THE VIKING HIGHLANDS
The legacy of the Norse in Highland Scotland
VIKINGS AND NORSEMEN
All around the north and west of Britain lie myriad isles, green and gentle with marble-white beaches or bare and barren with wild rocky shores; or again great rocky outcrops, mountains thrusting to the heavens; or tiny specks of seaweed-girt stone barely breaking the waves. For generations these isles have been home to farmers and fishermen, to hard-working women and children. Among these people, centuries ago as today, walked the men of God, Christian fathers, monks from the many monasteries and cells. These islands, northern and western, were home to Saint Columcille (Columba), Donan, Maelrubha, Adamnan and others of their ilk. Home too to the Dalriadic Scots, from Ireland and from Argyll; to Picts from the heartland of Caledonia and to the shadowy folk of the Northern Isles and the north-west. For generations they had built their homes, raised beasts and crops and children, praised their God and gods and followed their chiefs, troubled when trouble came by their own, their neighbours across hill and loch and firth.
In 793 the monks of another gentle island far to the south suffered devastation, ‘a bolt from the blue‘. Pirates came, seeking fame and fortune in their unique and violent manner. It was the once quiet shores of Lindisfarne that saw the first recorded raid, in that year of 793, by Vikings!
“…on the sixth day before the ides of January…the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Lindisfarne, by rapine and slaughter.” (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - 793).
As dire an event as this was news of it cannot have spread to the folk of the northern and western isles very quickly and when it did it was only the tales of far away lands, not something to trouble them surely? Not so! This first recorded viking raid was a portent, the first of many to come and before the northern islanders could have heard of this great event in Lindisfarne they witnessed first hand the same terrors when in the following year, 794, more raiding occurred, recorded by annalists living probably in the very midst of the raiding. They recorded simply: -
“the devastation of all the islands of Britain by gentiles.” (Annals of Ulster – 794).
These early raids were quickly followed by settlement as men, women and children from Scandinavia and perhaps from the Northern Isles too settled the Highland shores, glens and isles. Settlements grew and the 'incomers' became a part of the make-up of the Highlands and Islands. Territories formed, small chieftainships and then small kingdoms. In the north the Jarldom of Orkney gradually spread its influence and rule from Shetland to Ross-shire and down the western seaboard to Islay. Sometimes in competition another Norse realm grew, the Kingdom of Man and the Isles, stretching at its height from the Isle of Man in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north and taking in the western shores of the mainland too. For almost five-hundred years the Norse settlers and their descendents lived in and ran and ruled these lands, mingling with the Gaels and Picts and Britons. Old Norse became a native language and settlements across the north and west bear testament to this history in their names. Of coursse the Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney are almost entirely Norse in their place-names but across the Highlands too from Thurso to Brodick and from Dingwall to Stornaway the Old Norse can be seen.
Eventually the Kingdom of the Scots, with its heartland in Perthsire and Fife and Lothian spread its political wings across the north and west. The Clyde Islands fell away from their Norse-Gaelic masters, then Ross-shire, Argyll, Sutherland, Skye and the Small Isles, even Caithness fell under the rule of the Scottish kings. By the end of the thirteenth century even the western isles lay under Scottish rule although this was always more of a theory than a fact for the powerful Lords of the Isles continued to rule under Scots overlordship much as they had under Norwegian, that is to say with little regard to their overlords, but eventually Scots pressure, diplomacy, military force and the odd murder brought these Lords under some degree of Scottish control. Only Orkney and Shetland remained outside the Scottish kingdom, ruled under Norwegian and then Danish-Norwegian sovereignty although the Jarls (Earls) were Scotsmen. Then in the late 1460s these isles too fell, pledged to the Scottish king in lieu of a wedding dowry unpaid by the Danish king.
LEGACY - PEOPLE
By the late 1400s the very last vestiges of independent Norse and Norwegian political control and rule ended in the Highlands and Islands. The Kingdom of Man and the Isles was gone, so too the Jarldom of Orkney. The coasts no longer saw Vikings, nor fleets of longships intent on plunder or conquest and the rule of Scots law and Scots royalty extended to the furthest outposts of Shetland and west to St Kilda. The Norse Age was done.
