Hellurnar (Settlement)

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur
A motorboat has arrived at Hellurnar with salted cod from Fuglafjørður, which is unloaded to be washed and dried and then picked up again. The herring nets in the foreground show that herring fishing was also carried out with nets in the waters off the village. Photo from around 1930. SIGRID LÜTZEN

The outlying village of Hellurnar, which today has 12 inhabitants, was established in 1849 by the fjord Oyndarfjørður that offered farming opportunities and lay a short distance away from the northern fishing grounds. Traces of early habitation can be found in the village, as indicated by the place name Havnarbøur. The shepherds used to have a house in the area, Topphús, where they could spend the night.

The merchant S.P. Petersen from Fuglafjørður established a trading branch in 1907, and in order to create local jobs, he had the salted cod transported to the village to be sundried into dried cod.

For many years, teaching took place in private living rooms six times a year, but in 1923, a school was built where an itinerant teacher taught every two weeks. The school has since closed and been converted into a house of prayer, which serves as both the village church and a village hall.

Marine Harvest has a salmon farm in the Oyndarfjørður fjord outside the village.

Further reading

Read more about The islands, towns and settlements