The Limfjord ( common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in north Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

where it has been regarded as a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

ever since Viking times. However, it now has inlets both from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

and Kattegat, and hence separates the North Jutlandic Island (Danish: ''Nørrejyske Ø'', which includes the old provinces of ''Vendsyssel'', ''Han herred'' and ''Thy'') from the rest of the Jutland Peninsula. The Limfjord extends from

Thyborøn Channel Thyborøn is a fishing village in Jutland, Denmark with a population of 1,890 (1 January 2022),North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

to Hals on the Kattegat. It is approximately 180 kilometres (111 miles) long and of an irregular shape with numerous bays, narrowings, and islands, most notably Mors, and the smaller ones Fur, Venø, Jegindø, Egholm and

Livø Livø () is a 320-hectare Danish island with approximately 10-year-round residents. The island is located centrally in the Limfjord, about 20 minutes by boat from Rønbjerg, and approximately midway between Nykøbing Mors, Løgstør, Fjerritsle ...

. It is deepest at

Hvalpsund Hvalpsund is a ferry port in Himmerland with a population of 649 (1 January 2022), located 20 km west of Aalestrup, 12 km southwest of Farsø and 25 km southwest of Aars. The town belongs to the municipality of Vesthimmerland Municip ...

(24 metres). Its main port is

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's List of cities in Denmark by population, fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban population of 143,598 (1 July ...

, where a railway bridge ( Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden) and road bridge ( Limfjordsbroen) have been built across the Limfjord to Nørresundby, while motorway E45 crosses it through a tunnel to the east. Commercial ports also exist at

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Nykøbing Mors, Skive, Løgstør, Struer, Lemvig and

Thyborøn Thyborøn is a fishing village in Jutland, Denmark with a population of 1,890 (1 January 2022),Oddesund Oddesund is a strait in the Danish Limfjorden. The Oddesund Bridge ( da, Oddesundbroen) spans the fjord connecting the mainland of Jutland with Thy. According to the Heimskringla, a battle took place in Oddasund between the Swedish king Jorund a ...

, Sallingsund, Vilsund, Aggersund and Sebbersund, and a number of ferry crossings.

History

Western opening

From the early Middle Ages until 1825, the Limfjord was only open to the sea at its east end. In that year, the North Sea broke through from the west and created a second opening, turning the northern part of Jutland Vendsyssel-Thy into an island. An isthmus of shifting sand has separated the Limfjord from the North Sea during historic times. The present inlet, Thyborøn Channel, has existed only since 1862. A passage also existed during the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

. Based on place names and the geography it is thought to have been to the south of the present one, between Ferring Sø (locally still called 'the Fjord') and Hygum Nor.

Canute the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

sailed into it in 1027 on his way back from England. According to Saxo Grammaticus it closed at some time around 1200. There are records of several floods piercing the isthmus during the 16th to early 19th century. On 3 February 1825 a flood pierced a permanent opening, the so-called Agger Channel, in the north of the 13 km long and less than 1 km wide isthmus, the

Agger Tange Agger may refer to: * Agger (surname) * Agger (ancient Rome), a type of ancient Roman rampart or embankment * Agger (river), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Agger nasi, an anatomical feature of the nose * Agger Rockshelter, in Wiscons ...

, which had until then linked Thy with the rest of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. The western part of North Jutland lost its road connection with mainland Jutland, but the towns and harbours in the western part of the Limfjord could benefit from becoming directly accessible from the North Sea, to the dismay of

. From the 1840s the western route became increasingly important, as Britain had opened for import of grain, and ships could return with British coal. However, the instability of Agger Channel made the towns of the western Limfjord look for a second option. In 1862, a flood pierced another opening, the

Thyborøn Channel Thyborøn is a fishing village in Jutland, Denmark with a population of 1,890 (1 January 2022),groyne A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concr ...

s, persistent sandpumping and two

road dam A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

s along their inward (eastern) side.

Løgstør Banks and the Frederik VII Canal

At Løgstør, where the wide, western part of the Limfjord meets the narrow eastern section, the infamous sand banks of Løgstør Grunde were an obstacle to ships. Larger ships needed to be unloaded and reloaded when passing the banks. The Frederik VII Canal at Løgstør was completed in 1861 to allow for easier passage. Traffic had increased after the western opening at Thyborøn became navigable. The sand banks were finally dredged out in 1901, rendering the canal obsolete. The canal is now a well-preserved heritage site.

Plans for re-closing the western inlet

A 1946 act provided for re-closing the Channel with dams and sluices at Thyborøn, but this was never carried out. This idea re-emerged in 2005 and is now officially being investigated. It is thought that the isthmuses would be easier to preserve, and that the water level of the Limfjord would be more controllable. In periods of persistent western winds, flooding occurs on low-lying land and harbour areas in the towns of the western Limfjord, since the water can't escape through the narrow, eastern part of the Limfjord. Historically, a North Sea to Limfjord

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

has also been proposed between Hanstholm harbour and Vejlerne (or Klitmøller and

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Jørgen Fibiger Jørgen is a Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese masculine given name cognate to George People with the given name Jørgen * Jørgen Aall (1771–1833), Norwegian ship-owner and politician * Jørgen Andersen (1886–1973), Norwegian gymnast * Jørg ...

in 1933, the engineer behind the project of Hanstholm harbour.

