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The Orkney and Shetland Islands are the region furthest north of Scotland.

Overview[]

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The 67 Orkney islands are the most fertile of the island archipelagos. These low-lying, windswept islands support crops of barley, oats, and turnips and herds of cattle and sheep. Nowadays, North Sea petroleum dominates the economy of these islands.

The 100 or more isles of the Shetland archipelago are the furthest from the Scottish mainland. The land is low, wet and spongy, and the sea carves the shoreline into strange forms. Many of the islands look like mesas rising from the sea. Shepherds taking their animals to new pastures often have to haul their animals by rope and pulley to the soft tablelands.

The fae of these stormy is lands are dominated by trolls. Fierce and independent, these trolls only give their loyalty to those warriors who can best them in battle. The thanes (knights) and jarls gather together in loose bands to war upon each other, or to sell their services to the fae of the Isle of the Mighty.

Asa is the most powerful troll in the Orkneys and Shetlands. A jarl of immense power, she controls a huge number of troll thanes. King Niall had one of Alba's artificers create a magic longship for her, in payment for the times her warriors have supported the armies of Alba.

Trolls[]

All the faeries of the Shetlands were traditionally identified as trolls. Popular superstition claims that they were ugly, wore gray clothes, were fond of the fiddle, and only came out at night. Trolls and their legends are so popular that they creep into ordinary speech and even place names; Trolla Stack and Trolldale Water, for example. Here are some examples of troll- influenced local terms:

  • Trows — Troll (pi, trowie); dwarf, dwarfie also refers to the same crearures.
  • Trollet — Misshapen.
  • Trollamog — A mischievous person.
  • Trollmolet — 'Troll-mouthed," surly.
  • Trollaplukk — A slow-moving clod.
  • Trowie Knowe — Chambered cairns that dot the Shetlands. These mounds were the homes of the trolls, and it is said that the faeries music can still be heard at night. The most important Trowie Knowe is known by that same name at Northmavine, Shetland.

Sites[]

Dwarfie Stane, Hoy & Gramsay, Orkney[]

The Dwarfie Stane is a huge block of sandstone forming a rough rectangle perhaps 20 feet long, eight feet deep, and six feet high. The inside of the block has been hollowed out. Each end contains a carven stone bed, complete with pillows. A small hole is carved above each stone bed.

Fae legend has it that an ogre king and queen of the Isles were deposed for their barbarity and locked into the stone. Food was dropped through the holes. Eventually they went mad and killed each other. Any troll who can spend a day and a night lying on the bed is supposed to be given the strength of the ogre king and all of his victims.

Haltadans, Fetlar, Shetlands[]

The name haltadans means "the limping dance," the steps of which are still known to the people of the Shetlands. Legend has it that the dance tune was taught to the people by the trolls.

The term also describes a group of low stones with two slightly higher stones in its center. The outer ring of stone represents a group of trolls and the center figures are the troll fiddler and his wife. If someone can play the original version of the haltadans song, the figures will animate.

Ve Skerries, Shetland[]

The Ve Skerries is a group of rocks northwest of the Isle of Papa Stour. It was believed to be the homes of many selkies. There is a tale that one day a ship landed and collected the skins of several seals laying on Ve Skerries. One of the fishermen was left behind when the sea grew rough, and he saw the sea-trows, which had been scared off by the men, return. They explained that without their animal skins they were unable to return to their underwater kingdom. Other seals pealed off their skins and revealed that they were also selkies. One of these, a beautiful selkie named Gioga, offered to take the fisherman home if he promised to get the others' skins back. He agreed, and she bore him on her back to Papa Stour. He and Gioga had many misadventures, but managed to get all the seal skins back .

References[]

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