Icelandic, Faroese and Greenlandic orientation systems: all absolute?

Abstract

Abstract Orientation systems found around the North Atlantic Rim – those of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands – have much in common, although two quite unrelated language families are involved. This has much to do with comparable geographical situations and may be taken as supporting Palmer’s Topographic Correspondence Hypothesis. The actual orientation of north–south–east–west terms can vary around the coasts of Iceland and the Faroes as it does around Greenland. All three regions arguably display ‘absolute’ systems, but most noteworthy is the fact that they apply differently at different spatial scales, ranging from the individual house and its surroundings, via specific stretches of coast, up to the broadest frame covering the whole country. The same terms may be used at all levels, only disambiguated by context. There are of course also differences between the systems of the three regions, reflecting their different cultural and technological backgrounds and the geographical alignment of their convoluted coastlines. The question as to whether such systems represent a distinct ‘landmark’ sub-type of absolute system is addressed. It is argued that distinctions of scale are more relevant here than the distinction between ‘cardinal’ and ‘landmark’ sub-types.