Orkney (The Orkney Islands)

James_H said:
I'll be visiting Orkney in a few weeks, I'll let you know if they've all become Norwegians by then ;)
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So I talked to one of the people behind this story - basically it's a misunderstanding. The council were discussing ways of getting more autonomy for Orkney - perhaps something like crown dependency status a la the Channel islands or Man, but the press somehow turned it into 'Orkney wants to become part of Norway' and ran with it, as is their wont.
 
taras said:
I should provide an update to my 2004 post to say I did go back a second (and third!) time to see the rest of the stuff. Still haven't seen everything though - Tomb of the Eagles and Mine Howe (the one where you get wheeled in on your back, on a trolley) in particular.

Something I didn't mention in my post 19 years ago was a strange, almost out-of-body experience I had at the pier in Stromness on the first night. Possibly just because I was tired from travelling - possibly down to the mental overload of looking out on nothing but a pitch black sea and sky - but it felt like I was leaving my body. Years later I connected with the same feeling in the ethereal music and artwork of Panda Bear's single "Last Night at the Jetty".

There was also a mild coincidence when we went to a community ceilidh there later in the week: when we walked in, the then-rector of the University of Edinburgh (where me and my travelling companions were students at the time) was on the dancefloor!

@eburacum I suspect you could still get a comprehensive tour today if you chanced upon and befriended the right local!
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Tomb of the Eagles has closed down now I think. Plenty of other things to see and do though.

And Stromness we found to have the weirdest atmosphere. My travelling companion and I went there twice (apart from disembarkation). The first time at half past four, for a look around the town, when we just caught the museum about ten minutes before closing. We popped in, to be told by a dour woman that we would have to be quick, they were about to shut (and who still charged us the full entry price, even though we had to whip round very quickly). The second time we were waiting for the ferry to come in, as we were spending the night on board for the early sailing. So we were in Stromness for a couple of hours, from around 6pm to 8. Although it was early May, so full daylight, and presumably there were holiday makers around - the place was completely empty. As deserted as if everyone had moved elsewhere. We went for a walk up along through the town and had a sit on some benches looking out to sea and it all felt very eerie and as though everyone knew something we didn't...
stromness.jpg
 
James_H said:
By coincidence, I just came across mention of a terrifying orcadian water monster, the nuckalavee (cognate with nixie, nøkken, knucker - norse names for a malevolent water spirit with perhaps horselike features.)

Here's a picture (James Torrance, 1859-1916) to give you nightmares.
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By the way, if anyone's visiting this year there's a great article in the Orkney Islander (free annual magazine for tourists) about sea serpents and water monsters in Orkney by Tom Muir of orkneyology.com

catseye said:
Tomb of the Eagles has closed down now I think. Plenty of other things to see and do though.
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Yes, it's a great shame. I do hope they can open again at some point.
It looks like they're digging up something really amazing at the Knowe of Swandro on Rousay, and the archeologists will show you around for free if you just turn up.

I'm in Orkney now but kind of stuck on a little island so I won't have the opportunity to look around the mainland or other islands this time unfortunately, but I would love to see the dig there.
 
James_H said:
By the way, if anyone's visiting this year there's a great article in the Orkney Islander (free annual magazine for tourists) about sea serpents and water monsters in Orkney by Tom Muir of orkneyology.com



Yes, it's a great shame. I do hope they can open again at some point.
It looks like they're digging up something really amazing at the Knowe of Swandro on Rousay, and the archeologists will show you around for free if you just turn up.

I'm in Orkney now but kind of stuck on a little island so I won't have the opportunity to look around the mainland or other islands this time unfortunately, but I would love to see the dig there.
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When I was there we stuck to Mainland - there was plenty for us to see and do there. I think it's often a problem for people visiting - that they don't realise that so many of the noteable sites are spread over ALL of the archipelago, and you can lose a lot of time in simply travelling or arranging travel to the various other islands.
 
I really enjoyed visiting the Kirbuster Farm museum and Scapa Flow museum... both off the beaten tourist trail.
 
When I was there we were only visiting for three days, so did all the Big Tourist Sites. But as it was early May and no cruise ships were in, most places, even the most touristy like Scara Brae, were quite empty. Also went to the Italian Chapel which I wasn't really interested in but we were passing - and was absolutely blown away. MUCH more than I'd thought it would be, and very interesting and touching stories involved.
 
I was in Orkney over the past couple of weeks and heard this story from an older person who'd heard it from an older still person who had witnessed the phenomenon; during World War II there was a night with very prominent northern lights which were orange in colour (rather than the usual pink and green) and it left people feeling unsettled, as if it were an omen or a sign of something bad about to happen.
 
James_H said:
Interestingly, an older custom practiced in Orkney was of 'trial marriages', i.e. a young couple could get unofficially 'married' for a year and a day. This marriage would be of the handfasting type. Here's something about trial marriages in mediaeval scotland.
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I don't know how I missed this thread.

