Qoornoq

Nuukfjorden · Grönland · Abandoned site

In the fishing village forcibly emptied in 1972, qivittut — the restless spirits of the outcast — are said to prowl among the abandoned houses.

Qoornoq sits on an island in the Nuuk fjord and was a living fishing village with a fish-drying plant until 1972, when its residents were forced to move to town under the Danish centralisation programme G60. The houses still stand among the rocks, and the place has become tied to the qivittoq tradition: in Greenlandic folk belief, a person who leaves the community in shame or bitterness and walks into the mountains becomes a qivittoq — a mountain wanderer who loses his humanity, gains supernatural powers and can take on animal form. It is precisely around abandoned settlements and burial grounds that locals say qivittut prowl, and stories of encounters at desolate spots in the fjord are still told in Nuuk today.

FAQ

Where is Qoornoq located?

Qoornoq is in Nuukfjorden, Grönland.