115-642: The Guard Hussar Regiment ( Danish : Gardehusarregimentet, GHR ) is a cavalry unit of the Royal Danish Army , whose primary task is to train the Guard Hussars for various functions in the mobilisation force. The Guard Hussar Regiment is one of two active cavalry regiments of the Danish Army, and was formed in 2001 through the amalgamation of the original Guard Hussars regiment, Zealand Life Regiment and Danish Life Regiment . Although
230-594: A monopoly over trade with the Faroe Islands and forbade the Faroese from trading with other countries. The trade monopoly in the Faroe Islands was eventually abolished in 1856, after which the area developed into a modern fishing-based economy with its own fishing fleet . In 1846, the Faroe Islands finally regained formal political representation when they were allocated two seats in the Danish Rigsdag ;
345-429: A "difficult language to learn, acquire and understand", and some evidence shows that children are slower to acquire the phonological distinctions of Danish compared with other languages. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong (irregular) and weak (regular) conjugations and inflections. Nouns, adjectives, and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. Like English, Danish only has remnants of
460-577: A former case system , particularly in the pronouns. Unlike English, it has lost all person marking on verbs. Its word order is V2 , with the finite verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch . Other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of
575-526: A literary language. Also in this period, Danish began to take on the linguistic traits that differentiate it from Swedish and Norwegian, such as the stød , the voicing of many stop consonants, and the weakening of many final vowels to /e/. The first printed book in Danish dates from 1495, the Rimkrøniken ( Rhyming Chronicle ), a history book told in rhymed verses. The first complete translation of
690-539: A majority for parties opposed to independence: following protracted negotiations, Denmark granted home rule to the Faroe Islands on 30 March 1948. This agreement granted the islands a high degree of autonomy, and Faroese finally became the official language in all public spheres. In 1973 the Faroe Islands declined to join Denmark in entering the European Economic Community (EEC); as a result,
805-707: A number of Danes remained as a minority within German territories . After the occupation of Denmark by Germany in World War II, the 1948 orthography reform dropped the German-influenced rule of capitalizing nouns, and introduced the letter ⟨å⟩ . Three 20th-century Danish authors have become Nobel Prize laureates in Literature : Karl Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan (joint recipients in 1917) and Johannes V. Jensen (awarded 1944). With
920-509: A number of loanwords from Old Irish. A traditional name for the islands in Irish , Na Scigirí , possibly derives from Eyja-Skeggjar , ("Island-Beards"), a nickname given to island dwellers. According to Færeyinga saga , many of the Norwegian settlers in particular were spurred by their disapproval of the monarchy of Harald Fairhair , whose rule was also seen as an inciting factor for
1035-490: A part of the European Economic Community in 1973, instead keeping autonomy over their own fishing waters; as a result, the Faroe Islands are not a part of the European Union today. The Løgting, albeit suspended between 1816 and 1852, holds a claim as one of the oldest continuously running parliaments in the world. The islands' endonym Føroyar , as well as its English name Faroe Islands (alt. Faeroe or
1150-495: A period of high volcanic activity in the Early Palaeogene around 50–60 million years ago. The islands are built up in layers of different lava flows (basalt) alternating with thin layers of volcanic ash (tuff). The soft ash and the hard basalt thus lie layer upon layer in narrow and thick strips. The soft tuff or ash zones erode away relatively quickly, and the hard lump of basalt above the eroded tuff falls away, forming
1265-601: A political dimension with the advent of the Faroese language conflict in the early 20th century. Both sides of the conflict were represented by the country's first-ever political parties: the Union Party ( Sambandsflokkurin ), founded in 1906, which supported Faroese literature but opposed its usage in education; and the Self-Government party ( Sjálvstýrisflokkurin ), which sought to introduce Faroese as
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#17327717593691380-486: A result of its northerly latitude and proximity to the Arctic Circle , the islands experience perpetual civil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days. The capital and largest city, Tórshavn , receives the fewest recorded hours of sunshine of any city in the world at only 840 per year. While archaeological evidence places the first known habitation as early as the 4th century, Færeyinga Saga and
1495-527: A short distance to the south. Snow also is seen at a much higher frequency than on outlying islands nearby. The area receives on average 49 frosts a year. The collection of meteorological data on the Faroe Islands began in 1867. Winter recording began in 1891, and the warmest winter occurred in 2016–17 with an average temperature of 6.1 °C (43 °F). The Faroes belong to the Faroe Islands boreal grasslands ecoregion. The natural vegetation of
1610-482: A similarity in pronunciation, combined with the long tradition of having Danish as a written language, which has led to similarities in vocabulary. Among younger Danes, Copenhageners are worse at understanding Swedish than Danes from the provinces. In general, younger Danes are not as good at understanding the neighboring languages as the young in Norway and Sweden. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided
1725-523: A so-called multiethnolect in the urban areas, an immigrant Danish variety (also known as Perkerdansk ), combining elements of different immigrant languages such as Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish, as well as English and Danish. Within the Danish Realm , Danish is the national language of Denmark and one of two official languages of the Faroe Islands (alongside Faroese ). There is a Faroese variant of Danish known as Gøtudanskt . Until 2009, Danish
