For the last nine years the inhabitants of Raufarhöfn village (population 200), Northeast Iceland, have celebrated the existence of the Icelandic sheep breed with a special festival program in the autumn, called The Great Ram Day.
Raufarhöfn will celebrate The Great Ram Day for the 10th consecutive year on 1st October. Shearing experts will showcase their skills, butchers will show you how to bone, cut and prepare various types of roasts and steaks of lamb meat and local products will be on sale. In the evening a dance will be held at the village’s hotel.
Raufarhöfn is located on the northeastern tip of the Melrakkaslétta peninsula on the northeast corner of Iceland, just a few kilometers below the Arctic Circle. The climate can be unforgiving and nowhere in Iceland the winter nights are longer and darker. But during the summer months the midnight sun shines the brightest at Raufarhöfn.
Read more: Amazing photographs of sheep being herded through snow covered no-man’s lands in North Iceland
Brought by the settlers, the Vikings
The only type of sheep in Iceland is the native northern European short-tailed sheep brought here by the settlers, the Vikings, 1100–1200 years ago. It is a strong, hardy race, which has been bred, in a very harsh environment. The race was formerly common in Northwestern Europe, but can now only be found in very few areas of the world.
There are almost half a million sheep on the island, outnumbering the human population (330.000) by a good margin.
The Leader-Sheep Exhibit
If you are heading to the area we recommend a pit stop at the farm, Svalbarð, to visit the great Leadership Sheep Exhibit, which is dedicated to the uniquely Icelandic leader sheep. It’s about 31 km (19 mi) drive south of Raufarhöfn, see map below.
New research has determined that the Icelandic sheep breed has some individuals with distinct leadership qualities. Those individuals are called in Icelandic “forystukind, or a leader sheep and get their name from their intelligence and amazing leadership abilities.
A leader sheep will always be in the forefront of its flock and many claim that the leader sheep possess a sixth sense as they have an exceptional sense of direction and can forecast impending bad weather.
Around 1,400 leader sheep are found in Iceland and a new research by Icelandic scientists show that they have different genetic structure to other sheep.
Read more: The Icelandic sheep dog: Small, hardy and happy
A leader sheep can be either male or female and also possesses a number of unique physical characteristics such as longer legs, softer wool, and a more slender body because they have been bred for their intelligence rather than meat.
For the last nine years the inhabitants of Raufarhöfn village (population 200), Northeast Iceland, have celebrated the existence of the Icelandic sheep breed with a special festival program in the autumn, called The Great Ram Day.
Raufarhöfn will celebrate The Great Ram Day for the 10th consecutive year on 1st October. Shearing experts will showcase their skills, butchers will show you how to bone, cut and prepare various types of roasts and steaks of lamb meat and local products will be on sale. In the evening a dance will be held at the village’s hotel.
Raufarhöfn is located on the northeastern tip of the Melrakkaslétta peninsula on the northeast corner of Iceland, just a few kilometers below the Arctic Circle. The climate can be unforgiving and nowhere in Iceland the winter nights are longer and darker. But during the summer months the midnight sun shines the brightest at Raufarhöfn.
Read more: Amazing photographs of sheep being herded through snow covered no-man’s lands in North Iceland
Brought by the settlers, the Vikings
The only type of sheep in Iceland is the native northern European short-tailed sheep brought here by the settlers, the Vikings, 1100–1200 years ago. It is a strong, hardy race, which has been bred, in a very harsh environment. The race was formerly common in Northwestern Europe, but can now only be found in very few areas of the world.
There are almost half a million sheep on the island, outnumbering the human population (330.000) by a good margin.
The Leader-Sheep Exhibit
If you are heading to the area we recommend a pit stop at the farm, Svalbarð, to visit the great Leadership Sheep Exhibit, which is dedicated to the uniquely Icelandic leader sheep. It’s about 31 km (19 mi) drive south of Raufarhöfn, see map below.
New research has determined that the Icelandic sheep breed has some individuals with distinct leadership qualities. Those individuals are called in Icelandic “forystukind, or a leader sheep and get their name from their intelligence and amazing leadership abilities.
A leader sheep will always be in the forefront of its flock and many claim that the leader sheep possess a sixth sense as they have an exceptional sense of direction and can forecast impending bad weather.
Around 1,400 leader sheep are found in Iceland and a new research by Icelandic scientists show that they have different genetic structure to other sheep.
Read more: The Icelandic sheep dog: Small, hardy and happy
A leader sheep can be either male or female and also possesses a number of unique physical characteristics such as longer legs, softer wool, and a more slender body because they have been bred for their intelligence rather than meat.
