2001
Protected Whales
Date Of Issue 17.09.2001
Date Of Issue 17.09.2001
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Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus
The sperm whale is found in all the world’s oceans. It has even been spotted in the Mediterranean Sea. They gather in large pods off the coast of northwestern Spain and the Lofoten Islands in Norway, and are currently exploited as tourist attractions in both locations.
Estimates are that there are more than 20,000 sperm whales in the North Atlantic. This whale has been completely protected from commercial whaling since 1988, and when Portugal became a member of the EU in 1987 they ceased to be hunted in the Atlantic off the Azores and Madeira, where the whaling was conducted from small boats with hand-held harpoons. Previously, sperm oil was extracted from the whale’s head and used as a lubricant, including in gyrocompasses on the first satellites. Today, this valuable oil is produced artificially.
Off the Faroes, sperm whales are seen from February through November. Most often they are seen on their own or in very small groups, but pods of 25-60 whales have also been seen a few times. Females with calves and young males in groups of 20 or more can be found in the Atlantic during the summer between latitudes of 45°-50° N and 40° S, and between 40° N and 30° S during the winter. During the mating season, the groups are visited by one or more older males during the course of several months, after which the males migrate towards both poles during the summer to the rich stocks of food to be found there. In the North Atlantic and off the coasts of Europe, the female whales have thus never been encountered. The oldest sperm whales are most often seen alone, however the young males often stick together in pods of up to 50-100 animals.
Sperm whales live in deep water, and around the Faroes, they stick to a broad belt from the Shetlands to eastern Iceland, as a rule where the water is over 500 m deep. In more recent years, a number of stranded sperm whales, both living and dead, have been encountered on the Faroes, averaging one per year with the last one as recently as Boxing Day in the year 2000.
The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale. It has 18-25 powerful, 8-10 cm long teeth in each half of its narrow lower jaw. Plus, it has 8-10 conical, 1.5-2 cm long teeth in the upper part of its mouth which however never break through into the mouth. The sperm whale is completely dark brown or dark grey in colour, with broad and spade-shaped fins. It lacks a full dorsal fin, however it does have some humps on the lower back of its spine. Its triangular tail can be seen clearly when the whale dives. The male can grow to 15-18 m long and weight up to 80 tons, and the female 11-12 m. Its head is quite large, comprising ¼ to 1/3 of the animal’s length, and has a forward-leaning, 4-sided melon-shaped area, where the blowhole sits as an S-shaped column to the left side of the tip. The sperm whale is thus the only whale with an up to 5 m high blow directed to the left. Sperm whales lie at the surface of the water for 5-15 minutes at a time and breathe 20-60 times at regular intervals.
The sperm whale is one of the 3 toothed whales that place squid at the top of its menu. A large male will eat over one ton a day, and it appears that it catches its food in deeper waters (300-600 m, 3200 m observed) than the other two whales that eat squid, the pilot whale and the bottle-nosed whale. Among other things, the sperm whale eats giant squid, Architeuthis Sp. Red fish, skate, rays, monkfish, lumpfish and cod have also been found in stomachs of sperm whales.
Female sperm whales are pregnant for 14-15.5 months. Most calves are born during the late summer, and they are 3.5-4.5 m long and nurse for 1.5-3.5 years. Male sperm whales are sexually mature at 11-12 m in length and 18-21 years of age, whereas the females reach maturity at 7-11 years of age and 8.3-9.2 m in length. A female sperm whale calves every fourth to sixth year. The sperm whale can live to at least 60-70 years of age, and is fully grown at 25-30 years of age.
Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
The blue whale lives in belts around both poles. In the Atlantic, it can be found during the summer at the edge of the drift ice, whereas during the winter it lives further to the south. The old whaling hands wrote in their diaries: “If you meet a blue whale out on the banks to the southwest of the Faroes, it is easier to follow it than the compass. It will swim directly to the sound between Vágoy and Koltur”. Blue whales are still seen regularly in Faroese waters, also quite close to land, both single whales as well as adults with calves. The spring migration goes through the Faroe-Shetland Channel, where a part swims to the south of the Faroes to an area south-southwest of the island chain and to the Munk Bank, Suðuroy Bank and Sandoy Bank. There is abundant plankton and krill here, because cold currents from the north are met here with warmer southern currents, and blue whales appear to be here throughout the entire summer. Other blue whales migrate during the spring to the north through the Faroe Bank Channel. Blue whales can be encountered south of Iceland during July and August, however they are most abundant during the summer in a belt south of the edge of the drift ice to the north of western Iceland and in a north-easterly direction to the north-western coast of Norway. In July the blue whales begin to swim to the south again, this time to the east of the Faroes, where they meet up with the first group again. This area is then emptied of blue whales during August through October as the whales migrate to the south again.