1840-590: A spoken language until the 19th century. Following the Napoleonic Wars , the union between Denmark and Norway was dissolved by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814; while Norway was transferred to the Swedish Crown, Denmark retained possession of Norway's North Atlantic territories, which included the Faroe Islands along with Greenland and Iceland. Shortly afterwards, Denmark asserted control and began to restrict
1955-760: A straightforward compound of fær ('sheep') and eyjar ('islands'), meaning "sheep islands", in reference to their abundance on the archipelago. Clergymen Peder Clausson and Lucas Debes began casting doubt on this theory in the 16th and 17th centuries, arguing that the West Norse-speaking settlers, whose word for sheep was sauðr instead of the East Norse fær , could not have coined it from this exact origin. Debes surmised that it could have derived from fjær ('far'), while Hammershaimb leaned towards fara ('to go, to travel'). Others have theorised an Old Irish origin: relating it to
2070-661: A survey sponsored by NATO , the British Museum (Natural History) and the Carlsberg Foundation, is preserved in the Ulster Museum (catalogue numbers: F3195–F3307). It is one of ten exsiccatae sets. A few small plantations consisting of plants collected from similar climates such as Tierra del Fuego in South America and Alaska thrive on the islands. The bird fauna of the Faroe Islands
2185-518: A tropical system. The climate varies greatly over small distances, due to the altitude, ocean currents, topography, and winds. Precipitation varies considerably throughout the archipelago. In some highland areas, snow cover may last for months with snowfalls possible for the greater part of the year (on the highest peaks, summer snowfall is by no means rare), while in some sheltered coastal locations, several years pass without any snowfall whatsoever. Tórshavn receives frosts more often than other areas just
2300-562: A variant of Standard Danish, Southern Schleswig Danish , is spoken in the area. Since 2015, Schleswig-Holstein has officially recognized Danish as a regional language , just as German is north of the border. Furthermore, Danish is one of the official languages of the European Union and one of the working languages of the Nordic Council . Under the Nordic Language Convention , Danish-speaking citizens of
2415-407: A very large vowel inventory consisting of 27 phonemically distinctive vowels , and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød , a kind of laryngeal phonation type . Due to the many pronunciation differences that set Danish apart from its neighboring languages, particularly the vowels, difficult prosody and "weakly" pronounced consonants, it is sometimes considered to be
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#17327717593692530-603: A westward ice mass have eroded the intervening mountain range into a narrow ridge. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing country under the external sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Faroese government holds executive power in local government affairs. The head of the government is called the Løgmaður ("Chief Justice") and serves as Prime Minister and head of the Faroese Government. Any other member of
2645-502: Is Lítla Dímun . The islands are rugged and rocky with some low peaks; the coasts are mostly cliffs. The highest point is Slættaratindur in northern Eysturoy , 882 metres (2,894 ft) above sea level . The Faroe Islands are made up of an approximately six-kilometres-thick succession of mostly basaltic lava that was part of the great North Atlantic Igneous Province during the Paleogene period. The lavas were erupted during
2760-700: Is a West Germanic language descended from Old English. Old Norse exerted a strong influence on Old English in the early medieval period. The shared Germanic heritage of Danish and English is demonstrated with many common words that are very similar in the two languages. For example, when written, commonly used Danish verbs, nouns, and prepositions such as have , over , under , for , give , flag , salt , and arm are easily recognizable to English speakers. Similarly, some other words are almost identical to their Scots equivalents, e.g. kirke (Scots kirk , i.e., 'church') or barn (Scots and northern English bairn , i.e. 'child'). In addition,
2875-522: Is a local domestic sheep breed, the Faroe sheep (depicted on the coat of arms ), and there once was a variety of feral sheep , which survived on Lítla Dímun until the mid-nineteenth century. Grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) are common around the shorelines away from human habitations. Several species of cetacea live in the waters around the Faroe Islands. Best known are the long-finned pilot whales ( Globicephala melaena ), which still are hunted by
2990-466: Is dominated by seabirds and birds attracted to open land such as heather , probably because of the lack of woodland and other suitable habitats. Many species have developed special Faroese sub-species such as the common eider , common starling , Eurasian wren , and black guillemot . The pied raven , a colour morph of the North Atlantic subspecies of the common raven , was endemic to
3105-628: Is in fact a mixed armoured and infantry unit, with three battalions: Danish language Nordic Council Danish ( / ˈ d eɪ n ɪ ʃ / , DAY -nish ; endonym : dansk pronounced [ˈtænˀsk] , dansk sprog [ˈtænˀsk ˈspʁɔwˀ] ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark . Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland ,
3220-430: Is its closest relative. East Germanic languages West Germanic languages Icelandic Faroese Norwegian Danish Swedish Approximately 2,000 uncompounded Danish words are derived from Old Norse and ultimately from Proto Indo-European . Of these 2,000, 1,200 are nouns, 500 are verbs and 180 are adjectives. Danish has also absorbed many loanwords , most of which were borrowed from Low German of
3335-436: The skarre-R , the uvular R sound ( [ʁ] ), began spreading through Denmark, likely through influence from Parisian French and German. It affected all of the areas where Danish had been influential, including all of Denmark, Southern Sweden, and coastal southern Norway. In the 18th century, Danish philology was advanced by Rasmus Rask , who pioneered the disciplines of comparative and historical linguistics, and wrote
