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Lofoten (Old Norse: Lófótr) was the original name of the island Vestvågøya. The first element is ló (i.e., “lynx”) and the last element is derived from Norse fótr (i.e., “foot”), as the shape of the island must have been compared with that of a lynx’s foot. (The old name of the neighboring island Flakstadøya was Vargfót, “wolf’s foot”, from vargr “wolf”.) Alternatively, it could derive from the word for light in reference to the presence of Aurora Borealis as the word for light itself is the root of the Old Norse word for lynx lóa, although the earliest evidence suggests Lófótr was first the name of the island of Vestvågøy and only later becoming the name of the chain of islands. Most parsimonious is the analogy with Aurora Borealis, as the word fótr is typically not used to describe the feet of beasts of prey, instead using the word hrammr (paw) or löpp (also paw) for animals such as cats or dogs. Fótr can be used to describe legs, and as such, light leg represents the most plausible etymology taking into account the geography of the archipelago, eventually morphing to describe only the island of Vestvågøy before once again describing the island chain from its main island.

Another name one might come across is “Lofotveggen” or the Lofoten wall. The archipelago looks like a closed wall when seen from elevated points around Bodø or when arriving from the sea, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) long, and 800–1,000 meters (2,600–3,300 feet) high.

“There is evidence of human settlement extending back at least 11,000 years in Lofoten, and the earliest archaeological sites … are only about 5,500 years old, at the transition from the early to late Stone Age.” Iron Age agriculture, livestock, and significant human habitation can be traced back to c. 250 BC.^[1]

The town of Vågan (Norse Vágar) is the first known town formation in northern Norway. It existed in the early Viking Age, maybe earlier, and was located on the southern coast on eastern Lofoten, near today’s village Kabelvåg in Vågan municipality. The Lofotr Viking Museum with the reconstructed 83-metre-long (272 ft) longhouse (the largest known) is located near Borg on Vestvågøy, which has many archeological finds from the Iron Age and Viking Age.

The islands have for more than 1,000 years been the center of great cod fisheries, especially in winter, when the cod migrate south from the Barents Sea and gather in Lofoten to spawn. Bergen in southwestern Norway was for a long time the hub for further export of cod south to different parts of Europe, particularly so when trade was controlled by the Hanseatic League. In the lowland areas, particularly Vestvågøy, agriculture plays a significant role, as it has done since the Bronze Age.

In March 1941 the islands were raided by British Commandos during Operation Claymore, and in a subsequent diversionary attack to support the Vaagso raid in December.

As of 2017, the islands attract one million tourists a year. Wikipedia

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An image from Reinebringen Lofoten

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