The blue whale has been completely protected on a global basis since 1966, and since then the population has grown. At present, estimates are that over 500 blue whales can be found in Icelandic waters during the summer, and a total of around 1,000-3,000 in the northern hemisphere.
The blue whale is a baleen whale, and the largest known mammal with a size of 23-27 m (max. 33 m) and a weight of 160 tons. The female is slightly larger than the male. Their bodies are slender, dark slate-grey to blue-grey with lighter spots and 55-88 throat grooves. The dorsal fin is extremely small and sits towards to the rear of the body, the fins are long (15% of the body length), pointed and have white undersides. There are 270-395 black baleen plates on each side of the jaw. Its head is wide, and the blowholes, the nostrils, are located on a conspicuous hump. Its blow can be a stream a good 9 m tall, straight up and cone-shaped. After returning from a dive, blue whales will spout 8-12 times before they dive again, and they are normally spend 10-15 minutes on a dive.Blue whales are pregnant for 11 months, and the calves are born 6-7 m long, weighing 2.5 tons. After 7 months of nursing, they grow to 13-16 m in length and 23 tons in weight. At sexual maturity, which occurs for both genders at around 10 years of age, a female blue whale will be 20-21 m long, and a male 21-23 m. They are fully grown at 25-30 years of age, with a length to 24-25 m. The female blue whales calve every third year. It is difficult to determine the age of blue whales, however they are thought to live up to 80 years.
Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus
The fin whale lives in a belt around both poles, and in the North Atlantic between 30° N and the edge of the field ice. They were protected against commercial whaling on a global basis in 1986, however the status of the fin whale is open to debate and was one of the reasons that Iceland withdrew from the IWC in 1992. A census was taken of the whales in the North Atlantic in 1987, 1989 and 1995 as a joint project involving the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland and Norway. On the basis of the results, it has been estimated that a good 15,000 of the animals are found in the waters of the Icelandic/Faroese seas, 7,000 around the Faroes and 1,050 in the waters off Western Greenland, with a total of around 50,000 fin whales in the entire North Atlantic. Studies are currently being performed on the Faroes to find out where the whales live when they are not swimming around the islands.
Fin whales are abundant in the Faroes, and they can be seen at all times of the year, however most of them are here from May to September. Fin whales eat krill, but herring and blue whiting have been found in their stomachs. Where there is abundant food, it is possible to see up to 25 of the whales together.
The migration of the fin whale takes place in by and large the same manner as for blue whales, where the fin whales also swim in a large circle around the Faroese Plateau. One part swims to the north through the Faroe Bank Channel and then later joins up with the other group, which continues through the Faroe-Shetland Channel up to the southwestern corner of the Faroese seas. The fin whales thus lie further out to the southwest than the blue whales. There are also good feeding opportunities here in this area, where the warm North Atlantic current meets the cold eastern Icelandic.
In 1991 a live fin whale 12 m long was stranded on the Faroes, and was successfully dragged free again.
The fin whale is also a baleen whale, large and slender, and it can swim at up to 20 knots. The females are larger than the males, up to 24m and 75 tons. Its blow is vertical, 4-6 metres high and in the shape of an inverted cone. The fin whale breathes approx. 4 times before it dives again, and it remains on a dive for 10-15 minutes. Its dorsal fin is small, however larger than that of the blue whale. The underside of its fins are white (see the sei whale). Its back side is blue-black, and its belly is white. Plus, it has 55-100 throat grooves. The fin whale is asymmetrically coloured on its narrow head, with its right side being the lightest. The left side of its lower jaw is grey and the right side is white. The right side of its oral cavity is white, whereas the left side is pigmented. The frontmost baleen plates on its right side are white, and the rest a dull blue-grey or striped. There are 260-275 baleen plates in 90 cm on each side of its jaw.
The female fin whales are pregnant for a good 11 months, and newly born calves are 6-6.5 m long and weigh 1.75 tons. They nurse for a half year, during which time they grow to a length of 11.5 m and a good 13 tons in weight. Fin whales are sexually mature at lengths of 17.7 m (females) and 18.3 m (males), at ages of 8-12 (male) and 6-10 (female), and they are fully grown at 25-30 years of age. A female fin whale can calve every second or third year. The oldest North Atlantic fin whales studied lived to nearly 90 years of age.
Sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis
The sei whale also lives around the poles in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, north of 40° N and south of 40° S. They were protected on a global basis in 1979. On the basis of censuses taken in 1987 and 1989, there are thought to be around 13,500 of these animals around Iceland. The sei whale has always been a very irregular visitor to both the Faroes and Norway, for reasons which remain unknown. During the summer, sei whales migrate to the north with their calves and can be seen particularly in the Irminger Sea between Greenland and Iceland. They bear their young during the winter in warmer areas of the sea to the south. The sei whale lives pelagically out in the open ocean, but it does come close to the coast at the same time as the coalfish, which are also called saithe, from which the name of the whale is derived. Both the whale as well as the fish follow their respective food supplies.
The sei whale’s migration through the Faroese seas occurs at the same time as that of the blue whale’s, and hence sei whales can also be encountered in the areas between the Sandoy and Suðuroy banks to the southwest of the island chain. The sei whales migrate from May to October and in years such as the year 2000, many sei whales are seen off the Faroes.
The sei whale is a baleen whale, eating krill and smaller schooling fish such as anchovies, capelin, horse mackerel, mackerel and lantern fish that lie at the surface. The sei whale is thought to be the fastest whale, and can swim at up to 30 knots. As a rule, sei whales are spotted on their own or in small pods of from 2 to 5-6 animals.
The sei whale is the third largest baleen whale, and the female is also a little larger than the male, up to 18-20 m long and 30 tons in weight. Its dorsal fin is quite large, and its back is dark grey to bluish black, with an irregular transition to its white underside. The underside of its fins are dark (see the fin whale), whereas its tail fin is uniformly coloured. Its blow is 3-4 m high and vertical. The sei whale breathes once per minute while it is up at the surface, and it dives for 20 minutes at a time. It has 38-60 throat grooves, and each side of its jaw contains 219-400 grey baleen plates of a length of 80 cm with very soft fibres.
Female sei whales are pregnant for 10.7 months. When born, the calves are 4.5-4.8 m long and weigh 780 kg. They nurse for ½-1 year, and grow to a length of 11 m at 2 years of age. At sexual maturity, the males are 12-12.9 m long and 7-8 years old, while the females are 13.1-14 m long and 5.6-11.7 years old. A female sei whale can calve every second or third year. The sei whale is fully grown at 25-30 years of age and can live to be 70-80 years old.
Dorete Bloch
The sperm whale is found in all the world’s oceans. It has even been spotted in the Mediterranean Sea. They gather in large pods off the coast of northwestern Spain and the Lofoten Islands in Norway, and are currently exploited as tourist attractions in both locations.
Estimates are that there are more than 20,000 sperm whales in the North Atlantic. This whale has been completely protected from commercial whaling since 1988, and when Portugal became a member of the EU in 1987 they ceased to be hunted in the Atlantic off the Azores and Madeira, where the whaling was conducted from small boats with hand-held harpoons. Previously, sperm oil was extracted from the whale’s head and used as a lubricant, including in gyrocompasses on the first satellites. Today, this valuable oil is produced artificially.
Off the Faroes, sperm whales are seen from February through November. Most often they are seen on their own or in very small groups, but pods of 25-60 whales have also been seen a few times. Females with calves and young males in groups of 20 or more can be found in the Atlantic during the summer between latitudes of 45°-50° N and 40° S, and between 40° N and 30° S during the winter. During the mating season, the groups are visited by one or more older males during the course of several months, after which the males migrate towards both poles during the summer to the rich stocks of food to be found there. In the North Atlantic and off the coasts of Europe, the female whales have thus never been encountered. The oldest sperm whales are most often seen alone, however the young males often stick together in pods of up to 50-100 animals.
Sperm whales live in deep water, and around the Faroes, they stick to a broad belt from the Shetlands to eastern Iceland, as a rule where the water is over 500 m deep. In more recent years, a number of stranded sperm whales, both living and dead, have been encountered on the Faroes, averaging one per year with the last one as recently as Boxing Day in the year 2000.
The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale. It has 18-25 powerful, 8-10 cm long teeth in each half of its narrow lower jaw. Plus, it has 8-10 conical, 1.5-2 cm long teeth in the upper part of its mouth which however never break through into the mouth. The sperm whale is completely dark brown or dark grey in colour, with broad and spade-shaped fins. It lacks a full dorsal fin, however it does have some humps on the lower back of its spine. Its triangular tail can be seen clearly when the whale dives. The male can grow to 15-18 m long and weight up to 80 tons, and the female 11-12 m. Its head is quite large, comprising ¼ to 1/3 of the animal’s length, and has a forward-leaning, 4-sided melon-shaped area, where the blowhole sits as an S-shaped column to the left side of the tip. The sperm whale is thus the only whale with an up to 5 m high blow directed to the left. Sperm whales lie at the surface of the water for 5-15 minutes at a time and breathe 20-60 times at regular intervals.