3450-568: The Bible in Danish, the Bible of Christian II translated by Christiern Pedersen , was published in 1550. Pedersen's orthographic choices set the de facto standard for subsequent writing in Danish. From around 1500, several printing presses were in operation in Denmark publishing in Danish and other languages. In the period after 1550, presses in Copenhagen dominated the publication of material in
3565-818: The Defence Agreement 2000–04 , it was decided to merge the Guard Hussar Regiment with the Zealand Life Regiment and the Danish Life Regiment . With this amalgamation of the three infantry regiments, the name and history of the new regiment had to be decided. This led to what the media called "the Colonels' War" ( Danish : Oberstkrigen ), with the three colonels fighting for their regiment’s name and history to survive. The Chief of Defence, Christian Hvidt , ordered
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3680-614: The Faroes ( Faroese : Føroyar , pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ] ; Danish : Færøerne [ˈfeɐ̯ˌøˀɐnə] ), are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark . The official language of the country is Faroese , which is closely related to and partially mutually intelligible with Icelandic . Located a similar distance from Iceland , Norway , and
3795-506: The Folketing . Until 2007, there were seven electoral districts, which were abolished on 25 October of that year in favour of a single nationwide district. Administratively, the islands are divided into 29 municipalities ( kommunur ) within which there are 120 or so settlements . There are also the six traditional s ýslur : Norðoyar , Eysturoy , Streymoy , Vágar , Sandoy , and Suðuroy . While no longer of any legal significance,
3910-476: The Kalmar Union in 1397, and came under de facto Danish rule following that union's dissolution in 1523. Following the introduction of Lutheranism in 1538, the usage of Faroese was banned in churches, schools and state institutions, and disappeared from writing for more than three centuries. The islands were formally ceded to Denmark in 1814 by the Treaty of Kiel along with Greenland and Iceland , and
4025-570: The Late Middle Ages . Out of the 500 most frequently used Danish words, 100 are loans from Middle Low German; this is because Low German was the second official language of Denmark–Norway. In the 17th and 18th centuries, standard German and French superseded Low German influence, and in the 20th century, English became the main supplier of loanwords, especially after World War II . Although many old Nordic words remain, some were replaced with borrowed synonyms, for example æde (to eat)
4140-738: The Løgting was subsequently replaced by a Danish judiciary. Following the re-establishment of the Løgting and an official Faroese orthography , the Faroese language conflict saw Danish being gradually displaced by Faroese as the language of the church, public education and law in the first half of the 20th century. The islands were occupied by the British during the Second World War , who refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs: inspired by this period of relative self-government and
4255-523: The Old Norse language ; Danish and Swedish are also classified as East Scandinavian or East Nordic languages. Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum , where no sharp dividing lines are seen between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, and has been influenced by English since
4370-703: The Settlement of Iceland . The founding date of the Løgting is not historically documented, though the saga implies that it was a well-established institution by the middle of the 10th century, when a legal dispute between chieftains Havgrímur and Einar Suðuroyingur, resulting in the exile of Eldjárn Kambhøttur, is recounted in detail. Christianity was introduced to the islands in the late 10th and early 11th centuries by chieftain Sigmundur Brestisson . Baptised as an adult by then- King of Norway Olaf Tryggvason , his mission to introduce Christianity
4485-595: The United Kingdom , the islands have a total area of about 1,400 square kilometres (540 sq mi) with a population of 54,676 as of August 2023. The terrain is rugged, and the subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc) is windy, wet, cloudy and cool. Despite the northerly climate, the temperatures are moderated by the Gulf Stream and average above freezing throughout the year, hovering around 12 °C (54 °F) in summer and 5 °C (41 °F) in winter. As
4600-688: The Viking Era . Danish, together with Swedish, derives from the East Norse dialect group , while the Middle Norwegian language (before the influence of Danish) and Norwegian Bokmål are classified as West Norse along with Faroese and Icelandic . A more recent classification based on mutual intelligibility separates modern spoken Danish, Norwegian , and Swedish as "mainland (or continental ) Scandinavian", while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as "insular Scandinavian". Although
4715-544: The Zealand dialect Introductio ad lingvam Danicam puta selandicam ; and in 1685 the first Danish grammar written in Danish, Den Danske Sprog-Kunst ("The Art of the Danish Language") by Peder Syv . Major authors from this period are Thomas Kingo , poet and psalmist, and Leonora Christina Ulfeldt , whose novel Jammersminde ( Remembered Woes ) is considered a literary masterpiece by scholars. Orthography
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4830-529: The declaration of Iceland as a republic in 1944 , the islands held a referendum in 1946 that resulted in a narrow majority for independence. The results were annulled by Christian X , and subsequent negotiations led to the Faroe Islands being granted home rule in 1948. While remaining part of the Kingdom of Denmark to this day, the Faroe Islands have extensive autonomy and control most areas apart from military defence , policing , justice and currency , with partial control over its foreign affairs . Because
4945-402: The introduction of the printing press , a standard language was developed which was based on the educated dialect of Copenhagen and Malmö . It spread through use in the education system and administration, though German and Latin continued to be the most important written languages well into the 17th century. Following the loss of territory to Germany and Sweden, a nationalist movement adopted
