Toftanes, A Viking Age farm - Leirvik, Faroe Islands
N 62° 12.762 W 006° 42.694
29V E 619007 N 6899978
The Viking Age farm Toftanes consists of four buildings of different sizes.
Waymark Code: WM17BB0
Location: Faroe Islands
Date Posted: 01/19/2023
Views: 5
Toftanes was excavated in the years 1982-1989 and revealed a Viking Age farm consisting of four buildings located around a small stream. It is believed that it is Norwegian Vikings who have settled here. And the location is perfect inside a fjord where the sea is calmer.
The four buildings are a longhouse, an outhouse, a Storage room and a firehouse. Furthermore, there is a long stone staircase.
The largest house, the long house, was a dwelling house. It was preserved at length for approximately 20 meters and in width for 5 meters. The curved walls had a thickness of 1 meter.
The outhouse is 13 meters long and was probably used for storing firewood peat. It is believed that these two buildings are the oldest.
The two smallest buildings are about 5 meters wide and 3 meters long.
Thousands of objects have been found in the excavations. Many of these can be seen at Tjóðsavnið in Tórshavn. Tjóðsavnið (
visit link) is the National museum of the Faroe Islands.
See for example the Irish ring-headed pin. It shows that the Vikings sailed between Ireland and the Faroe Islands. A wooden cross datede around year 900 AD, this is prior to the onset of Christianity c. 1000 AD in the Faroe Islands. The climate on the Faroe Islands has helped preserve the many wooden items that have also been found, including various games. Out of the many finds, it is interesting that several things originate from the western Viking world such as Ireland, Scotland, while other finds have only previously been seen in Norway.
Article about Toftanes: (
visit link)