When British author WG Collingwood chanced upon the Faroe Islands while sailing to Iceland in 1897, he thought them enchanted, declaring the archipelago a natural paradise. Looking out across the rocks—speckled with green, grey and rust lichen-like bells of Donegal tweed—towards the red, blue and cream houses of the village of Gjógv, the waves of Djupini Sound thrashing against the surrounding cliffs, the white-etched peaks of Kalsoy barely visible through the spray, it’s easy to see what Collingwood meant. Admittedly, it’s not the sort of paradise in which people could comfortably live while wearing an apron of fig leaves. The breezes off the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea are rarely balmy, the local rivers prefer a roar to a babble, and even in mid-May, the snow drives across the peak of Slættaratindur and forms in three-foot drifts upon which mountain hares, still in their winter coats, scamper.
No, this is the sort of ascetic paradise the early Celtic Christian monks—who preached to seals and allowed blackbirds to nest in the palms of their hands— would have recognized when they arrived here in the 17th century. Like the British islands of Iona and Lindisfarne, the Faroes are green, isolated, wild and numinous, purified by salt winds. It’s a place where you feel small in a large universe. Standing in the lashing rain by the turf-roofed church in Saksun, watching waterfalls cascade down the craggy knolls that surround it, mist swirling up from the Dalsa River and the foaming sea pounding into the tidal lagoon, you wouldn’t be at all surprised if Odin appeared before you in the form of a raven.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October - November 2019 من Condé Nast Traveller India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October - November 2019 من Condé Nast Traveller India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Made In Nagaland
From home textiles to jewellery, clothing, and more, here are the 10 Naga craft brands you need to know. By Sohini Dey
TOKYO RIGHT NOW
As impossible to pigeonhole as ever, the Japanese capital is buzzing with fresh influences and new ideas
RAISING RAI: WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS
Raghu and Avani Rai on connecting via worlds seen through their lenses.
GILDED WATERS
Paula Hardy boards one of the last remaining dahabiyas on the Nile for a different perspective of Egypt's storied river
THE GIRL WITH GRAND DESIGNS
Gauravi Kumari is part of Jaipur's new creative set that is bringing fresh perspectives to the city's design legacy.
A FACE FOR ADVENTURE
Retooling the iconic Rolex GMT-Master II for fresh explorations.
THE GRAND seduction
Palermo's chaos, swagger, and temperamental charm cast a hypnotic spell.
Rhythm Divine
Wherever you go in Gwalior, the myth and magic of Tansen are inescapable, as Sam Dalrymple finds out.
IDEAL WORLD
Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan explains why he went ahead with the publication of Bethlehem, his celebratory cookbook.
NUJUMA, A RITZ-CARLTON RESERVE SAUDI ARABIA
On alittle-visited Red Sea archipelago, the Middle East’s first Ritz-Carlton Reserve reflects both untapped nature and hyperreal modernity, finds Noo Saro-Wiwa.