5060-579: The 9th century with the younger futhark . Possibly as far back as the seventh century, the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, resulting in the appearance of two dialect areas, Old West Norse ( Norway and Iceland ) and Old East Norse ( Denmark and Sweden ). Most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway. A change that separated Old East Norse (Runic Swedish/Danish) from Old West Norse
5175-594: The Danish language, and also started a period of homogenization, whereby the Copenhagen standard language gradually displaced the regional vernacular languages. Throughout the 19th century, Danes emigrated, establishing small expatriate communities in the Americas, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Argentina, where memory and some use of Danish remains today. After the Schleswig referendum in 1920 ,
5290-517: The Danish language. Herrer og Narre have frit Sprog . "Lords and jesters have free speech." Peder Syv , proverbs Following the first Bible translation, the development of Danish as a written language , as a language of religion, administration, and public discourse accelerated. In the second half of the 17th century, grammarians elaborated grammars of Danish, first among them Rasmus Bartholin 's 1657 Latin grammar De studio lingvæ danicæ ; then Laurids Olufsen Kock 's 1660 grammar of
5405-407: The Danish tongue." Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson By the eighth century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse , had undergone some changes and evolved into Old Norse . This language was generally called the "Danish tongue" ( Dǫnsk tunga ), or "Norse language" ( Norrœnt mál ). Norse was written in the runic alphabet , first with the elder futhark and from
5520-647: The Faroe Islands , and the northern German region of Southern Schleswig , where it has minority language status. Minor Danish-speaking communities are also found in Norway , Sweden , the United States , Canada , Brazil , and Argentina . Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse , the common language of the Germanic peoples who lived in Scandinavia during
5635-524: The Faroe Islands are not part of the same customs area as Denmark, they have an independent trade policy and are able to establish their own trade agreements with other states. The islands have an extensive bilateral free trade agreement with Iceland, known as the Hoyvík Agreement . In the Nordic Council , they are represented as part of the Danish delegation. In certain sports, the Faroe Islands field their own national teams. They did not become
5750-478: The Faroe Islands had a parliament ( Løgting ), which was abolished in 1816, and the Faroe Islands were to be governed as an ordinary Danish amt (county), with the Amtmand as its head of government. In 1851, the Løgting was reinstated, but, until 1948, served mainly as an advisory body. The islands are home to a notable independence movement that has seen an increase in popular support within recent decades. At
5865-517: The Faroe Islands is dominated by arctic-alpine plants, wildflowers, grasses, moss, and lichen. Most of the lowland area is grassland and some is heath, dominated by shrubby heathers, mainly Calluna vulgaris . Among the herbaceous flora that occur in the Faroe Islands is the cosmopolitan marsh thistle, Cirsium palustre . Although it is often asserted that the islands are naturally treeless, several tree species, among them shrubby willows ( salix ), junipers ( juniperus ), and stunted birches, colonized
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#17327717593695980-412: The Faroe Islands, but now has become extinct; the ordinary, all-black morph remains fairly widespread in the archipelago. Only a few species of wild land mammals are found in the Faroe Islands today, all introduced by humans. Three species are thriving on the islands today: mountain hare ( Lepus timidus ), brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ), and the house mouse ( Mus musculus ). Apart from these, there
6095-528: The Faroe Islands, with cold summers and near-continuous subpolar winds. The following species from Tierra del Fuego , Drimys winteri , Nothofagus antarctica , Nothofagus pumilio , and Nothofagus betuloides , have been successfully introduced to the Faroe Islands. A non-Chilean species that has been introduced is the black cottonwood , also known as the California poplar ( Populus trichocarpa ). A collection of Faroese marine algae resulting from
6210-630: The Faroes ), derive from the Old Norse Færeyjar . The second element oyar ('islands') is a holdover from Old Faroese ; sound changes have rendered the word's modern form as oyggjar . Names for individual islands (such as Kalsoy and Suðuroy ) also preserve the old form. The name's ultimate etymological origin has been subject to dispute. The most widely-held theory, first attested in Færeyinga Saga , interprets it as
6325-418: The Guard Hussars themselves date from 10 February 1762 , the Danish Army takes the date of the founding of a regiment from its oldest part, in this case the Zealand Life Regiment , which was founded in 1614. This makes the Guard Hussars one of the oldest regiments of hussars in the world still operational, it is also the only hussars in mounted parade uniform to still wear the slung and braided pelisse which
6440-603: The Islands fell firmly under Norwegian rule following Tróndur's death in 1035. While the Faroe Islands formally remained a Norwegian possession until 1814, Norway 's merger into the Kalmar Union in 1397 gradually resulted in the islands coming under de facto Danish control. When the Protestant Reformation reached the Faroe Islands in 1538, the Faroese language was also outlawed in schools, churches and official documentation; thus Faroese remained exclusively
6555-410: The Løgting itself was reinstated as an advisory body to the amtmand in 1852. An official Faroese orthography was first introduced in 1846 by Lutheran minister Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb , returning the language to print after 300 years of only existing in oral form. With the return of written Faroese to the public sphere after more than 300 years, nationalism gained a foothold in Faroese society:
6670-456: The Nordic countries have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable for any interpretation or translation costs. The Faroe Islands in Europe (green and dark grey) in the Kingdom of Denmark (yellow) The Faroe or Faeroe Islands ( / ˈ f ɛər oʊ / FAIR -oh ), or simply
6785-502: The Norse, having first learned of the islands from Scottish and Irish accounts as a fearann , could have coined Færeyjar as a phono-semantic match . Archaeological studies from 2021 found evidence of settlement on the islands before the arrival of Norse settlers, uncovering burnt grains of domesticated barley and peat ash deposited in two phases: the first dated between the mid-fourth and mid-sixth centuries, and another between
6900-710: The Old Norse word for "island". This monophthongization started in Jutland and spread eastward, having spread throughout Denmark and most of Sweden by 1100. Through Danish conquest, Old East Norse was once widely spoken in the northeast counties of England . Many words derived from Norse, such as "gate" ( gade ) for street, still survive in Yorkshire , the East Midlands and East Anglia, and parts of eastern England colonized by Danish Vikings . The city of York
7015-600: The area, eventually outnumbering the Danish speakers. The political loss of territory sparked a period of intense nationalism in Denmark, coinciding with the so-called " Golden Age " of Danish culture. Authors such as N.F.S. Grundtvig emphasized the role of language in creating national belonging. Some of the most cherished Danish-language authors of this period are existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and prolific fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen . The influence of popular literary role models, together with increased requirements of education did much to strengthen
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#17327717593697130-409: The beginning of time" and previously populated by heremitae ex nostra Scotia (" hermits from our land of Ireland/Scotland") for almost a hundred years before being displaced by the arrival of Norse "pirates". Church argued that these were likely the eremitic Papar that had similarly resided in parts of Iceland and Scotland in the same period. Writers like Brøgger and Peter Andreas Munch had drawn
7245-695: The cabinet is called a Minister of the Faroese Government ( landsstýrismaður/ráðharri if male, landsstýriskvinna/ráðfrú if female). The Faroese parliament – the Løgting ("Law Thing ") – dates back to the early days of settlement and claims to be one of the longest functioning parliaments in the world, alongside the Icelandic Althing and the Manx Tynwald . The parliament currently has 33 members. Elections are held at municipal and national levels, additionally electing two members to
7360-610: The coast of Northern Europe, between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean , about halfway between Iceland and Norway , the closest neighbours being the Northern Isles and the Outer Hebrides of Scotland . Its coordinates are 62°00′N 06°47′W / 62.000°N 6.783°W / 62.000; -6.783 . Distance from the Faroe Islands to: The islands cover an area of 1,399 square kilometres (540 sq. mi) and have small lakes and rivers, but no major ones. There are 1,117 kilometres (694 mi) of coastline. The only significant uninhabited island
7475-405: The course of volcanism and the age sequence of the layers. There are major differences in the shapes of the islands' terraces. The lowest and oldest series are thick lava deposits that can be seen on the southern part of Suðuroy, Mykines and Tindhólmur and the western side of Vágar. The basalts of the lower basalt series are often pillared, which is shown by elongated, angular and regular pillars in
7590-402: The end of World War II , some of the population favoured independence from Denmark, and on 14 September 1946, an independence referendum was held on the question of secession . It was a consultative referendum, the parliament not being bound to follow the people's vote. This was the first time that the Faroese people had been asked whether they favoured independence or wanted to continue within
7705-428: The etymologies of neighbouring Orkney and Shetland , Scottish writers James Currie and William J. Watson suggested respectively the words feur ('pasture, eaten-up outfield') and fearann ('land, territory') as possible derivations, arguing that the original Celtic attestations of the islands made this more likely. Archaeologist Anton Wilhelm Brøgger concurred, elaborating on Watson's theory by positing that
7820-431: The exclusive use of rigsdansk , the High Copenhagen Standard, in national broadcasting, the traditional dialects came under increased pressure. In the 20th century, they have all but disappeared, and the standard language has extended throughout the country. Minor regional pronunciation variation of the standard language, sometimes called regionssprog ("regional languages") remain, and are in some cases vital. Today,
7935-451: The first English-language grammar of Danish. Literary Danish continued to develop with the works of Ludvig Holberg , whose plays and historical and scientific works laid the foundation for the Danish literary canon. With the Danish colonization of Greenland by Hans Egede , Danish became the administrative and religious language there, while Iceland and the Faroe Islands had the status of Danish colonies with Danish as an official language until
8050-403: The first terrace. Volcanic activity has varied over millions of years, with periods of quiescence and various periods of quiet eruptive fissures and explosive volcanism. In a few places, mainly on Suðuroy, thin layers of coal are present, which are the remains of swamp forests from the time between volcanic eruptions. The plateau has therefore been divided into different basalt series according to
8165-484: The first year of the Second World War , on 12 April 1940, British troops occupied the Faroe Islands in Operation Valentine . Nazi Germany had invaded Denmark and commenced the invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 under Operation Weserübung . In 1942–1943, the British Royal Engineers , under the command of lieutenant colonel William Law, built the first and only airport in the Faroe Islands, Vágar Airport . The British refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs, and
