Faroese Sheep

Pre 1300 influence of old-Norse and old-British/Irish sheep may be unbroken (Hansen et al., 2025)

Post 1600 believed to be a big storm event, assuming that sheep were brought from Iceland to the northern part of Faroes, and from Shetland and Orkneys to the southern part of Faroes to bolster or restore the population. (Hansen et al., 2025)

Of the 18 Faroese islands 4 populations on 3 islands: Streymoy, Eysturoy and Kalso; the three islands are clearly stratified . (Hansen et al., 2025)

Genetically more distant than assumed, are Northern European short tailed sheep, closely related to Icelandic sheep and Norwegian spael. (Hansen et al., 2025)

Kjæld Hansen, Eva & Gerðinum, Jens & Våge, Dag & Mikalsen, Svein-Ole. (2025). Faroese sheep expand overall global ovine genetic diversity. BMC Genomic Data. 26. 10.1186/s12863-025-01319-0.

Dried Sheep as Food

Faroese’ Fermented Sheep takes two forms “ræstkjøt (fermented and semidried mutton) and skerpikjøt (dried mutton)” (Svanberg, 2023). Difference between the two is time, the later is ready toward Christmas after a fall cull and the other before.

Svanberg, I. Fermented mutton in the Faroe Islands: the survival of a local artisanship and food heritage. J. Ethn. Food 10, 16 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-023-00182-7

Drying animals this way is odd but seems familiar to food storage systems used by the people on Hirta in the St. Kilda archipelago. A cleit is a traditional building that was a narrow stone work work with a turf roof that was used to store food, peat and salted sea birds or salted lamb (Nick Aitken, 2010; Lassure 2006). Winds are able to past through both structures without moisture, allowing for dry aging.

Aitken, Nick. “The Cleits of St.Kilda.” Stonechat, no. 22, autumn 2010. 

Christian Lassure “The cleitean of the St. Kilda Archipelago in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland”
http://www.pierreseche.com/cleitean_of_saint-kilda.htm May 26th, 2006. Accessed July 31 2025

I am not sure a connection beyond similar conditions can be made. This does air human propensity for survival and ingenuity. Here is an excerpt from Wetterson 2013 pp. 110.

Many authors have drawn a comparison between cleitean and broadly comparable structures in Scandinavia or the Northern Isles such as skeos (Norwegian dialectal skjaa, drying house or shed, Icelandic skjá, shelter), hjallur and skemma. 26 Although these buildings are quite distinct in architectural form, using timber construction and relying on timber roofs, their function to dry and thus preserve animal products is directly analogous. Other examples of analogous structures within this northern tradition survive on the island of Foula and include mooldiekoose (stacks of turf used for cattle bedding, protected by stone slabs) and skeos (sheds for drying fish).

Watterson, A. (2013). ‘A Prodigious Number of Little Cells’ – Cleitean and the St Kilda World Heritage Site. Architectural Heritage. https://doi.org/10.3366/ARCH.2013.0048

Watterson has the best description I could find of drying shack relationships, better information must be out there (Watterson 2013).