Sørvágur is a village on the island Vágoy in the Faroe Islands. It is located at the bottom of Sørvágsfjørður, which is a 3-4 km. long fjord or inlet on the west-side of Vágoy. Sørvágur is the biggest village in the municipality of Sørvágs Kommuna, which consits of Sørvágur, Bøur, Gásadal and Mykines.
The name Sørvágur translates to "The Bay of Sør". While the first half of the name makes sense given the fact, that the village is located at a bay, the second half is more mysterious. Legend has it, that the first man to settle at this place, was calle 'Sørli' and hence the village was named in honour of him. Another explanation on the origin of 'Sør' comes from the old-norse 'Seyr' which is a word for sand. Sørvágur has quite a large sandbeach in comparison with other faroese villages and towns, and therefore it was speculated, that the original name of Sørvágur was Seyrvágur, and during the curse of time, Seyrvágur became Sørvágur. During the first half of the 20th century local people in Sørvágur tried to correct this historical injustice and used the name Seyrvágur instead of Sørvágur. However, this trend died out again. One reason may be, that there is no proof in the faroese historical records that justifies the name Seyrvágur.
As of today (2005) nobody has come up with at reasonable explanation to the origin of the name Sørvágur.
Sørvágur is considered to be one of the oldest villages in the Faroe Islands. In 1957 the locals decided to build a new school, and during the preparations to build the schools gymnastic hall they excavated a old viking settlement. Sørvágur - alongside Leirvík, Tjørnuvík and Sandur - is in one of the few places in the Faroe Islands where archeologist have been able to find substantial proof, that these places where built during the first 100-150 years after the Faroese Landnám in 825.
The first fishfactory in the Faroe Islands was built in Sørvágur.