The sperm whale is one of the 3 toothed whales that place squid at the top of its menu. A large male will eat over one ton a day, and it appears that it catches its food in deeper waters (300-600 m, 3200 m observed) than the other two whales that eat squid, the pilot whale and the bottle-nosed whale. Among other things, the sperm whale eats giant squid, Architeuthis Sp. Red fish, skate, rays, monkfish, lumpfish and cod have also been found in stomachs of sperm whales.
Female sperm whales are pregnant for 14-15.5 months. Most calves are born during the late summer, and they are 3.5-4.5 m long and nurse for 1.5-3.5 years. Male sperm whales are sexually mature at 11-12 m in length and 18-21 years of age, whereas the females reach maturity at 7-11 years of age and 8.3-9.2 m in length. A female sperm whale calves every fourth to sixth year. The sperm whale can live to at least 60-70 years of age, and is fully grown at 25-30 years of age.
Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
The blue whale lives in belts around both poles. In the Atlantic, it can be found during the summer at the edge of the drift ice, whereas during the winter it lives further to the south. The old whaling hands wrote in their diaries: “If you meet a blue whale out on the banks to the southwest of the Faroes, it is easier to follow it than the compass. It will swim directly to the sound between Vágoy and Koltur”. Blue whales are still seen regularly in Faroese waters, also quite close to land, both single whales as well as adults with calves. The spring migration goes through the Faroe-Shetland Channel, where a part swims to the south of the Faroes to an area south-southwest of the island chain and to the Munk Bank, Suðuroy Bank and Sandoy Bank. There is abundant plankton and krill here, because cold currents from the north are met here with warmer southern currents, and blue whales appear to be here throughout the entire summer. Other blue whales migrate during the spring to the north through the Faroe Bank Channel. Blue whales can be encountered south of Iceland during July and August, however they are most abundant during the summer in a belt south of the edge of the drift ice to the north of western Iceland and in a north-easterly direction to the north-western coast of Norway. In July the blue whales begin to swim to the south again, this time to the east of the Faroes, where they meet up with the first group again. This area is then emptied of blue whales during August through October as the whales migrate to the south again.
The blue whale has been completely protected on a global basis since 1966, and since then the population has grown. At present, estimates are that over 500 blue whales can be found in Icelandic waters during the summer, and a total of around 1,000-3,000 in the northern hemisphere.
The blue whale is a baleen whale, and the largest known mammal with a size of 23-27 m (max. 33 m) and a weight of 160 tons. The female is slightly larger than the male. Their bodies are slender, dark slate-grey to blue-grey with lighter spots and 55-88 throat grooves. The dorsal fin is extremely small and sits towards to the rear of the body, the fins are long (15% of the body length), pointed and have white undersides. There are 270-395 black baleen plates on each side of the jaw. Its head is wide, and the blowholes, the nostrils, are located on a conspicuous hump. Its blow can be a stream a good 9 m tall, straight up and cone-shaped. After returning from a dive, blue whales will spout 8-12 times before they dive again, and they are normally spend 10-15 minutes on a dive.Blue whales are pregnant for 11 months, and the calves are born 6-7 m long, weighing 2.5 tons. After 7 months of nursing, they grow to 13-16 m in length and 23 tons in weight. At sexual maturity, which occurs for both genders at around 10 years of age, a female blue whale will be 20-21 m long, and a male 21-23 m. They are fully grown at 25-30 years of age, with a length to 24-25 m. The female blue whales calve every third year. It is difficult to determine the age of blue whales, however they are thought to live up to 80 years.
Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus
The fin whale lives in a belt around both poles, and in the North Atlantic between 30° N and the edge of the field ice. They were protected against commercial whaling on a global basis in 1986, however the status of the fin whale is open to debate and was one of the reasons that Iceland withdrew from the IWC in 1992. A census was taken of the whales in the North Atlantic in 1987, 1989 and 1995 as a joint project involving the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland and Norway. On the basis of the results, it has been estimated that a good 15,000 of the animals are found in the waters of the Icelandic/Faroese seas, 7,000 around the Faroes and 1,050 in the waters off Western Greenland, with a total of around 50,000 fin whales in the entire North Atlantic. Studies are currently being performed on the Faroes to find out where the whales live when they are not swimming around the islands.
Fin whales are abundant in the Faroes, and they can be seen at all times of the year, however most of them are here from May to September. Fin whales eat krill, but herring and blue whiting have been found in their stomachs. Where there is abundant food, it is possible to see up to 25 of the whales together.
