Structure in a Community: The Outfield, its Use and its Organisation in the Settlement of Gásadalur, Faroe Islands

This paper is based primarily on fieldwork begun in 1970 and
continued in 1979 and 1980 in two Faroese settlements - Mykines, the
most westerly of all Faroese communities; and Gasadalur which, along
with the now-uninhabited dependent settlement ofVfkar, is its nearest
neighbour across the sound on the north-western peninsula of the
much larger island of Vagur[Fig. 1]. Both settlements remain remote
and amongst the smaller communities in the Faroes [N.B. Their
populations in 1982 were: Mykines - 34 C/~ over 50 years old) and
Gasadalur - 25 (3/4 over 50) - Editor]. With no road access, inadequate
boat landings and generally ageing and much reduced populations,
they have retained a more traditional approach to life and work than a
majority of Faroese settlements. Discussion, drawn mainly from
evidence from Gasadalur but with supplementary detail from
Mykines, concentrates on traditional outfield use and organisation,
whilst taking account of changes that have taken place in recent years.
The term "outfield' is used to describe all the land outwith the township
dyke; 'infield' is used of all the land within.