Yet despite the ending of the Norse era the Highlands abound in the memories, heritage and legacies of these folk. Many a Highlander carries Norse blood, particularly in Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Argyll and Bute and the Hebrides, and perhaps small traces can be found too in Inverness-shire, Nairn, Moray and Aberdeenshire. Personal names reflect this as do surnames, clan names, place-names and many fine physical remains. The reason for this legacy is, of course, that even though Norse political control ended, the people remained. There was no exodus to Norway, no flight of ‘vikings’ back to their homes. How could there be? The Norse of Caithness, of Sutherland, Argyll, the Hebrides, of Ross, were as native to those lands as the Celts, as the Scots or Picts, indeed many were as genetically Celtic as they were Norse.
In Orkney and Shetland today there are a great number of Norse surnames and not a few Norse forenames too. We could find easily Rendalls, Dearnesses, Cursiters and so forth. In the Highlands surnames show Norse origins too. From the north-east comes the name Croll, originally naming a curly-headed person, whilst Hyslop or Hislop comes from a place name meaning ‘hazel hollow’! The Black Isle name Holm or Holme derives from the Norse word for either a small island or a grassy slope, whilst Flett was once fljot and is found in Caithness as well as the Northern Isles. Another Caithness name is Henderson, a common enough name, but here naming a branch of the Norse-origined clan Gunn. A name with an obvious meaning and equally obvious Norse origin is Kirkness whilst the well-known Scots, seemingly Gaelic, name of MacAskill has, as its second part, the Old Norse personal name Askell or Asketill. The famous Skye family of hereditary pipers, the MacCrimmons, immortalized in ‘MacCrimmon’s lament’ seem to bear another classically Gaelic name but once again the second portion of the name derives from a Norse personal name, in this case Hromund. A more obviously Norse ‘mac’ name is MacIvor, or MacIvar, an Argyllshire name. Cowal’s MacLaughlin or MacLachlan is a Gaelic name but means the ‘son of the stranger, or foreigner’, i.e. Norseman. The Nairnshire name Main is thought by some to derive from the forename Magnus, itself still popular in these parts. Manson is another familiar name, spread across the world by emigrants and it too derives from the name Magnus, being an abridgement of Magnusson. The Mansons, like the Hendersons, were a sept of the Clan Gunn. The surnames Neil, Neill and Neilson may have a Norse origin, possibly deriving from the forename Njall, but as Njall itself derives from the Celtic Niall this name could be Gaelic. The northern Norries, or Nories, derive their name from the word ‘Norge’, meaning simply ‘Norway’ whilst Polsson, also from the north, comes from ‘son of Pol’, the Norse form of Paul, as borne by the Orkney Jarl Paul Thorfinsson. Ronaldsons clearly were once the ‘sons of Rognvald’ and Swans and Swansons both derive their names from ‘Sveinn’. Archibald Thorburn the brilliant and famous artist bore an equally Norse name, deriving from Thorbjorn quite clearly.
All these names may imply a Norse ancestor in ones blood line although surnames deriving from Norse place-names do not automatically infer Norse blood, although in areas of strong Norse settlement this is often, even usually, the case.
Among those most Celtic of folk, the Highland clans, we find Norse blood too. Most famously the MacLeods claim descent from Leod Olafsson, son of the King of Man and the Isles and the Gunns of southern Caithness descend from Leod’s brother, Gunni or Gunnar. The ancient clan Andreas of Ross-shire claimed descent from a third son of Olaf of Man and the MacDonalds (with the MacDonnells) and MacDougals descend from the half-Norse Somerled. Other clans bear names that display Norse origins such as the Cowal Lamonts (pronounced lam-ont not la-mont), a name that was once Lagmann, ‘Lawmann’. Both the Dunbartonshire MacAuleys and the Lewis MacAuleys were once the ‘sons of Olaf’ and the old Argyllshire MacCorquodales were the ‘sons of Thorketill’! The Morrisons more likely owe their name to the Celtic Moiris than the legendary Norwegian Mores, said to have been an illegitimate son of the King of Norway but the additions of the Norse suffix ‘’-son’ demonstrates a genuine Norse influence. The MacQueens of the west coast also claim descent from a Norseman named Sveinn, although the Celtic name Suibne is very similar and may account for the name. Matheson is another name of mixed origin with again a Celtic forepart and a Norse suffix ‘-son’. The clan Sutherland bear a Norse name of course but as it derives from the district and as the lords of Sutherland were Scots latecomers in so far as the Norse era goes they cannot be said to be a Norse clan although the general population of the district certainly bore considerable Norse blood, as do those of the clans Sinclair, Oliphant, MacKay, MacKenzie, Ross, Munro, MacKinnon, MacNeil, MacFie, MacLean and Campbell.
