Lamba

By Høgni Reistrup Verified Expert

Published: 26/10/2026

Reading time: 2 minutes

Lamba is a small settlement on the east coast of Eysturoy Island. Its houses follow the road as it winds down the valley toward a little harbour, tucked away at the head of the Lambavík Inlet.

The name of the village originates from the Old Norse word “Lambhagi”, which translates to “Lamb Pasture”. This fits well with the settlement’s origins as a farming village, as mentioned in historical records as far back as 1350.

Colourful wooden houses in the village of Lamba on Eysturoy Island, Faroe Islands, nestled beneath a steep green mountainside, with a winding road and a meadow of yellow buttercups in the foreground — *Red, black and white wooden houses gather at the foot of a grassy mountainside in Lamba on Eysturoy Island, with summer buttercups covering the meadow below.*

The Lamba Legend

At the harbour in Lamba, a huge rock has stood untouched for generations. According to local legend, the rock is home to huldufólk, the hidden people of Faroese folklore. They are very large, with black hair and grey clothes.

In Faroese folklore, large, freestanding rocks serve as portals to a parallel, invisible world inhabited by the huldufólk. For this reason, people leave these rocks undisturbed. Moving or destroying them could anger the huldufólk and provoke their revenge. You can see large boulders many places in the Faroe Islands. Sometimes roads will curve around the basalt rocks due to superstitions.

The Norske Løve Shipwreck

On December 19th 1707, the Danish slave ship Norske Løve was shipwrecked in the Lambavík Bay, off the coast of Lamba. The ship was travelling from Copenhagen to the West Indies when lightning and a powerful wave struck it.

14 men from the crew died, while around 100 men survived with the help of the residents of Lamba. They also recovered valuable items from the wreck, including a church bell that now hangs in Tórshavn Cathedral. Shortly after the rescue mission, a landslide buried the wreckage under mud and water.

To thank the islanders for their rescue and hospitality, surviving crew members built a model of the ship, which now hangs inside the cathedral.

Høgni Reistrup

Høgni Reistrup is the CEO and Co-founder of Guide to Faroe Islands. Born and raised in the Faroe Islands, Høgni has deep roots in the archipelago. He co-founded the marketplace Guide to Faroe Islands in 2018 as a way for travellers to plan and explore the best of the island group.

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