8280-459: The heights, often resulting in a characteristic curved landscape shape. This can be clearly seen on Vágar, the northernmost part of Streymoy and the north-western part of Eysturoy. Glacial activity has reduced plateau surfaces, especially on the northern islands, where the surfaces have been reduced to a series of narrower or wider zig-zag rows along the length of the islands: especially on the islands of Kunoy, Kalsoy and Borðoy, where an eastward and
8395-426: The history of Danish into a period from 800 AD to 1525 to be "Old Danish", which he subdivided into "Runic Danish" (800–1100), Early Middle Danish (1100–1350) and Late Middle Danish (1350–1525). Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu . " Dyggvi 's mother was Drott, the daughter of king Danp, Ríg 's son, who was the first to be called king in
8510-592: The island after the Ice Age, but disappeared later - apparently as a result of grazing impacts, possibly aggravated by a shift to relatively wetter cooler climatic conditions about the same time. A limited number of species have been successfully introduced to the region, in particular trees from the Magellanic subpolar forests region of Chile. Conditions in the Magellanic subpolar forests are similar to those in
8625-457: The islanders in accordance with longstanding local tradition. Orcas ( Orcinus orca ) are regular visitors around the islands. The domestic animals of the Faroe Islands are a result of 1,200 years of isolated breeding. As a result, many of the islands' domestic animals are found nowhere else in the world. Faroese domestic breeds include Faroe pony , Faroe cow , Faroe sheep, Faroese goose , and Faroese duck . The islands were built up during
8740-496: The islands are not part of the European Union (EU) today (although as Danish citizens, Faroe Islanders are still considered EU citizens). Following the collapse of the fishing industry in the early 1990s, the Faroes experienced considerable economic difficulties. The Faroe Islands are an island group consisting of 18 major islands (and a total of 779 islands, islets , and skerries ) about 655 kilometres (407 mi) off
8855-408: The islands became effectively self-governing during the war. After the war ended and the British army left, this period and Iceland 's declaration as a republic in 1944 served as a precedent and a model in the mind of many Faroe Islanders. The Løgting held an independence referendum on 14 September 1946 , resulting in a very narrow majority for independence; 50.73% voted in favour and 49.27% against;
8970-557: The islands refer to the Papar and the Irish, such as Paparøkur near Vestmanna and Papurshílsur near Saksun . Vestmanna is itself short for Vestmannahøvn ("harbour of the Westmen "). Tombstones in a churchyard on Skúvoy display a possible Gaelic origin or influence. Old Norse-speaking settlers arrived in the early 9th century, and their Old West Norse dialect would later evolve into
9085-514: The islands' autonomy. In 1816, the Faroe Islands was reconstituted as a county ( amt ) within the Danish Kingdom : the Løgting , having operated continuously for almost a millennium, was dissolved and replaced by a Danish judiciary, and the post of løgmaður ( lawspeaker ) was likewise replaced by a Danish-appointed amtmand (equivalent to a governor-general). As part of its mercantilist economic policy, Denmark maintained
9200-424: The language as a token of Danish identity, and the language experienced a strong surge in use and popularity, with major works of literature produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though regional variants of the standard language exist. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative. Danish has
9315-547: The language of the courts. Since 1997, public authorities have been obliged to follow the official spelling system laid out in the Orthography Law. In the 21st century, discussions have been held with a view to create a law that would make Danish the official language of Denmark. In addition, a noticeable community of Danish speakers is in Southern Schleswig , the portion of Germany bordering Denmark, and
9430-482: The late-sixth and late-eighth centuries. Researchers have also found sheep DNA in lake-bed sediments dating to the year 500. Barley and sheep had to have been brought to the islands by humans; as Scandinavians did not begin using sails until about 750, it is unlikely they could have reached the Faroes before then, leading to the study concluding that the settlers were more likely to originate from Scotland or Ireland. These findings concur with historical accounts from
9545-407: The major varieties of Standard Danish are High Copenhagen Standard, associated with elderly, well to-do, and well educated people of the capital, and low Copenhagen speech traditionally associated with the working class, but today adopted as the prestige variety of the younger generations. Also, in the 21st century, the influence of immigration has had linguistic consequences, such as the emergence of
9660-547: The margin was only 161 votes. The Løgting subsequently declared independence on 18 September 1946; this declaration was annulled by Denmark on 20 September, arguing that the number of invalid votes (481) being greater than the narrow margin in favour made the result invalid. As a result, King Christian X of Denmark ordered that the Faroese Løgting be dissolved on 24 September, with new elections held that November. The Faroese parliamentary election of 1946 resulted in
9775-422: The mid-20th century. Moders navn er vort Hjertesprog, kun løs er al fremmed Tale. Det alene i mund og bog, kan vække et folk af dvale. "Mother's name is our hearts' tongue, only idle is all foreign speech It alone, in mouth or in book, can rouse a people from sleep." N.F.S. Grundtvig , "Modersmaalet" Following the loss of Schleswig to Germany, a sharp influx of German speakers moved into
9890-532: The modern Faroese language . A number of the settlers were Norse–Gaels who did not come directly from Scandinavia, but rather from Norse communities that spanned the Irish Sea , Northern Isles , and Outer Hebrides of Scotland , including the Shetland and Orkney islands; these settlers also brought thralls of Gaelic origin with them, and this admixture is reflected today in the Faroese genetic makeup and