LEGACY - PLACES.
As prevalent as Norse personal and surnames are they cannot any longer be taken to indicate Norse settlement where they are found, such has been the dispersal of people over the recent centuries. However there is no more obvious indicator of the extent of the Norse Highlands than the distribution of place-names.
The heaviest area of Norse settlement outside the Northern Isles was Caithness and indeed in that area Norse settlements occupied almost all of the habitable areas, with most, but not all, settlements bearing Norse names and even a cursory glance at a road atlas shows that of one-hundred and eighty modern settlement names in a particular map over eighty percent are Norse in origin.
As we travel southwards we find that in Sutherland too Norse settlements were once to be found in almost all the habitable lands, although their density was much less. Here settlement follows the straths and dales inland from a coastal strip with an additional, more densely populated, area in the south-east about Dornoch and along the northern coast of the Dornoch Firth where such names as Golspie, Skelbo, Embo, Skibo and Migdale carry memories of Norse settlement.
Moving across the Dornoch Firth into Ross-shire we find first of all that the Norse settlement became more patchy and did not spread across all habitable land. Tarbat Ness, the southern shore of the Dornoch Firth inland by Strath Oykel and Strath Carron, and the lands about the headwaters of the Cromarty Firth are the principal areas of Norse settlement, echoing the distribution of resources, timber among the straths, communications and government about the Cromarty and farmlands on Tarbat Ness. Here are to be found such Norse or part-Norse names as Bindal, Arboll, Cadboll, Shandwick, Soyal, Gruinards and Dingwall. Further scattered settlements mark the southern limits of Norse settlement about the modern Ross-Inverness-shire border and include Tarradale, Scatwell and Eskadale.
Returning to the north coast we can see that Norse settlement again spread across the habitable lands from Caithness to Cape Wrath and likewise along the west coast, although pre-Norse settlement likely survived into and through Norse times. This western coast would therefore have been a thoroughly mixed Celto-Norse area. Historians have commented on the low number of Norse settlements recorded in place-names along the west coast in comparison to areas such as Caithness, using this to suggest that Norse culture and control in those areas was slight. In fact all settlement was, and is, light in the west, due to climate and geography. Norse place-name examples here include Melvich, Tongue, Durness, Laxford Bridge, Ullapool, Shieldaig and Arisaig.
Southwards into Argyll the Norse settlement does become patchy compared to previous and subsequent settlement and here the light nature of Norse settlement is more properly noted. That said certain areas were clearly home to somewhat more concentrated Norse settlement, namely the coastlands about Ardnamurchan and the eastern coast of Kintyre. Examples include Resipole, Sanna, Skipness and Saddell.
In the Hebrides Norse settlement concentrated almost entirely along the coasts whereas pre-Norse settlement had reached inland also. In Lewis and Harris all the coastal settlement areas contain a heavy concentration of Norse place-names, although not as heavy as Caithness, and the modern settlements of Eoropaidh, Stornoway, Callanish and Seilebost, among others, owe their names to the Norse. In the Uists this Norse settlement is lighter but still considerable with examples including Malacleit, Gramsdal and Lochboisdale. In Skye Norse settlement spread through all the habitable districts with a considerable but not heavy density. Norse place-names include Staffin, Uig, Skeabost, Talisker, Broadford and Armadale. The Small Isles were always more lightly inhabited due to their rugged geography and Norse settlement here is light too, although Rum plays host to Harris, an administrative place-name. The isles of Coll and Tiree show contrasting patterns with Coll playing host to a considerably lighter Norse settlement than Tiree where approximately fifty percent of place-names are Norse. The Isle of Mull shows Norse place-names in almost all the habitable areas although not in such density, although the regions of Mishnish, Quinish, Mornish, Treshnish and Fishnish all bear Norse elements in their names, as do Dervaig, Eorabus, Carsaig and Torosay. Indeed the name Mull is itself Norse. Islay and Jura both contain Norse settlements with Jura, due to its rugged terrain, having many fewer than the more fertile Islay which boasts Port Askaig, Gruinart, Ballinaby, Conisby, Lyrabus, Nerabus and Glenegedale among others. Of the southern Hebrides Islay bears the heaviest Norse settlement, reflecting its importance in that region.
