View source for Læsø

{{Short description|Largest island in Kattegat Bay}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Læsø
| image_name       = Højsande læsø.JPG
| image_caption    = Højsande, Læsø
| image_size       =
| map_image        = Denmark location laeso.svg
| map_caption      = 
| native_name      =
| native_name_link =
| nickname         =
| location         = [[Kattegat]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|57|15|36|N|11|00|00|E|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago      =
| total_islands    =
| major_islands    =
| area_km2         = 101
| highest_mount    =
| elevation_m      =
| country          = Denmark
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[Regions of Denmark|Region]]
| country_admin_divisions           = [[North Jutland Region]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1   = [[List of municipalities of Denmark|Municipality]]
| country_admin_divisions_1         = [[Læsø Municipality]]
| country_largest_city              = [[Byrum, Denmark|Byrum]]
| country_largest_city_population   = 488
| population       = 1,719
| population_as_of = 2025
| density_km2      = 17.5
| ethnic_groups    =
| module           = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Læso
| designation1_date = 2 September 1977
| designation1_number = 149<ref>{{Cite web |title=Læso |website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service |url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/149 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}}
}}
'''Læsø''' ("Isle of [[Ægir|Hlér]]") is the largest island in the [[North Sea]] bay of [[Kattegat]], and is located {{convert|19|km}} off the northeast coast of the [[Jutland Peninsula]], the [[Denmark|Danish]] [[mainland]]. Læsø is also the name of the municipality ([[Danish language|Danish]], ''[[Municipalities of Denmark|kommune]]'') on that island. The island is a location mentioned in several instances in [[Old Norse]] sources detailing [[Norse mythology]].

In a 2010 survey, readers of the Danish newspaper ''[[Kristeligt Dagblad]]'' voted Læsø as Denmark's second most wonderful island, behind only [[Fur (island)|Fur]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-06-24 |title=Her er Danmarks skønneste ø |trans-title=Here is Denmark's Most Beautiful Island |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/content/item/273198 |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=Berlingske.dk |language=da}}</ref>

==Name and Norse mythology==
{{further|Ægir#Hlér, Læsø, Lejre, and Snow}}
The modern [[Danish language|Danish]] form of the island's name, ''læsø'', developed from [[Old Norse]] ''Hlésey'', meaning '[[Hlér]]'s island'.<ref name="HLESEY">McKinnell (2005:110) and Faulkes (1995:59).</ref> [[Hlér]] (Old Norse 'sea'), also known as ''Ægir'' (also Old Norse 'sea'), is a [[jötunn]] and personification of the sea in [[Norse mythology]] whose [[Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán|nine daughters]] personify waves. Similarly, the Danish city of [[Lejre]] may also derive from ''Hlér''.{{Sfn|Simek|1996|p=151}}

In the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' poem ''[[Hárbarðsljóð]]'', the god [[Thor]] comments that it was on Hlésey that he was attacked by (and so fought) "berserk women" or "brides of [[berserker|berserks]]" who had bewitched all of the men on the island. Thor details that, upon beaching his ship, the women battered it, threatened him with iron clubs and chased his servant, [[Þjálfi and Röskva|Þjálfi]]:
<blockquote>
{|
|
:<small>[[Benjamin Thorpe]] translation:</small>
:She-wolves they were, and scarcely women.
:They crushed my ship, which with props I had secured,
:with iron clubs threatened me, and drove away Thiâlfi.
:What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?<ref name=THORPE21>Thorpe (1866:76).</ref>
|
:<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] translation:</small>
:She-wolves they were like, and women little;
:My ship, which well I had trimmed, did they shake;
:With clubs of iron they threatened, and Thjalfi they drove off.
:What, Harbarth, didst thou the while?<ref name=BELLOWS133>Bellows (1923:92).</ref>
|
|}
</blockquote>
These "women" are personified waves and/or [[jötunn|jötnar]]. The island is also a setting in the poems ''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana II]]'' and ''[[Oddrúnargrátr]]'', the saga ''[[Örvar-Odds saga]]'', in two [[skald]]ic [[kenning]]s, and the aforementioned (see etymology section above) ''Prose Edda'' book ''Skáldskaparmál''.<ref name="MCKINELL110">McKinell (2005:110).</ref>