10005-483: The modern Faroese national movement is commonly agreed to have begun with the Christmas Meeting of 1888 , held to "discuss how to defend the Faroese language and Faroese traditions". This meeting led to the rise of two of the movement's most prominent early figures: Jóannes Patursson and Rasmus Effersøe . It was initially exclusively concerned with the status of the Faroese language , but it soon gained
10120-423: The mountain side. Very regular vertical columns are found on northern Mykines, where they can be up to 30 metres (100 ft) high. The middle basalt series consists of thin lava flows with a highly porous interlayer. This series has very little resistance to crumbling and weathering. As these erosion processes are more severe at higher altitudes than lower down, the lowlands are filled with weathering material from
10235-731: The mountains, although some coastal or low-lying areas may have very mild-winter versions of a tundra climate. The overall character of the climate of the islands is influenced by the strong warming influence of the Atlantic Ocean, which produces the North Atlantic Current . This, together with the remoteness of any source of landmass-induced warm or cold airflows, ensures that winters are mild (mean temperature 3.0 to 4.0 °C or 37 to 39 °F) while summers are cool (mean temperature 9.5 to 10.5 °C or 49 to 51 °F). The islands are windy, cloudy, and cool throughout
10350-520: The official language in all public spheres and additionally demanded increased political autonomy for the islands. The Faroese language gradually won out; laws and protocols of the Løgting were written in Faroese from 1927 onwards, schools switched to Faroese as the language of instruction in 1938, and Faroese was fully authorised as the language of the Church the following year. Finally in 1944, Faroese gained equal status with Danish in legal proceedings. In
10465-476: The old insignia removed, which was not customary. The new armoured horse head was nicknamed the " biker patch ". Furthermore, it was decided that a colour be used alongside the standard. Following the amalgamation, the Guard Hussar Regiment has participated in a number of international missions, resulting in the loss of 16 soldiers. Today the Gardehusarregiment is classed as a cavalry regiment, it
10580-520: The opening of the North Atlantic ocean , which began about 60 million years ago, and what is today the Faroe Islands was then attached to Greenland. The lavas are underlain by circa 30 km of unidentified ancient continental crust. The climate is classed as subpolar oceanic climate according to the Köppen climate classification : Cfc , with areas having a tundra climate, especially in
10695-421: The regiment was responsible for one armoured, one mechanised infantry, one reconnaissance and one infantry battalions. From 2000–2004 the regiment was responsible for two armoured, two mechanised infantry, one reconnaissance and two infantry battalions. From 1992–2004 the regiment also had to form two light Reconnaissance Squadrons assigned to the 1st Zealand Brigade and Danish International Brigade . As part of
10810-420: The same connections from Dicuil's writings, with the latter arguing that these Papar were also the ones to bring sheep to the islands. A ninth-century voyage tale concerning Irish saint Brendan , one of Dicuil's contemporaries, details him visiting an unnamed northern group of islands; this has also been argued to be referring to the Faroe Islands, though not nearly as conclusively. A number of toponyms around
10925-413: The same period: archaeologist Mike Church noted that Irish monk Dicuil described a group of islands north of Scotland of very similar character to the Faroe Islands in his work De mensura orbis terrae ("Of the measure of the worlds of the earth"). In this text, Dicuil describes "a group of small islands (...) Nearly all of them (...) separated by narrow stretches of water" that were "always deserted since
11040-472: The shared written standard language remained). With the introduction of absolutism in 1660, the Danish state was further integrated, and the language of the Danish chancellery, a Zealandic variety with German and French influence, became the de facto official standard language , especially in writing—this was the original so-called rigsdansk ("Danish of the Realm"). Also, beginning in the mid-18th century,
11155-579: The term is still commonly used to indicate a geographical region. In earlier times, each sýsla had its own assembly , the so-called várting ("spring assembly"). The Faroe Islands have been under Norwegian-Danish control since 1388. The 1814 Treaty of Kiel terminated the Danish–Norwegian union, and Norway came under the rule of the King of Sweden , while the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland remained Danish possessions. From ancient times
11270-486: The three languages can often understand the others fairly well, though studies have shown that the mutual intelligibility is asymmetric: Norwegian speakers generally understand both Danish and Swedish far better than Swedes or Danes understand each other. Concomitantly, Swedes and Danes understand Norwegian better than they understand each other's languages. Norwegian occupies the middle position in terms of intelligibility because of its shared border with Sweden, resulting in
11385-445: The turn of the 20th century. Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas: Jutlandic (West Danish), Insular Danish (including the standard variety), and East Danish (including Bornholmian and Scanian ). According to the view that Scandinavian is a dialect continuum, East Danish can be considered intermediary between Danish and Swedish, while Scanian can be considered a Swedified East Danish dialect, and Bornholmian
11500-411: The vernacular language to be accessible also to those who were not Latinate. The Jutlandic Law and Scanian Law were written in vernacular Danish in the early 13th century. Beginning in 1350, Danish began to be used as a language of administration, and new types of literature began to be written in the language, such as royal letters and testaments. The orthography in this period was not standardized nor
