A single family has lived here for generations. The close proximity to the falls is dramatic. When the sea breaks over the bays, columns of water are sent high into the air in great roars. The surrounding landscape the island changes with the tide. At low tide it is a boot sea with countless islets and reefs, at high tide many of them are under water. The name may be related to this. Another explanation is that Flovær comes from Frovær. In Old Norse, frod means foam, foam.

Flovær and Lånan was probably settled at the same time, around 1660. But people have used the island weather before that time. Coal samples taken at the island is dated to 1470-1645. The people of Flovær were tenants under the Tjøtta estate, and paid land taxes in the form of fish, eggs and down. the island was vacated in 1964, when the last owner died.

The people of Flovær engaged in fishing and simple farming. The farm had two or three cows, a bull, three sheep and a goat. Outside the island The fishing was plentiful, and up to ten fishermen could rent here during the season. They lived in the attic of the spacious farmhouse and in the “Solvær-Ole-bua”. The old farmhouse is still in use as a holiday home and as a house for eider keepers during the season.

An old egg and eiderdown islands

Flovær is an old egg and eiderdown islands , and has been one of the most important in Vegaøyan. The settlement is strongly influenced by the eider industry. Large eaves with space for 10-15 birds and stone nests in various shapes are located close together on the main island and the islets outside. Here, eiders have been nesting everywhere; under houses, outbuildings and boathouses. A hundred birds could nest under the large boathouse. Flovær was protected as an egg and eiderdown islands in 1812. According to the register, the sitters collected around 12 kilos of down from the nests in the island weather. Some sources say that there were up to 1,300 birds in the nests before the war. When it was the peak season for the eider, the fishermen had to move to a nest on Brusholmen so as not to disturb the birds with their activity. The cats were locked in a cage so as not to scare them Eider duck . The residents of Flovært kept eye records and nesting eiders. Old boats were used as ebans, and are named after the boats, such as “Ester”, “Halfdan”, “Anna” and “Odd”. One of the ebans is called Misjonsbanen. The income from this duna went to the mission.

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Source

“ Vegaøyan World Heritage. Cultural History Travel Book .” by Inga E. Næss and Rita Johansen.