==The Municipality of Læsø==
[[File:Læsø2022OSM.png|thumb|Detailed map of Læsø]]
The municipality is in [[Region Nordjylland]] in northern [[Denmark]]. The municipality, Denmark's least populous, covers Læsø and neighboring small islands for a total area of {{convert|114|km2}}, and has a total population of 1,719 as of 1. January 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_geografi/Danmarks_kommuner/L%C3%A6s%C3%B8_Kommune |title=Læsø Kommune |work=Den store Danske |lang=da |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://m.statbank.dk/TableInfo/BY2?lang=en |title=BY2: Population 1. January by municipalities |work=The Mobile Statbank from [[Statistics Denmark]]}}</ref> The population has been steadily declining, and according to Danmarks Statistik (Statistikbanken.dk) was: 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Historical Population
!Year
!Inhabitants
|-
|2006
|2091
|-
|2007
|2056
|-
|2008
|2003
|-
|2009
|1993
|-
|2010
|1969
|-
|2011
|1949
|-
|2012
|1897
|-
|2013
|1839
|-
|2014
|1808
|-
|2015
|1795
|-
|2016
|1817
|-
|2017
|1793
|}
Its mayor is Karsten Nielsen as of 2021. He is a member of the [[Venstre (Denmark)|Venstre]] [[Politics of Denmark|political party]].

The main town and the site of its municipal council is [[Byrum, Denmark|Byrum]].

Because Læsø is an island and lies in the [[Kattegat]], its neighboring municipality, [[Frederikshavn]] on the Jutland peninsula, is separated by water, the ''Læsø Rende'', from the island municipality.

Ferry service connects [[Frederikshavn]] on the Jutland peninsula to the municipality at the town of [[Vesterø Havn]] while [[Østerby Havn]] is the island's fishing harbour.

Læsø Municipality was not merged with any adjacent municipality under the [[Municipalities of Denmark#Municipality Reform 2007|municipal reform of 2007]], as it agreed to enter into a "municipal cooperation agreement" with [[Frederikshavn Municipality]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=10080 | title=Bekendtgørelse om revision af den kommunale og regionale inddeling og om forpligtende kommunale samarbejder |trans-title=Executive Order on the revision of the municipal and regional division and on binding municipal collaborations |date=2005-06-29}}</ref>

===Municipal council===
Læsø's municipal council consists of 9 members, elected every four years.

Below are the municipal councils elected since the [[Municipalities of Denmark#Municipal Reform 2007|Municipal Reform of 2007]].