11615-469: The vernacular, such as the plural form of verbs, should be conserved in writing (i.e. han er "he is" vs. de ere "they are"). The East Danish provinces were lost to Sweden after the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645) after which they were gradually Swedified; just as Norway was politically severed from Denmark, beginning also a gradual end of Danish influence on Norwegian (influence through
11730-516: The whore-bed with another man's wife and he comes away alive..." Jutlandic Law, 1241 In the medieval period, Danish emerged as a separate language from Swedish. The main written language was Latin, and the few Danish-language texts preserved from this period are written in the Latin alphabet, although the runic alphabet seems to have lingered in popular usage in some areas. The main text types written in this period are laws, which were formulated in
11845-492: The word by , meaning ‘village’ or ‘town’, occurs in many English place-names, such as Whitby and Selby , as remnants of the Viking occupation . During that period English adopted ‘are’, the third person plural form of the verb ‘to be’, as well as the personal pronouns ‘they’, ‘them’ and ‘their’ from contemporary Old Norse. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish . A proficient speaker of any of
11960-466: The writings of Dicuil place initial Norse settlement in the early 9th century. As with the subsequent Settlement of Iceland , the islands were mainly settled by Norwegians and Norse-Gaels , who additionally brought thralls (i.e. slaves or serfs ) of Gaelic origin. Following the introduction of Christianity by Sigmundur Brestisson , the islands came under Norwegian rule in the early 11th century. The Faroe Islands followed Norway's integration into
12075-489: The written languages are compatible, spoken Danish is distinctly different from Norwegian and Swedish and thus the degree of mutual intelligibility with either is variable between regions and speakers . Until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Southern Jutland and Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and
12190-400: The year with an average of 210 rainy or snowy days per year. The islands lie in the path of depressions moving northeast, making strong winds and heavy rain possible at all times of the year. Sunny days are rare and overcast days are common. Hurricane Faith struck the Faroe Islands on 5 September 1966 with sustained winds over 100 mph (160 km/h) and only then did the storm cease to be
12305-492: Was a territory ruled by Denmark–Norway , one of whose official languages was Danish. Though Danish ceased to be an official language in Iceland in 1944, it is still widely used and is a mandatory subject in school, taught as a second foreign language after English. No law stipulates an official language for Denmark, making Danish the de facto official language only. The Code of Civil Procedure does, however, lay down Danish as
12420-457: Was also one of two official languages of Greenland (alongside Greenlandic ). Danish now acts as a lingua franca in Greenland, with a large percentage of native Greenlanders able to speak Danish as a second language (it was introduced into the education system as a compulsory language in 1928). About 10% of the population speaks Danish as their first language , due to immigration. Iceland
12535-721: Was formerly characteristic of this class of cavalry. In addition to its operational role, the Guard Hussar Regiment is one of two regiments in the Danish Army (along with the Den Kongelige Livgarde ) to be classed as 'Guards'; in this case, the Mounted Squadron perform the same role as the Household Cavalry do in the British Army . From 1961 to 1972 the regiment was responsible for two armoured battalions, one recon battalion. From 1972–2000
12650-488: Was mostly supplanted by the Low German spise . As well as loanwords, new words can be freely formed by compounding existing words. In standard texts of contemporary Danish, Middle Low German loans account for about 16–17% of the vocabulary, Graeco-Latin loans 4–8%, French 2–4% and English about 1%. Danish and English are both Germanic languages. Danish is a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse, and English
12765-627: Was once the Viking settlement of Jorvik. Several other English words derive from Old East Norse, for example "knife" ( kniv ), "husband" ( husbond ), and "egg" ( æg ). The suffix "-by" for 'town' is common in place names in Yorkshire and the east Midlands, for example Selby, Whitby, Derby, and Grimsby. The word "dale" meaning valley is common in Yorkshire and Derbyshire placenames. Fangær man saar i hor seng mæth annæns mansz kunæ. oc kumær han burt liuænd... . "If one catches someone in
12880-577: Was part of a greater plan to seize the islands on behalf of the Norwegian crown. While Christianity arrived at the same time as in Iceland , the process was met with much more conflict and violence, and was defined particularly by Sigmundur's conflict with rival chieftain Tróndur í Gøtu , the latter of whom was converted under threat of decapitation. Although their conflict resulted in Sigmundur's murder,
12995-463: Was still not standardized and the principles for doing so were vigorously discussed among Danish philologists. The grammar of Jens Pedersen Høysgaard was the first to give a detailed analysis of Danish phonology and prosody, including a description of the stød . In this period, scholars were also discussing whether it was best to "write as one speaks" or to "speak as one writes", including whether archaic grammatical forms that had fallen out of use in
13110-469: Was the change of the diphthong æi (Old West Norse ei ) to the monophthong e , as in stæin to sten . This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain and the later stin . Also, a change of au as in dauðr into ø as in døðr occurred. This change is shown in runic inscriptions as a change from tauþr into tuþr . Moreover, the øy (Old West Norse ey ) diphthong changed into ø , as well, as in
13225-400: Was the spoken language, and the regional laws demonstrate the dialectal differences between the regions in which they were written. Throughout this period, Danish was in contact with Low German , and many Low German loan words were introduced in this period. With the Protestant Reformation in 1536, Danish also became the language of religion, which sparked a new interest in using Danish as
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