Koltur

Koltur is an island in the Faroe Islands, located to the west of Streymoy and to the north of Hestur. The island has just one settlement, Koltur. It was abandoned in the 1980s by the sheep-farmers whose flocks grazed on the southern part of the island. Since then only two people have returned (in 1994). Koltur has two mountains, Kolturshamar (478 m) and Fjallið (101m) which strictly speaking isn't a mountain, the name however translates directly as "The Mountain" and is considered by many as the smallest mountain in the country.

The island supports 160 adult sheep.

History

Archaeological excavations have found that barley has been cultivated on the island as far back as 800-900AD, in the early Viking age. And it has been cultivated up to near modern times, straw from Koltur was considered the best for thatching, as there are no mice in the island to diminish the quality of the straw.

There have been two settlements on the islands, Heima í Húsi and Norðuri í Gerði. There is a story that the two families who lived there couldn't agree to anything and never helped each other with anything, this went on for generations and in the end it was forgotten what the original argument was about. Though the place-name Trætumørkin, hints at the argument being about a parcel of land.