fimmtudagur, júní 01, 2006

hjaltland

I am admiring a map of the Shetlands. It is wonderful to see how the old Norn names have been battered and smoothed by the cold Scottish waters. You can't see most of their original edges and contours anymore:
Muckle Flugga
Yell
Unst
Fetlar
Muckle Roe
Burravoe
Aith
Mu Ness
Foula
Fitful Head

The placenames in the Faroes, in contrast, retain more recognizably Norse profiles:
Svínoy
Streymoy
Eysturoy
Suduroy
Norðuroyggjar
Skálafjørður
Vágar
Gjógv
Koltur
Hestur
Tórshavn
But not on this map. The mapmaker has sanded down all the jutting Faroese into flat Danish, making all the water Fjord and all the land Ø.

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