Mystery of the ‘world’s loneliest lighthouse’ with its links to James Bond and a dark legend of revenge
PERCHED under a hill on a remote island facing the Atlantic, the lighthouse on the island of Kalsoy can lay claim to be the loneliest in the world.
Not only does it have a dramatic location but it’s also featured in the latest James Bond film ‘No Time to Die’ – and it has a past that’s shrouded in the mystery of the Seal Woman.
Kalsoy is one of the Faroe Islands, a rocky archipelago 200 miles north of Scotland that is officially a self-governing part of Denmark.
There are 779 islands in total with 18 main ones and the human population of 48,000 lives alongside 80,000 sheep.
Kalsoy is a long, thin island nicknamed ‘The Flute’ by locals, of whom there are around 100, with a picture postcard lighthouse painted with a distinctive red strip,
It played the part of Poison Island in ‘No Time to Die’ and has been dubbed the ‘most remote Bond location ever’ – by the Faroe Island’s Tourist Board.
With no bridges or tunnels connecting it to other islands Kalsoy is one of the Faroes’ smallest and most isolated isles – making it a perfect for a Bond villain’s lair.
The fictional island is in disputed territory somewhere between Russia and Japan and is the base of villain Lyutsifer Safin, played by Rami Malek.The island served as his primary base of operations following his destruction of SPECTRE and used to manufacture his virus like nanoweapon Heracles.
Bond infiltrates the island and manages to get it bombarded by the Royal Navy, ending Safin’s evil plans.
But he is infected with Heracles in a final confrontation with the villain, and sacrificed his life rather than put lover Dr Madeleine Swan and their child at risk from the targeted virus.
None of the actors in the film were actually on the island during the making of the film as it was deemed logistically too hard to get the full crew there but it but served as a CGI backdrop.
Local man Johannus Kallsgard – known as the King of Kelsoy – was given a credit as location co-ordinator and now gives tours or the islands.
As well as playing host to James Bond, the island is also home to the legend of the seal woman.
In the village of Mikladalur is a beautiful statute of Kópakonan, the Seal Woman - also known as a Selkie - the Faroe Islands version of a mermaid.
According to local legend, seals were believed to be former human beings who voluntarily sought death in the ocean.
The centuries-old legend is that she was kidnapped by a local fisherman, enduring heartbreak but later taking revenge on the local community.
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