The migration of the fin whale takes place in by and large the same manner as for blue whales, where the fin whales also swim in a large circle around the Faroese Plateau. One part swims to the north through the Faroe Bank Channel and then later joins up with the other group, which continues through the Faroe-Shetland Channel up to the southwestern corner of the Faroese seas. The fin whales thus lie further out to the southwest than the blue whales. There are also good feeding opportunities here in this area, where the warm North Atlantic current meets the cold eastern Icelandic.
In 1991 a live fin whale 12 m long was stranded on the Faroes, and was successfully dragged free again.
The fin whale is also a baleen whale, large and slender, and it can swim at up to 20 knots. The females are larger than the males, up to 24m and 75 tons. Its blow is vertical, 4-6 metres high and in the shape of an inverted cone. The fin whale breathes approx. 4 times before it dives again, and it remains on a dive for 10-15 minutes. Its dorsal fin is small, however larger than that of the blue whale. The underside of its fins are white (see the sei whale). Its back side is blue-black, and its belly is white. Plus, it has 55-100 throat grooves. The fin whale is asymmetrically coloured on its narrow head, with its right side being the lightest. The left side of its lower jaw is grey and the right side is white. The right side of its oral cavity is white, whereas the left side is pigmented. The frontmost baleen plates on its right side are white, and the rest a dull blue-grey or striped. There are 260-275 baleen plates in 90 cm on each side of its jaw.
The female fin whales are pregnant for a good 11 months, and newly born calves are 6-6.5 m long and weigh 1.75 tons. They nurse for a half year, during which time they grow to a length of 11.5 m and a good 13 tons in weight. Fin whales are sexually mature at lengths of 17.7 m (females) and 18.3 m (males), at ages of 8-12 (male) and 6-10 (female), and they are fully grown at 25-30 years of age. A female fin whale can calve every second or third year. The oldest North Atlantic fin whales studied lived to nearly 90 years of age.
Sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis
The sei whale also lives around the poles in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, north of 40° N and south of 40° S. They were protected on a global basis in 1979. On the basis of censuses taken in 1987 and 1989, there are thought to be around 13,500 of these animals around Iceland. The sei whale has always been a very irregular visitor to both the Faroes and Norway, for reasons which remain unknown. During the summer, sei whales migrate to the north with their calves and can be seen particularly in the Irminger Sea between Greenland and Iceland. They bear their young during the winter in warmer areas of the sea to the south. The sei whale lives pelagically out in the open ocean, but it does come close to the coast at the same time as the coalfish, which are also called saithe, from which the name of the whale is derived. Both the whale as well as the fish follow their respective food supplies.
The sei whale’s migration through the Faroese seas occurs at the same time as that of the blue whale’s, and hence sei whales can also be encountered in the areas between the Sandoy and Suðuroy banks to the southwest of the island chain. The sei whales migrate from May to October and in years such as the year 2000, many sei whales are seen off the Faroes.
The sei whale is a baleen whale, eating krill and smaller schooling fish such as anchovies, capelin, horse mackerel, mackerel and lantern fish that lie at the surface. The sei whale is thought to be the fastest whale, and can swim at up to 30 knots. As a rule, sei whales are spotted on their own or in small pods of from 2 to 5-6 animals.
The sei whale is the third largest baleen whale, and the female is also a little larger than the male, up to 18-20 m long and 30 tons in weight. Its dorsal fin is quite large, and its back is dark grey to bluish black, with an irregular transition to its white underside. The underside of its fins are dark (see the fin whale), whereas its tail fin is uniformly coloured. Its blow is 3-4 m high and vertical. The sei whale breathes once per minute while it is up at the surface, and it dives for 20 minutes at a time. It has 38-60 throat grooves, and each side of its jaw contains 219-400 grey baleen plates of a length of 80 cm with very soft fibres.
Female sei whales are pregnant for 10.7 months. When born, the calves are 4.5-4.8 m long and weigh 780 kg. They nurse for ½-1 year, and grow to a length of 11 m at 2 years of age. At sexual maturity, the males are 12-12.9 m long and 7-8 years old, while the females are 13.1-14 m long and 5.6-11.7 years old. A female sei whale can calve every second or third year. The sei whale is fully grown at 25-30 years of age and can live to be 70-80 years old.
Dorete Bloch
The Christmas Seal 2001
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Star Constellations
A starry sky is like a picture book. Go outside on a starry winter’s evening and gaze up at the sky. Take your time – and it will be as if the vault of heaven opens up, and you will be transported to another world.
In antiquity, people regarded the firmament as the home of the Gods, and the various constellations have given ideas for different stories and legends depending on where in the world you are.
Astronomy and astrology were one and the same thing, and astrologers saw signs and predicted fateful events by reading the firmament, which they taught people from a religious angle.
