Funningur

Funningur lies at the head of a fjord under Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroes, and tradition holds that Grímur Kamban, the first Norse settler in the islands, made his home here in the ninth century, though there is no archaeology to fix it. The village has a turf-roofed wooden church of 1847 and a scatter of old houses along the stream. The road in crosses a high pass with a viewpoint over the fjord.

History

Tradition holds that Grímur Kamban, the first Norse settler in the Faroe Islands, made his home at Funningur, fleeing the rule of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair; the saga cannot be right on that point, since Harald reigned in the late 9th century and the first Norse settlers reached the Faroes after 825, and Irish monks had arrived much earlier, around 625-650. Above the village rises Slættaratindur, at 880 m the highest mountain in the islands (Wikipedia, Funningur).

What's there

• The turf-roofed church - an 1847 wooden church with a grass roof.
• The Kamban tradition - the village named as the first Norse settlement.
• The Slaettaratindur backdrop - the islands' highest peak standing above.
• The pass road - the high crossing with its viewpoint over the fjord.

When to go

May to September is the season for the pass road. Fog on the pass is very common. Winter can close the road entirely.

Practical notes

The settlement claim is tradition, not evidence, and there is nothing on the ground to see of it. The village is tiny. The pass road is steep, narrow and often in cloud.

Nearby

Gjogv is north, and Elduvik is east.

Key facts