Tjóðskjalasavnið (National Archives)

Tjóðskjalasavnið (National Archives) is located near Landsbókasavnið, with offices in the old postmaster’s house and with a reading room and archives across the street. It has its origins in Færø Amts Arkiv (the Faroe County Archives), which was established in 1932, when the archives, togetherwith Færø Amts Bibliotek (the Faroe County Library) and the Historical Collection, moved into the library building on Debesartrøð. In 1952, Landsskjalasavnið (National Archives) was established by a Løgting Act. In 2018, Landsskjalasavnið changed its name to Tjóðskjalasavnið, and at the same time the archives act was amended to also include digital records.

It is the responsibility of the National Archives to preserve public records with the aim of securing the right to and the possibility of information and research. The act also authorises Tjóðskjalasavnið to receive archives from private collections. Following an agreement between Denmark and the Faroe Islands concluded in 1990, the National Archives also preserves records from state institutions in the Faroe Islands.

Among its records are archives from the Løgting, where the oldest land charges registers are from 1615. Moreover, there are records from the judge of the Faroese Court of Justice, the administrative officer, the districts, the municipalities, the high commissioner of the Faroe Islands, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the chief medical officer in the Faroe Islands, school authorities and the Faroese Government. The archives also include private records. Ledgers from the Royal Faroese Trade Monopoly and Indberetninger, indhentede paa en allernaadigst befalet, Reise i Færøe i Aarene 1781 og 1782 (Reports collected on a most graciously ordered travel in the Faroe Islands in the years 1781 and 1782) are on permanent loan at Tjóðskjalasavnið from the National Archives in Copenhagen. In 2019, Tjóðskjalasavnið entered into an agreement with The Arnamagnaean Manuscript Collection on the permanent loan of selected manuscripts and records from the collection in Copenhagen, including the Húsavíkarbrøvini (the Húsavík Letters) from 1407, which are written in early Faroese, about one of the richest women in the Faroe Islands. The oldest document is Kongsbókin (the King’s Book) from 1298, which contains the Faroe Islands’ first legal provision, Seyðabrævið (the Sheep Letter), and is on permanent loan from the Royal Library in Stockholm.

Further reading

• Building style on the Faroe Islands
• Churches on the Faroe Islands
• Gøtu Fornminnisfelag (Museum Association)
• Landsbókasavnið
• Líkhús
• Literature on the Faroe Islands
• Museums of cultural history and heritage on the Faroe Islands
• Religion and religious communities on the Faroe Islands
• Tjóðsavnið
• Tradition and tales on the Faroe Islands
• Visual arts on the Faroe Islands

Read more about Culture on the Faroe Islands