Man has gazed at the stars in the sky with wonder and curiosity, and many have wondered about the secretive universe of the firmament. Stories were also attached to other phenomenon in the sky. For example, the northern lights were interpreted by Norsemen as the Valkyries’ shields that flickered when they rode across the firmament after the dead.
Stars are also mentioned in the Bible, and the most famous star of all is the Star of Bethlehem, the guiding star that heralded the birth of Christ.
The hero Perseus, son of Zeus. His greatest heroic deed was to cut off the head of Medusa, one of three sisters, who were all witches. They were so terrifying that people turned to stone just by looking at them.
Ursa Major/the Great Bear is one of the best known constellations. The constellation was originally the tail and back of the Great Bear. The stories are numerous. The Indians say that the Great Bear is seven hunters, in ancient times the British regarded it as King Arthur’s chariot, the Teutons also saw a chariot with three horses and the Romans regarded it as a plough with seven oxen.
Lyra/the Harp. Apollo gave his son Orpheus the harp, and he played it so well that wild animals, trees and plants, why even the mountains, became enchanted.
Sagitta/the Arrow. This constellation has been interpreted by most peoples as an arrow. One owner of the arrow was Apollo, another Hercules and a third, and the best known, owner was Cupid, hence Cupid’s arrow.
Ursa Minor/the Little Bear. Zeus had a son, Arcas, with a mortal woman by the name of Callisto. Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, turned Callisto into a bear. In order to protect her, Zeus turned his son, Arcas, into the Little Bear. Therefore, the bears walk in peace in the firmament.
Equuleus/the Foal is a small constellation. The brightest star was named the Little Horse by the Arabs. Later, the interpretation was that this foal was Celeris, the brother of the winged horse Pegasus.
Orion was, according to Greek mythology, a giant and a great hunter. The constellation shows a hunter with a lion’s skin in his right hand and a stick in his left hand. The well-known Orion’s Belt with three stars in a row can also be seen clearly.
Cassiopeia was the Queen of ancient Egypt. She was known to exaggerate and was chained to her throne for eternity because of her boasting.
Aquarius/the Water Carrier was given its name in Babylonian times. This constellation has several interpretations. One of the best known interpretations compares the Water Carrier to Zeus, who lets the water of life rain down from the sky.
Crater/the Cup. This is the cup that Apollo sent Corvos out to fetch. Corvus was too late and lied that Hydra, the sea serpent, had done him harm. As punishment, they were all put in the firmament.
Canis Major/the Great Dog. The ancient Greeks said that the great dog ran so fast that it beat the fastest fox in the world in a race. To celebrate this, Zeus put the Great Dog in the firmament.
Corvus/the Raven. One day, Apollo sent the raven out to fetch water, but the raven came back too late – it waited for a fig tree to bear fruit. The raven lied about the reason why it had not returned in time, and it was put in the firmament as punishment.
Cancer/the Crayfish was sent out to hurt Hercules when he was fighting against the monster Hydra. The crayfish was destroyed by Hercules’ foot, but Hera, who had sent it, put it in the firmament to show her gratitude.
Cetus/the Whale was said by the ancient Greeks to be the sea monster that swallowed Andromeda. According to later interpretations, Cetus is the whale that swallowed Jonah.
Pegasus/the Winged Horse. When Perseus cut off the head of the witch Medusa, Pegasus flew out of her blood. When Pegasus came to Helicon, his hoofs hit the mountain and the Hippocrene fountain burst forth from the mountain. This fountain has later become a symbol of the inspiration that all poets seek.
Corona Borealis/the Northern Crown has several stories. The Greek story is that Ariadne, the daughter of King Midas of Crete, did not want to marry a mortal man. Her suitor Dionysos paid homage to her by throwing his crown up into the firmament, proving that he was immortal, and they were consequently married.
Scutum/the Shield. Johannes Hevelius invented this constellation in the late 16th Century. He called it Scutum Sobiescianum or Sobieski’s Shield in honour of the Polish King John Sobieski after he had defeated a Turkish invasion in 1683.
Virgo/the Virgin has always been a symbol of fertility. The Romans also regarded her as a symbol of justice. She is often pictured with a wheatear in one hand and a set of scales in the other.
Grus/the Crane did not receive its name until in 1603. The crane was a symbol of astronomy in ancient Egypt. The constellation is small and difficult to find. It looks most of all like a small cross.
Aries/the Ram. Several peoples have called this constellation Aries. According to a Greek legend, two royal children, Phrixus and Helle, were mistreated by their stepmother. The god Hermes sent a ram of golden skin, which was to rescue them carrying them on its back.
