Frøya is an
island in
Frøya municipality in
Trøndelag county,
Norway. The island makes up about 63% of the land area of Frøya municipality. The island lies in a large
archipelago of islands in the Frøyhavet sea, just northwest of the entrance to the
Trondheimsfjorden. The
Frøyfjorden
The Frøyfjorden is a strait between the islands of Frøya and Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The long strait is rather shallow, only about at its deepest. The Frøya Tunnel goes beneath the fjord from Hammarvika in Frøya Municipal ...
lies to the south of the island and that separates it from the large island of
Hitra.
The island is rocky with
heather-covered
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
as well as marshes and lakes. There are no naturally forested areas on the island. The highest point on the island is
Besselvassheia
Besselvassheia is a mountain in the municipality of Frøya in Trøndelag county, Norway. The tall mountain is the highest point on the island of Frøya. It lies about west of the village of Sistranda and about northwest of the village of Ham ...
, at above sea level. The southern and eastern coasts are relatively smooth, but the northern coast is very jagged with many
fjords and coves.
Sletringen Lighthouse
Slettringen Lighthouse ( no, Slettringen fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in the municipality of Frøya in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lighthouse sits just off the coast of the village of Titran at the western tip of the large island of Frøya. ...
lies at the southwestern tip of the island.
The island is connected to the mainland via the
Frøya Tunnel which connects it to the neighboring
island of Hitra. The island of Hitra is then connected to the mainland by the
Hitra Tunnel.
Name
The name of the island (and municipality) comes from
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
. Although ''Frøya'' is a variant of the name of the Norse goddess
Freyja, the
Old Norse form of the name of the island was ''Frøy'' or ''Frey'' (the ending ''-a'' in the modern form is actually the definite article - so the meaning of ''Frøya'' is 'the Frøy'). Therefore, the name of the island probably has the same root as the name of the
Norse god Freyr, brother to Freyja. The names originally were titles: "
lord" or "
lady
The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...
". The oldest meaning of the common word was "(the one) in front; the foremost, the leading" and here in the sense "the island in front of
Hitra". Until 1906 the island and municipality name was spelled ''Frøien'' (''-en'' is the definite article in
Danish-Norwegian).
Media gallery
Flatval, Frøya - panoramio.jpg, Flatval
Gammelhuset på Frøya - panoramio.jpg, House on Frøya
Fylkesveg 451 i Soer-Troendelag.jpg, Road on Frøya
Husvika - panoramio.jpg, Husvika
Sistranda, Frøya, Norway.jpg, Sistranda
Frøya, Nórsko, apríl 2016 - panoramio (7).jpg, Plantlife on Frøya
Two of everything.jpg, Houses in Titran
Titran in the evening.jpg, View of Titran
See also
*
List of islands of Norway
References
{{authority control
Islands of Trøndelag
Frøya, Trøndelag