Sørvágsvatn (Leitisvatn) is the
biggest lake of the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the island of Vágar
between the municipalities of Sørvágs Kommuna and Miðvágs kommuna. The
name Sørvágsvatn means 'The lake of Sørvágur'. In size it is 3.4 km2,
more than three times the size of the second biggest lake Fjallavatn,
which also lies on the island of Vágar. Among the locals there can
sometimes be a fierce debate regarding the name of the lake. The
inhabitants of Sørvágur take pride in the fact that the lake is named
after their village. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Miðvágur want
to name the lake Leitisvatn, since, on their side of the lake, the land
alongside the body of water is called Leiti. 04 more images after the break...
Today it may seem strange to call
the lake Sørvágsvatn given the fact, that the village of Miðvágur is
situated closer to the lake, than the village of Sørvágur. The
explanation to this is, that during the faroese Landnám Sørvágur was
settled before Miðvágur. Sørvágur—alongside Bøur and Sandavágur—is
considered to be one of the three original Landnámsbygdum on Vágar. The
three Landnámsbygdir divided the land on the island among them into
three equal sizes of 60 marks. A division of the island into three equal
portion will bring Sørvágsvatn firmly inside the boundaries of Sørvágur
and therefore the lake has been named after this village.
The
locals mostly refer to Sørvágsvatn/Leitisvatn simply by calling it 'the
Lake' (Vatni). Among the inhabitants on the island everyone knows what
'the Lake' is, and it is mostly when people from other parts of the
Faroes refer to the lake - either by calling it Sørvágsvatn or
Leitisvatn—that the debate will occur. Map
History
During
World War II the British army built an airfield by the lake. They also
built a station to support seaplanes. The first aircraft to land in
Sørvágsvatn was a Catalina from the British Navy, which landed on in
1941. Via — Link
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