Røða hjá Bárði á Lakjuni, landsstýrismanni í mentamálum, á ráðstevnuni hjá Destination Viking Association, KG Hotel, Klaksvík, 8. september 2026
Distinguished guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
Maðr er manns gaman – this is the final line of a verse in Hávamál, a wisdom poem preserved in the thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript Codex Regius.
In English, the verse reads:
Young was I once, and travelled alone;
then I lost my way.
I thought myself rich when I found a companion,
for one person is another’s joy.
These words may be more than a thousand years old, but they speak directly to why we are gathered here today.
A journey is not only about reaching a destination. It is an encounter between people: Maðr er manns gaman – one person is another’s joy.
When we travel, we meet and share experiences, stories, knowledge and skills, and we learn how others understand the world. We return home with something from the places we have visited – and we leave something of ourselves behind.
This was true in the Viking Age, and it remains true today.
There is also a fitting local connection to these words. In 1899, 127 years ago, the Faroese Folk High School was founded here in Klaksvík, inspired by the ideals of the Nordic folk high school movement. The founders chose Føgrulíð, just west of Klaksvík, as the site of the school – a picturesque place that offered an ideal setting for reflection, “the living word” and closeness to nature.
At that time, Danish was the language of instruction in Faroese schools. The Faroese Folk High School made the deliberate and pioneering choice to use Faroese as its principal language. Through teaching, lectures, storytelling and song, the school helped strengthen both the Faroese language and Faroese identity.
One of its founders was Rasmus Rasmussen – a carpenter, teacher, botanist and writer – who wrote under the pen name Regin í Líð.
In 1909, he published Bábelstornið – The Tower of Babel, considered the first Faroese novel. Its title evokes the image of a society in which people have great ambitions but fail to understand one another and pull in different directions.
In 1945, Regin í Líð translated Hávamál into Faroese – one of the Nordic languages most closely related to Old Norse:
Maður er mans gaman – Maðr er manns gaman – one person is another’s joy.
The Vikings who travelled across the North Atlantic did not carry only goods and possessions. They carried knowledge of farming, navigation and boatbuilding. They carried languages, beliefs and stories. When they arrived in new places, they encountered other people and traditions. These encounters shaped the societies across the North Atlantic.
In a sense, you are continuing that journey during this conference. You have crossed borders and seas to meet, exchange knowledge and share experiences. That is the true value of a network such as the Destination Viking Association.
As a member of the Destination Viking Association, Eysturkommuna has brought us together and will introduce you to landscapes, sites and traditions at the heart of this conference.
The programme asks an excellent question: “Are You a Viking Destination?”
The Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands formed part of the wider westward movement across the North Atlantic during the Viking Age.
Situated in the North Atlantic, between Norway, the British Isles and Iceland, the Faroes became an important stepping-stone on the route towards Iceland – and later towards Greenland and North America. None of these journeys would have been possible without the ships.
Viking ships combined strength, flexibility and remarkable seaworthiness. Their overlapping wooden planks – the clinker-built construction – allowed people to cross open seas while also navigating shallow coastal waters.
The Faroese boat belongs to this wider Nordic clinker-built tradition. It represents the living continuation of an old principle, adapted over generations to Faroese conditions: strong currents, sudden changes in weather and the need for boats that could be rowed, sailed and pulled ashore.
In 2021, the Faroese boat tradition became part of the joint Nordic inscription, Nordic clinker boat traditions, on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This recognition is important, but an inscription is not an end in itself. Living heritage survives only when knowledge is practised and passed on. Boats must continue to be built, and young people must have opportunities to learn from experienced boatbuilders.
I am therefore very pleased that steps are now being taken to safeguard Faroese boatbuilding and ensure that this knowledge can be passed on to a new generation. This is not only about preserving a particular type of boat. It is about safeguarding a living cultural heritage of craftsmanship, language, community and our relationship with the sea.
A Viking destination is not created simply by adopting a name or placing a marker on a map. It must be built on knowledge, authenticity, conservation and local participation. This is also the foundation of sustainable tourism and responsible place development. Tourism must protect the cultural heritage and landscape on which it depends, respect local communities and create value for the people who live there.
The aim is not simply to attract more visitors, but to create meaningful encounters while helping the place itself to thrive.
The old ships once carried people, knowledge and stories between our shores. This conference allows knowledge, experience and friendship to travel along new routes between our countries.
I hope you leave the Faroe Islands with new knowledge, new partnerships and new experiences to share when you return home. And I hope this conference confirms the truth of the old words with which I began:
Maðr er manns gaman – one person is another’s joy. The greatest value of a journey is often found in the people we meet along the way.
Thank you to Eysturkommuna for bringing us together and for inviting me. I wish you all a rewarding and inspiring conference.
Thank you.