Christmas Meeting of 1888

On December 22, 1888 the only newspaper at that time in the Faroe Islands, Dimmalætting, carried the following notice: are invited to gather in the house of Parliament on the second day of Christmas at 3 o’clock in the afternoon where we will discuss how to defend the Faroese language and Faroese traditions.

The invitation, signed by nine prominent Faroemen, marked the inception of a new era in Faroese history - the rise of the National Movement.

In spite of a raging storm and slushy roads, a large crowd of people gathered in the house of the Løgting that afternoon.

The highlight of the meeting came when the poet Rasmus Effersøe recited a battle hymn written for the occasion by young Jóannes Patursson.

The message of the lengthy poem was evident in the first stanza: The meeting ended with the acceptance of a six-point resolution: Bárður Jákupsson made the stamps above right which show the nine people who sent out the invitation to the Christmas Meeting in 1888.