Sambandið føroyinga og útlendinga millum. Hugleiðingar um viðurskiftini frá 1273 til 1856.

Abstract

With a view to nosographical studies a brief survey is attempted concerning the intercourse of the Faroese with foreigners in the period 1273-1856. Founded on critical studies of literature, one is compelled to assume that the Faroese themselves maintained the principal part of the maritime contact until the end of the 16th century. Up til 1619 the all-predominant part of the legitimate trade went via Norway (Bergen), from 1620 to 1856 via Copenhagen. The extent of trade connections with the British Isles and with Hamburg (Bremen) and Holland in the 14th and 15th centuries is as yet undetermined. However, towards the end of the 15th century a lively commercial connection existed with the above mentioned German cities and Holland. The myth of the Faroe Islands as a highly isolated community can hardly be sustained, perhaps with the exception of the second half of the 17th and part of the beginning of the 18th centuries.

Besides the legitimate trade connections there have been a multitude of other contacts with foreigners. Pirates attacked the Faroe Islands in the 16th and 17th centuries, and later also privateers and freebooters, but any substantial communication with these intruders hardly existed. Foreign fishermen have frequently fished near the Faroes.

Scotchmen and presumably also Frenchmen, at any rate during the latter half of the 16th century, and Dutchmen from the latter third of the 17th century. These foreigners have had close intercourse with the population, and the Faroese themselves, no doubt, fished aboard some of the foreign vessels. By the end of the 18th century some German boats worked near the Faroes, also with Faroese people aboard. During the lst half of the 19th century numerous foreign ships fished near the Faroes, as well British, French as Belgian.

Whaling, seemingly, did not bring about any considerable communication. Smuggling did bring about close contact (with Germans at the end of the 16th century, and from the first half of the 17th century also with British and Dutch besides Danes and Norwegians). The connection with Holland was particularly frequent and regular during the 17th and lst half of the 18th centuries. Smuggling increased until 1856. Transit trade (England/America) in Tórshavn 1768-88 brought about close contact with foreigners. During the 17th century there were frequent visits by Danish/Norwegian warships, and at that time and later by Dutch, French and British naval vessels. After 1580 foreign officers were in command of the fortress of Tórshavn.

Since the middle of the 16th century several Faroese have been sailing aboard foreign trade ships, often overseas, and have later retuined home. During the 17th and 18th centuries shipwreck occasionally caused considerable numbers of foreigners to remain for longer periods here and there in the Faroe Islands.

Tourist journeys were rare, but from the 16th century onwards several foreigners immigrated, and many officials travelled to and from the Islands (bailiffs, civil servants, higher trade employees, clergymen, doctors, and foreign landowners). A number of visitors, Norwegian as well as Danish, were married on the Islands. Young Faroese men and women went into service for a term of years in other countries. Some attended schools or institutes of higher education. Before 1620 all this took place in Norway, later in Denmark. As early as the 17th century craftsmen learned their trade in other countries. During the second half of the 18th century a few foreign coal miners worked in the Faroes. Several scientific expeditions to the Faroes took place both in the 18th and 19th centuries. A considerable contact with foreigners existed during the first half of the 19th century through fishing experiments and foreign trade on small Faroese vessels.