Winter Solstice at the Ring of Brodgar, Orkney
© Orkney.com
Orkney and Shetland’s ties with the Vikings go back well over a thousand years, when they were constantly raided by their Norwegian neighbours, who were then being unified under the crown of the legendary king Harald Fairhair (ca. 850 – 932). Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland eventually became officially annexed by the Norwegian Crown, and a jarl (earl) was appointed to rule it on behalf on the king. Thus, was founded the ‘Earldom of Orkney’, which despite its name also covered the Shetland Isles as well as the mainland regions of Caithness and Sutherland.
Peerie Water, Papa Westray, Orkney
© Orkney.com
The line of the first earl, Rognvald Eysteinsson, went on to rule those territories for nearly 400 years, until the 30th earl Jon Haraldsson was murdered in Thurso, in Caithness, in 1231, after which these territories became part of the growing Kingdom of Scotland.
The main original Viking site still standing today is St Magnus Cathedral, the oldest in Scotland, whose construction started in 1137 in the honour of Magnus Erlendsson, the 22nd Earl of Orkney, who had died on the nearby island of Egilsay 20 years prior.
