Fleyggjarsteinur

Abstract

This article seeks to interpret the place name Fleyggjarsteinur, the name given to a large boulder standing on the edge of the steep mountainside above the farm, previously the seat of the bishop, at Kirkjubøur in the Faroe Islands. It is customary to fly a flag at this stone in connection with weddings and other solemn occasions. This is probably a fairly recent custom which may well have been inspired by a legend according to which the bishop was supposed to have his »merki« at this spot.

On the basis of the first component of the name, which may stem from ON flaug »weather vane«) and the fact that at Fløyfjellet at Bergen in Norway we have a name originating from a weather vane which stood at the top of the mountain for many centuries, it is suggested that Fleyggjarsteinur might have acquired its name from a weather vane which once stood there in the Middle Ages.