Taurus/the Bull. As far back as 5000 years ago, the constellation has been interpreted as a bull. The bull has always been a symbol of strength and fertility. Several of the stories are about men who fought bulls. There are also other stories. For example about the Israelis, who worshipped the golden calf.
Lepus/the Hare. This constellation has been interpreted very differently. In antiquity, it was regarded as Orion’s chair, the Egyptians regarded it as Osiris’ boat and the Romans named it Lepus, because Orion liked to go hare hunting.
Bootes/the Shepherd. The name Bootes comes from the Greek word for shepherd. The shepherd was given a place in the firmament because he invented the plough.
Cygnus/the Swan. This constellation has been seen as a bird through centuries, and the stories are numerous. One of the best known is about the god Zeus, who, disguised as a swan, lured the young maiden Ledu from Sparta.
Andromeda was a beautiful Princess, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, who ruled over Ethiopia in antiquity. Andromeda was to be sacrificed to the sea god Nereus and was chained to a rock by the sea. Nereus sent the sea monster Cetus to fetch her, but she was saved at the last minute by Perseus.
Auriga/the Waggoner. Old legends have it that the Waggoner carried a goat on his back and three kids in his arms. The constellation is also regarded as the cripple Erechteos, who built a wagon that he could drive around in.
Leo/the Lion. The constellations bears great resemblance to a couched lion and also bears resemblance to the world-famous Sphinx in Egypt.
Monoceros/the Unicorn, the fabulous animal from numerous legends. This snow-white wild horse with a horn on its head. It is said that only a young maiden can tame this wild horse.
Delphinus/the Dolphin has always been interpreted as a happy and wet animal. Poseidon married a mermaid because a dolphin advised the mermaid to give her consent to marriage. Poseidon was so pleased that he put the dolphin in the firmament.
Canis Minor/the Little Dog is the playful companion of the Great Dog. There are numerous stories about these two dogs. Actacon, the hunter, had both dogs with him when, secretly, he spied on Artemis, the hunting and woodland goddess, while she bathed in a lake. When Artemis discovered this, she turned Actacon into a deer, which was eaten by the two dogs.
Edward Fuglø
A starry sky is like a picture book. Go outside on a starry winter’s evening and gaze up at the sky. Take your time – and it will be as if the vault of heaven opens up, and you will be transported to another world.
In antiquity, people regarded the firmament as the home of the Gods, and the various constellations have given ideas for different stories and legends depending on where in the world you are.
Astronomy and astrology were one and the same thing, and astrologers saw signs and predicted fateful events by reading the firmament, which they taught people from a religious angle.
Man has gazed at the stars in the sky with wonder and curiosity, and many have wondered about the secretive universe of the firmament. Stories were also attached to other phenomenon in the sky. For example, the northern lights were interpreted by Norsemen as the Valkyries’ shields that flickered when they rode across the firmament after the dead.
Stars are also mentioned in the Bible, and the most famous star of all is the Star of Bethlehem, the guiding star that heralded the birth of Christ.
The hero Perseus, son of Zeus. His greatest heroic deed was to cut off the head of Medusa, one of three sisters, who were all witches. They were so terrifying that people turned to stone just by looking at them.
Ursa Major/the Great Bear is one of the best known constellations. The constellation was originally the tail and back of the Great Bear. The stories are numerous. The Indians say that the Great Bear is seven hunters, in ancient times the British regarded it as King Arthur’s chariot, the Teutons also saw a chariot with three horses and the Romans regarded it as a plough with seven oxen.
Lyra/the Harp. Apollo gave his son Orpheus the harp, and he played it so well that wild animals, trees and plants, why even the mountains, became enchanted.
Sagitta/the Arrow. This constellation has been interpreted by most peoples as an arrow. One owner of the arrow was Apollo, another Hercules and a third, and the best known, owner was Cupid, hence Cupid’s arrow.
Ursa Minor/the Little Bear. Zeus had a son, Arcas, with a mortal woman by the name of Callisto. Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, turned Callisto into a bear. In order to protect her, Zeus turned his son, Arcas, into the Little Bear. Therefore, the bears walk in peace in the firmament.
Equuleus/the Foal is a small constellation. The brightest star was named the Little Horse by the Arabs. Later, the interpretation was that this foal was Celeris, the brother of the winged horse Pegasus.
Orion was, according to Greek mythology, a giant and a great hunter. The constellation shows a hunter with a lion’s skin in his right hand and a stick in his left hand. The well-known Orion’s Belt with three stars in a row can also be seen clearly.
Cassiopeia was the Queen of ancient Egypt. She was known to exaggerate and was chained to her throne for eternity because of her boasting.
