The monument near Sigmundsgjógv (Sigmundur's cleft) marks the spot where the Viking chieftain Sigmundur Brestisson came ashore around the year 1000, having swum from the island of Skúvoy to escape his enemies. He is said to have swum all the way carrying gold on his person. He had brought Christianity to the Faroe Islands but found no refuge here — the local farmer Torgrímur Illi killed him on this beach.
The story is told in the Færeyinga saga, one of the Icelandic family sagas, and Sigmundur is considered a key figure in Faroese history. The monument is modest — a stone marker by the shore — but the setting, with the dark cliffs of Suðuroy rising behind, has considerable atmosphere.