Bente Christine Broberg, known as Beinta Broberg, (1667 - 15 February 1752), is perhaps the best known woman from the history of the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

. She has been the inspiration for novels and a film.

In folklore

In tradition and saga, Beinta is called Illa Beinta (wicked Bente), and is given the blame for the death of her first two spouses and the insanity of the third, as a bad employer for her servants, and as a witch who delt with sorcery

Sorcery

Sorcery may refer to:* Magic * Maleficium * Witchcraft* Sorcery , a video game for the PlayStation 3 utilizing the PlayStation Move* Sorcery , 1995* Sorcery , 1974...

. Contemporary documents describes her only indirectly, and does not confirm how true or false the popular image of her is or how active she was in the events of her life.

Biography

Beinta was born in Tórshavn

Tórshavn

Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...

, the daughter of Peder Sørensen and Birgitte Marie Jensdatter Bøgvad, who belonged to the Danish upper class of officials on the islands. She was married three times: in 1695 to vicar Jónas Jónasen (1660–1700) of Viðareiði

Viðareiði

Viðareiði is the northernmost settlement in the Faroe Islands and lies on the Island of Viðoy, which belongs to the Norðoyar Region. It lies on an isthmus with high mountains to both the north and south....

, 1702 to vicar Niels Gregersen Aagaard (1672 1706) of Miðvágur

Miðvágur

Miðvágur is a village in the Faroe Islands on Vágar. It has been a municipality until 1 January, 2009 when it fused with Sandavágur into Vága kommuna.Located on the south coast of the island of Vágar, Miðvágur is the largest town on this Faroese island...

 in Vágar

Vágar

Vágar is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the large islands. With a size of 178 km² , it ranks number three, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy....

, and 1706 to vicar Peder Ditlevsen Arhboe (1675–1756), of Vágar. Her last spouse was deposed as vicar after conflicts with his parish in 1718. It seems, that he was mentally ill. After this, they lived in poverty in Vágar.

She had one son and three daughters.

In art

• 1927 : Beinta (novel) by Hans Andrias Djurhuus, depicts her as an unhappy woman who contributes to the unfortunes of men without any personal responsibility.
• 1939 : Barbara (novel) by Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen
  Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen
  Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen  occupies a distinct place in Scandinavian literature. He is the only Faroese writer to achieve international best-seller status...
  
  . Here she is depicted as "a child of nature", who lives according to her needs without though of consequenses.
• 1997 : Barbara (film), by Nils Malmros
  Nils Malmros
  Nils Malmros , a Danish film director and screenwriter, is considered a leading auteur of realism in Danish cinema. Malmros is noted for his detailed focus on the common growing pains of adolescence and the loss of innocence, which he draws from his childhood experiences growing up in Århus, Denmark...
  
  .