Aquarius/the Water Carrier was given its name in Babylonian times. This constellation has several interpretations. One of the best known interpretations compares the Water Carrier to Zeus, who lets the water of life rain down from the sky.
Crater/the Cup. This is the cup that Apollo sent Corvos out to fetch. Corvus was too late and lied that Hydra, the sea serpent, had done him harm. As punishment, they were all put in the firmament.
Canis Major/the Great Dog. The ancient Greeks said that the great dog ran so fast that it beat the fastest fox in the world in a race. To celebrate this, Zeus put the Great Dog in the firmament.
Corvus/the Raven. One day, Apollo sent the raven out to fetch water, but the raven came back too late – it waited for a fig tree to bear fruit. The raven lied about the reason why it had not returned in time, and it was put in the firmament as punishment.
Cancer/the Crayfish was sent out to hurt Hercules when he was fighting against the monster Hydra. The crayfish was destroyed by Hercules’ foot, but Hera, who had sent it, put it in the firmament to show her gratitude.
Cetus/the Whale was said by the ancient Greeks to be the sea monster that swallowed Andromeda. According to later interpretations, Cetus is the whale that swallowed Jonah.
Pegasus/the Winged Horse. When Perseus cut off the head of the witch Medusa, Pegasus flew out of her blood. When Pegasus came to Helicon, his hoofs hit the mountain and the Hippocrene fountain burst forth from the mountain. This fountain has later become a symbol of the inspiration that all poets seek.
Corona Borealis/the Northern Crown has several stories. The Greek story is that Ariadne, the daughter of King Midas of Crete, did not want to marry a mortal man. Her suitor Dionysos paid homage to her by throwing his crown up into the firmament, proving that he was immortal, and they were consequently married.
Scutum/the Shield. Johannes Hevelius invented this constellation in the late 16th Century. He called it Scutum Sobiescianum or Sobieski’s Shield in honour of the Polish King John Sobieski after he had defeated a Turkish invasion in 1683.
Virgo/the Virgin has always been a symbol of fertility. The Romans also regarded her as a symbol of justice. She is often pictured with a wheatear in one hand and a set of scales in the other.
Grus/the Crane did not receive its name until in 1603. The crane was a symbol of astronomy in ancient Egypt. The constellation is small and difficult to find. It looks most of all like a small cross.
Aries/the Ram. Several peoples have called this constellation Aries. According to a Greek legend, two royal children, Phrixus and Helle, were mistreated by their stepmother. The god Hermes sent a ram of golden skin, which was to rescue them carrying them on its back.
Taurus/the Bull. As far back as 5000 years ago, the constellation has been interpreted as a bull. The bull has always been a symbol of strength and fertility. Several of the stories are about men who fought bulls. There are also other stories. For example about the Israelis, who worshipped the golden calf.
Lepus/the Hare. This constellation has been interpreted very differently. In antiquity, it was regarded as Orion’s chair, the Egyptians regarded it as Osiris’ boat and the Romans named it Lepus, because Orion liked to go hare hunting.
Bootes/the Shepherd. The name Bootes comes from the Greek word for shepherd. The shepherd was given a place in the firmament because he invented the plough.
Cygnus/the Swan. This constellation has been seen as a bird through centuries, and the stories are numerous. One of the best known is about the god Zeus, who, disguised as a swan, lured the young maiden Ledu from Sparta.
Andromeda was a beautiful Princess, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, who ruled over Ethiopia in antiquity. Andromeda was to be sacrificed to the sea god Nereus and was chained to a rock by the sea. Nereus sent the sea monster Cetus to fetch her, but she was saved at the last minute by Perseus.
Auriga/the Waggoner. Old legends have it that the Waggoner carried a goat on his back and three kids in his arms. The constellation is also regarded as the cripple Erechteos, who built a wagon that he could drive around in.
Leo/the Lion. The constellations bears great resemblance to a couched lion and also bears resemblance to the world-famous Sphinx in Egypt.
Monoceros/the Unicorn, the fabulous animal from numerous legends. This snow-white wild horse with a horn on its head. It is said that only a young maiden can tame this wild horse.
Delphinus/the Dolphin has always been interpreted as a happy and wet animal. Poseidon married a mermaid because a dolphin advised the mermaid to give her consent to marriage. Poseidon was so pleased that he put the dolphin in the firmament.
Canis Minor/the Little Dog is the playful companion of the Great Dog. There are numerous stories about these two dogs. Actacon, the hunter, had both dogs with him when, secretly, he spied on Artemis, the hunting and woodland goddess, while she bathed in a lake. When Artemis discovered this, she turned Actacon into a deer, which was eaten by the two dogs.
Edward Fuglø
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