{| class="wikitable" 
! rowspan="2"| Election
! colspan="9" | Party
! rowspan="2"| Total<br />seats
! rowspan="2"| Turnout
! rowspan="2"| Elected<br />mayor
|-
|style="background:#B5211D;"|'''[[Social Democrats (Denmark)|{{font color|white|A}}]]'''
|style="background:#00583C;"|'''[[Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|{{font color|white|C}}]]'''
| style="background:#8B8989;" |'''{{tooltip|2=Samarbejdslisten|{{font color|white|D}}}}'''
|style="background:#00505B	;"|'''[[New Right (Denmark)|{{font color|white|D}}]]'''
| style="background:#C9096C;" |'''[[Socialist People's Party (Denmark)|{{font color|white|F}}]]'''
|style="background:#8B8989;"|'''{{tooltip|2=Læsø Borgerliste|{{font color|white|H}}}}'''
|style="background:#8B8989;"|'''{{tooltip|2=Læsø Listen|{{font color|white|L}}}}'''
|style="background:#F4D44D;"|'''[[Danish People's Party|{{font color|white|O}}]]'''
|style="background:#254C85;"|'''[[Venstre (Denmark)|{{font color|white|V}}]]'''
|-
|[[2005 Danish local elections|2005]]
|2
|
| rowspan="2" style="background:#CDC9C9;" |
|
| style="background:#CDC9C9;" |
|2
|2
|style="background:#CDC9C9;" rowspan="2"|
|3
| rowspan="5" |9
|78.5%
|Olav Juul Gaarn Larsen (V)
|-
|[[2009 Danish local elections|2009]]
|2
|
|
|1
|1
|4
|2
|81.8%
|Thomas W. Olsen (L)
|-
|[[2013 Danish local elections|2013]]
|2
|
|1
|
| rowspan="3" style="background:#CDC9C9;" |
|1
|2
|1
|2
|83.7%
|Tobias B. Johansen (L)
|-
|[[2017 Danish local elections|2017]]
|1
|
| rowspan="2" style="background:#CDC9C9;" |
|
| rowspan="2" style="background:#CDC9C9;" |
|2
|2
|4
|82.3%
|Karsten Nielsen (O)
|-
|[[2021 Danish local elections|2021]]
|1
|2
|0
|2
|1
|3
|67.8%
|Tobias Birch Johansen (V)
|-
| colspan="16" |Data from [https://www.kmdvalg.dk/kv/2005/adk.htm Kmdvalg.dk 2005], [https://www.kmdvalg.dk/kv/2009/adk.htm 2009], [https://www.kmdvalg.dk/kv/2013/Default.htm 2013], [https://www.kmdvalg.dk/kv/2017/KMDValgKV.html 2017]. [[DR (broadcaster)|DR]]: [https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/resultater/kommunalvalg/kommune/L%C3%A6s%C3%B8 2021]
|}

==Nature and protections==
Læsø has an outstanding botanical interest. The nature-types on and around Læsø includes open water, extensive [[mudflats]], [[sand banks]], [[heathland]], [[islet]]s and areas of arable land. It houses Denmark's largest tidal [[saltmarsh]] outside the [[Wadden Sea]] but the decline in [[grazing]] animals has led to a gradual vegetational succession. Invasive species are colonizing the site, especially [[Rosa rugosa|Japanese Rose]], and scrub clearance has been implemented to re-establish the former [[pasture]]s open heathland. Seals like the [[Harbor seal]] are breeding around Læsø and the whole area is an internationally important area for wintering, molting and staging [[waterbird]]s. Therefore, a [[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] protection was put into force in 1977 (number 149) and today it encompass 66,548 ha (257 sq. mi.).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-list-anno-denmark/main/ramsar/1-31-218%5E16427_4000_0__ |title=The Annotated Ramsar List: Denmark |work=Ramsar |date=2013-03-08}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222170305/http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-list-anno-denmark/main/ramsar/1-31-218%5E16427_4000_0__ |date=2014-02-22 }}</ref>

[[File:Læsø house.jpg|left|thumb|A particular feature of Læsø is its [[half-timber]]ed houses thatched with [[Zostera|eelgrass]]]]

==Climate, industry, and wildlife==
Together with [[Anholt (Denmark)|Anholt]], Læsø belongs to the Danish "desert belt"; during the summer months there is so little rain that streams and ponds partly dry up.

In the [[Middle Ages]], the island was known for its [[salt]] industry. The ground water can reach over 15 percent salt, and this was naturally concentrated in flat salt meadows during the hot dry summers. The final concentration, carried out in hundreds of salt [[kiln]]s, consumed large amounts of [[wood]]. Eventually the island became deforested, sandstorms buried villages, and salt extraction was banned. Since the end of the 1980s it has been resumed on a small scale as an archaeological experiment and a tourist attraction.

Læsø is home to unique styles of [[Danish traditional music]]. Most of it is not played any more but has been preserved through intense documentation and research in the 1980s and 1990s.

The HVDC powerline [[Kontiskan]] crosses Læsø as overhead line. On Læsø, there is also a 160 metres (525 feet) tall radio relay mast.

