with her stomach.

Left: The small village of Gjógv is nestled in a valley in the mountains of the Faroe Islands. Many villages, such as this one, are home to no more than 100 people, often from the same family unit. This particular village has no grocery store or gas station — its only buildings that are not houses include an old church and an indoor fish farm.

Above: A rowing team return to the harbor to take their boat out of the water after a rowing competition in Klaksvík. Rowing is considered the Faroese national sport. Rowing teams can often be seen in the local harbors for hours throughout the day, practicing amongst the fishing boats.

Hermansen teaches jewelry making at the school eight months out of the year alongside good friend Ingibjørg Andreasen. Hermansen uses found objects, such as local Faroese stones and sheep horns that farmers would otherwise throw out.

From the way she talks about her work and the amount of time she spends making jewelry, it is obvious that Hermansen loves her job and her students love attending class to learn her craft. The students in her jewelry-making class range from 3 years old to as old as 90 years old.

Some come to learn a skill, some for a degree and others come purely for social reasons.

“There is a woman who is 87 in our class,” says Hermansen. “The first thing she asks every day when she arrives is when the first coffee break is. She really likes the social part of the class.”

For Hermansen, whether it is jewelry making, knitting, music or painting, she believes art is a definitive aspect of Faroese culture.

“It lives inside of the us,” said Hermansen. “It’s like a gift from generation to generation. It lives in the people.”

W

hether it is through traditionally knitted sweaters, the perseverance of the consumption of whale meat or the way they accept the temperamental yet beautiful land around them, it is apparent that the Faroese are a proud people. Deep rooted in their unique culture, the people of the Land of Maybe know that by embracing their strange and rare home, they will continue to be happy, one with the land they live with and those who inhabit it.

Clockwise from left: A child sleeps outside of its home in the streets of Tórshavn. Faroese parents often leave their babies outside of their houses to sleep, as they believe the children sleep better outside and the fresh air is good for them. The Faroe Islands is considered to be a very safe place by locals, so none worry about someone hurting their child.

A Faroese man cuts through the skin and blubber of the whale to get to the meat after a grindadráp in Norðrugøtu. Some Faroese people consume the blubber of the whale, as it can be cooked in different ways, but it is often only consumed in moderation, most often with bread.

Jóannes Heimustovu filets a fish in his home in Klaksvík after a successful fishing trip with his cousin’s husband, Josias Jacobsen. Heimustovu believes that a connection to one’s food is important and thinks it is good to know exactly where your food comes from and how it was prepared.

Torfinn Andreasen prepares some newly-caught fish in a fishing boat in a bay near Klaksvík. Torfinn, who is 15, will most likely become a fisherman like his father. Many residents of the Faroe Islands belong to the fishing industry, as it is the country’s biggest export and provides a lot of job opportunities.