Trúgv og siðir í sambandi við neyt
Authors: Joensen Jóan Pauli 
Published: March 2024

Folk beliefs and customs concerning cattle in the Faroe Islands.This article is mainly based on records of tradition at the Faroese Museum and the Faroese Academy as well as information from topographical literature. Most of the tradition material was colleced in 1967 and 1968. As in many other communitiesbound by tradition, many unknown factors are connected with cattle breeding. The traditional thoughts constantly revolved around good and bad luck.

Magic practices and various customs were aimed at averting bad luck and securing, or even improving luck with the cattle.The article contains many quotations and is centred on topics such as the covering of the cow, calving, troll-rides and other supernatural beings, the first days of the spring when the cow was driven out into the fields, and finally on the milk.

The magic practice in connection with the covering was to ensure successful lertilization. Here, as on many other occasions, the evil eye and the evil tongue might have a bad influence. Auguries were taken to discover whether it would be a bull or a cow calf, the latter being the most desirable with a view to the milk production. The calving was by its nature a risky event; the first eight days after the calving were considered to be especially critical, and the cow was said to stand »á oskbási«. The first syllable is probably derived from the Old Norse word »háski« meaning »danger«. So the cow was subject to danger during these days. This meant that a number of taboo rules had to be observed not to challenge the milking luck.

Whereas the tradition of trolls milking the cow and riding on it were practically unknown in the material collected in 1967 and 1968, there is much evidence to be found in older records and literature. The various customs and magic practices aimed at misleading the trolls, e. g. by cutting a piece of the tail and placing it into the stone wall in front of the cow so that the trolls would not know which was the front and which was the hindquarters, or for instance by burning some hair on the back of the cow, sweeping its back with a broom, strewing some grains of salt on it etc. Eventually the cow was blessed by having a candlemoved around it. But also during the first milking days magic was practised, usually by putting various remedies into the milk pail. The first water given to the cow after the calving had to be lukewarm, and some embers were put into the pail. In the springtime, when the cows had been driven out into the fields, embers were iaid by the doorstep of the cowhouse, which the cow had to cross. 

Many of the practices carried out in connection with the calving and the first time ourdoors for the cow resembled each other closely. The milk had the greatest economical value. Precautions had to be taken not only in the critical 8 days, but also during the daily milking and when using the milk. Thus milk must not boil over. Most dreaded, however, were the evil eye and the evil tongue, which might do harm to the milk. The magic practice in this connection sought to prevent strangers from looking into the milk pail or entering the cowhouse, and it was important to milk so noiselessly that it was not audible outside the cowhouse. Thus, the threats to the cattle were all the unknown and undefinable perils lurking about, supernatural beings and the envy of other people.