[[File:Bee October 2007-1.jpg|upright|thumb|''Apis mellifera mellifera'']]
In 1993 a conservation area was established for the [[Apis mellifera mellifera|''A.&nbsp;m. mellifera'']] nicknamed the Brown Bee of Læsø, where it became illegal according to Danish Law to keep and import any other type of bee other than ''Apis mellifera mellifera'', this was met with protests and a legal battle lasting eight years from other beekeepers of [[Apis mellifera ligustica|''A.&nbsp;m. ligustica'']], [[Apis mellifera carnica|''A.&nbsp;m. carnica'']] and [[Buckfast bee|''Buckfast'']] bees as they did not "want to become a custodian of poor bees", they also stated that ''A.&nbsp;m. mellifera'' was "unproductive" and "not worthy of protection". They lost their case in 2001,<ref>{{cite web |title=Re:&nbsp;Criminal proceedings against Ditlev Bluhme |url=https://www.biicl.org/files/1871_c-67-97.pdf |website=biicl.org |publisher=Court of Justice of the European Communities |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> and negotiations between ''A.&nbsp;m. mellifera'' beekeepers and non-''A.&nbsp;m. mellifera'' beekeepers were concluded in 2004, splitting the island in two between them, ending a "history of sabotage of bees" on the island.<ref>{{cite web |first=Per |last=Kryger |title=SNHBS Annual Meeting - Diversity in European Honey Bees |url=http://www.snhbs.scot/snhbs-annual-meeting/ |website=snhbs.scot |publisher=SNHBS |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> The [[Apis mellifera mellifera|''A.&nbsp;m. mellifera'']] supporters claimed that they had "introduced [[apartheid]] on Læsø for the bees".<ref>{{cite web |first=Per |last=Kryger |title=Diversity in European honey bees - How to conserve it? |url=http://www.snhbs.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/DiversityEuropeanHoneyBeesTalkKinross17thMarch2018-min.pdf |website=snhbs.scot |publisher=SNHBS |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
* [[Gustav S. Christensen]] (1929–2007) an academic mathematician and engineer. 
* [[Mogens Bay Esbensen]]  (born 1930) a prominent Danish born chef and author has lived there since 1992 <ref>{{cite web |url=http://stephendownes.com/?p=72 |title=StephenDownes.com |website=stephendownes.com |access-date=12 April 2018}}</ref> 
* [[Per Kirkeby]] (1938–2018) a Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor owned a house and studio on the island

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Læsø kur - panoramio.jpg|Læsø kur
File:Museumsgården - panoramio.jpg|Museumsgården
File:Læsø - panoramio - L-BBE (1).jpg|Læsø
File:Fannemandsfærgen - panoramio.jpg|Fannemandsfærgen
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Johns Rock]]
* [[List of islands of Denmark]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Bellows, Henry Adams]] (Trans.) (1923). ''The Poetic Edda''. New York: [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]].
* Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''. [[Everyman's Library|Everyman]]. {{ISBN|0-460-87616-3}}
* McKinnell, John (2005). ''Meeting the Other in Norse Myth in Legends''. D.S. Brewer. {{ISBN|1-84384-042-1}}
*{{Cite book|last=Simek|first=Rudolf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZ24QgAACAAJ|title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology|date=1996|publisher=D.S. Brewer|isbn=978-0-85991-513-7|language=en|author-link=Rudolf Simek}}
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. [[Norrœna Society]].
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Læsø}}
{{Commons category|Læsø Kommune}}
* [http://www.laesoe.dk Official website]
* Municipal statistics: [https://web.archive.org/web/20070812152043/http://www2.netborger.dk/Kommunefakta/ NetBorger Kommunefakta], delivered from [http://www.kmd.dk/ KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)]
* Municipal mergers and neighbors: [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011050224/http://kommune.eniro.dk/danmarkskort/ Eniro new municipalities map]

{{Geographic location
 | Centre = Læsø
 | N = ''[[Kattegat]]''
 | E = ''[[Kattegat]]'' / {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Kungsbacka Municipality|Kungsbacka]]
 | S = ''[[Kattegat]]''
 | W = [[Frederikshavn Municipality|Frederikshavn]]
}}
{{Denmark islands}}
{{Municipalities of Denmark}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laeso}}
[[Category:Læsø| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the North Jutland Region]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Denmark]]
[[Category:Islands of Denmark]]
[[Category:Danish islands in Kattegat]]
[[Category:Ramsar sites in Denmark]]