I went to a pagan wedding a few years back (did I get drunk or what!!!) and that was a trial marriage for a year and a day. What a great day that was. In the middle of a forest.

My point is that that custom in Orkney is the same as the pagan trial marriage. I think that is no coincidence.
 
James_H said:
I was in Orkney over the past couple of weeks and heard this story from an older person who'd heard it from an older still person who had witnessed the phenomenon; during World War II there was a night with very prominent northern lights which were orange in colour (rather than the usual pink and green) and it left people feeling unsettled, as if it were an omen or a sign of something bad about to happen.
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I've friends in Orkney who, over the years, I've stayed with maybe 10 or 12 or more or less times, anyway, a lot of times. It is a very strange place full of, and I don't know how to describe it accurately, mood, feeling, atmosphere, impending doom, joy, something. Everyday seems to have it's own aura.

My friends, an older husband and wife who've lived there for donkeys years, say a person gets used to it.
 
kesavaross said:
I don't know how I missed this thread.

I went to a pagan wedding a few years back (did I get drunk or what!!!) and that was a trial marriage for a year and a day. What a great day that was. In the middle of a forest.

My point is that that custom in Orkney is the same as the pagan trial marriage. I think that is no coincidence.
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How does this work if a baby results? Particularly if, after the 'year and a day' the woman is either pregnant or has a very small baby but they have decided that the 'trial marriage' hasn't worked? Does the male half still get to see his child and is he made to pay for any children that might result?
 
catseye said:
How does this work if a baby results? Particularly if, after the 'year and a day' the woman is either pregnant or has a very small baby but they have decided that the 'trial marriage' hasn't worked? Does the male half still get to see his child and is he made to pay for any children that might result?
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Surely the baby is sacrificed at an eldritch altar to some cyclopean god?

Just kidding about, I've known a few pagans.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Surely the baby is sacrificed at an eldritch altar to some cyclopean god?

Just kidding about, I've known a few pagans.
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It's just a question which puzzles me. Rather like people who live in polygamous or other non-monogamous relationships (which I don't have a problem with either) - I wonder about the practical stuff involving the children.
 
catseye said:
It's just a question which puzzles me. Rather like people who live in polygamous or other non-monogamous relationships (which I don't have a problem with either) - I wonder about the practical stuff involving the children.
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It's a good question.
 
catseye said:
How does this work if a baby results? Particularly if, after the 'year and a day' the woman is either pregnant or has a very small baby but they have decided that the 'trial marriage' hasn't worked? Does the male half still get to see his child and is he made to pay for any children that might result?
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I expect that if a baby was not produced or on the way after a year and a day, then that was the main, if not the only reason for the trial wedding coming to an end. Remember that children out of wedlock were frowned upon but that being able to produce children back in the olden days was a lot more important that it is now. Apparently in the North East of Scotland, it was quite common for weddings to be officiated quickly and for a child to arrive mysteriously soon after that. A trial "marriage" is perhaps a more genteel way to end up with the same result.
 
Min Bannister said:
I expect that if a baby was not produced or on the way after a year and a day, then that was the main, if not the only reason for the trial wedding coming to an end. Remember that children out of wedlock were frowned upon but that being able to produce children back in the olden days was a lot more important that it is now. Apparently in the North East of Scotland, it was quite common for weddings to be officiated quickly and for a child to arrive mysteriously soon after that. A trial "marriage" is perhaps a more genteel way to end up with the same result.
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Well perhaps, but my real question is - what happens to the child if the trial marriage is called off? I know illegitimate children were a 'thing' and marriage was often claimed but didn't really happen etc, but I'm really querying the whole ethos of the 'trial marriage'. If it ends, but a child has resulted (or even a pregnancy), is the woman then left to raise the child on her own? Can she claim any support from the father? After all, it was a sanctioned union, even if only a trial, and divorce wasn't a thing (although I am also aware that a lot of men ran off, leaving families to be supported by the community), so what happened to the children?
 
Went back last year to see the excavations at the Ness of Brodgar before they covered them over for the foreseeable future. Very interesting; neolithic stone houses, some with plumbing, and lots of animal bones spread around as if for a feast. The gigantic cows (aurochs) they had in those days, red deer, sheep - all of which were taken to the islands by boat when the humans first arrived, because Orkney was free of large mammals after the ice age.

Even the Orkney vole, which originated in Belgium, and might have been some kind of pet.
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/
 
We missed the Brodgar excavation (we went too early in the year) but we walked past the site, It's fascinating - in use for over a thousand years! My friend and I parked by the Ring of Brodgar and walked down over the Ness to the Stones of Stenness in a howling gale and sideways rain. It was incredibly atmospheric. More evocative than walking on a lovely sunny day amid the crowds and coach trips, because everywhere was deserted!
Brodgar.jpg
 
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