In literature

Limgrim legend

According to myth, a woman (in some versions a ''

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods ( Æsir and Vani ...

'') gave birth to a pig, Limgrim, which soon grew so big that its bristles could be seen over the treetops. It strolled around and dug channels in the ground. One day it reached the sea and water broke in. This would have been at the eastern inlet of the Limfjord, at Hals. The legend is also handed down in a medieval ballad with a Christian tint. In the ballad, the pig is summoned to a Thing by peasants to pay for the damage to their crops, and it is sentenced to the

breaking wheel The breaking wheel or execution wheel, also known as the Wheel of Catherine or simply the Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages into the early modern period by breakin ...

. The state environmental surveillance vessel ''Limgrim'', based at Skive, is named after the legend.

Limfjord poets

A number of writers of the Modern Breakthrough period (1870-1890) and the next decades came from the area around the Limfjord and often used it as a lyrical motif, or a setting for their prose. These include

Jens Peter Jacobsen Jens Peter Jacobsen (7 April 1847 – 30 April 1885) was a Danish novelist, poet, and scientist, in Denmark often just written as "J. P. Jacobsen". He began the naturalist movement in Danish literature and was a part of the Modern B ...

of Thisted,

Johan Skjoldborg Johan Skjoldborg (27 April 1861 – 22 February 1936) was a Danish educator, novelist, playwright and memoirist. Biography Johan Martinus Nielsen Skjoldborg was born in the parish of Øsløs in Thisted in north Jutland, Denmark. He was educated ...

of Hannæs,

Jakob Knudsen Jakob Christian Lindberg Knudsen (14 September 1858 – 21 January 1917) was a Danish author, educator and clergyman. Biography Jakob Knudsen was born in Rødding, in the south of Denmark. Knudsen spent much of his childhood at Aggersborg ...

of Aggersborg,

Jeppe Aakjær Jeppe Aakjær (10 September 1866 – 22 (23) April 1930) was a Danish poet and novelist, a member of the ' Jutland Movement' in Danish literature". A regionalist, much of his writings were about his native Jutland. He was known for writings t ...

and

Marie Bregendahl Marie Bregendahl née Sørensen (6 November 1867 – 22 July 1940) was a Danish author. She is one of Denmark's most acclaimed authors of rural literature whose novels and short stories were written in a realistic, almost grotesque style. Biogr ...

of Fjends,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate

Johannes Vilhelm Jensen Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, known as one of the great Danish writers of the first half of 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fert ...

of Farsø and his sister

Thit Jensen Maria Kirstine Dorothea Jensen (19 January 1876 – 14 May 1957) was a Danish novelist and author who wrote under the name Thit Jensen. She is known for her short stories, plays, and socially-critical articles. For her writing, Jensen was honored ...

. Thøger Larsen of Lemvig belonged to the symbolism of the 1920s. Johannes Buchholtz in Struer was a prose writer and his home was a meeting point for many of the Limfjord writers. The house is still kept up by the Struer Museum, which allows visitors. Jeppe Aakjær's farm Jenle close to Skive, Johan Skjoldborg's house in Øsløs, and the Johannes V. Jensen Museum in Farsø are also open to the public. Erik Bertelsen of Harboør is best known for the song ''Blæsten går frisk over Limfjordens vande'' ('The Wind Goes Fresh over the Limfjord's Waters'), a much-used "local anthem". The later ones of these Limfjord writers, along with a few others, formed the

Jutland Movement The ''Jutland Movement'' or folkelige realister opular realists were a group of loosely affiliated Danish writers. Their writing style, which dealt with the rural life of the Jutland peasants, formed them into a group. They existed around the tur ...

, which revolted against the symbolism of the early 20th century. Instead, they wrote social realistic prose, often about poor and exploited people in the countryside, who were a part of Danish society little known to the establishment in Copenhagen.

Biology and climate

The western breakthrough of 1825 changed the waters of the Limfjord from

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

to salty, with a considerable current from west to east. Hypoxia sometimes occurs due to warm windless periods in summer or ice in winter. The fjord today has oceanic salinity, approximately 30 PSU (or per mille by weight) at all depths. Many animals and maritime plants that can be found in Skagerrak, Kattegat and the

can thus be found in the fjord. Due to its shallow waters, the temperature rises rather quickly during warm and sunny days from mid-April to early September. While in winter, ice can form faster during the cold periods, especially in bays with little current. Problematic ice conditions do not occur every winter. The Limfjord is notable for its tasty mussels (''Mytilus edulis''). Gourmets appreciate its

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all ...

, which are considered to be of extraordinary size and quality. Had it not been for the western breakthrough in 1825, these mussels wouldn't grow as well as they do in the waters with ocean-like salinity.

References

External links

Limfjord information

The Limfjord Museum
{{Authority control Straits of Denmark