Finally the Clyde Isles show Norse settlement with Arran containing the greater number of Norse place-names, although none of these islands can be said to have played host to a considerable Norse population. Examples here include Brodick on Arran and Rothesay on Bute.
Within the interior of the Highlands south of Ross Norse settlement is almost entirely absent with only Loch Shiel definitely and Loch Awe possibly encouraging Norse settlement away from the coast with Glenaladale and Scamodale being examples. An isolated Norse place-name, however, occurs east of Loch Quich where Coire Mhorgill contains the Norse element ‘gil’, meaning ravine. This name is, however, no evidence of actual settlement, being a topographical name only. Further north we find a gradually increasing number of inland Norse place-names with Loch Maree, Strath Oykel and Loch Shin providing suitable settlement ‘corridors’. On Loch Maree can be found Slattadale and Talladale, again topographical names but attached to settlements. On Shin, itself a Norse name meaning ‘shining’, is the important Colaboll, derived from a Norse name ‘Kulabolstadr’, the ‘knoll-farm’. This name, like the nearby Torroble, shows actual settlement. Shinness, Overscaig and Arscaig are other modern settlements bearing Norse names by Shin. Of course here the heavier Norse settlement about the Dornoch Firth is but a few miles to the south-east along an easily travelled strath and waterway. South of Shin Strath Oykel contains a scattering of Norse names, Langwell, Cassley, Glenrossal, Carbisdale and, most interestingly, Linsidemore. Of course the ‘glen’ in Glenrosssal and the ‘more’ in Linsidemore are Gaelic elements but these names are otherwise Norse and Linsidemore again proves actual settlement for the element ‘side’ is derived from ‘saetr’, meaning farm.
North of Shin Norse settlement remains light inland but does occur more or less wherever there was suitable land with known settlement in Helmsdale, noted in the Orkneyinga Saga and Norse place-names present in Strath Brora, at Langwell; Backies above Golspie; Mudale west of Loch Naver and Syre, Skail and Rhifail further along the strath. East again Strath Halladale not only bears a partially Norse name itself but within are found a scattering of Norse names, all topographical.
Norse place-names are readily divided into these two categories. Topographical names include such elements as ‘dale’ from ‘dalr’ meaning valley of course; ‘ness’ from ‘nes’ meaning headland; ‘-way’ from ‘vagr’ meaning bay; ‘-ey’, ‘-ay’ or ‘–a’ from ‘ey’ meaning island and ‘wick’, ‘uig’, ‘-aig’ from ‘vik’ meaning inlet. Well known examples of topographical names include Mull, from ‘Myl’ meaning headland; Dun Caan on Raasay, from the Gaelic ‘Dun’ and the Norse ‘kann’ meaning fort of the can-shaped hill; and Clisham on Harris, from ‘klifshammar’ meaning cliffs-outcrop or ‘klifsheim’ meaning cliffs-home.
Topographical names do not prove settlement of course, they can simply be names given in passing. However studies of sagas show that a great many settlements were indeed simply named for a significant landscape feature and many of those topographical names were and still are attached to settlements, one example being Helmsdale, Hjalmund's dale, named in the Orkneyinga Saga as a settlement, albeit one up the dale.
The second type of place-name is the actual settlement name, those containing elements that specifically refer to habitation, such as the various ‘-bols’, ‘-pols’ and ‘-pools’ (e.g. Arbol, Crossapol, Ullapool) that all derive from the Old Norse ‘bolstadr’, meaning farm. ‘-stad’ and ‘-sta’ (e.g. Monkstadt, Shulista), derive from the simpler ‘stadr’ and likewise ‘-shaders’, ‘-sters’. ‘-sides’ etc (e.g. Grimshader, Lybster, Sandside) derive from the farm name ‘saetr’. Names ending in ‘-by’, ‘-pie’, (e.g. Conisby, Eoropie) indicate primary farm sites rendered in Norse ‘bu’ or ‘bae’. These and other place-names containing such elements prove that at one time Norse speakers lived in those spots. There are a great number of these place-names in Caithness, thirteen in Sutherland and dozens in the Hebrides. Beyond these principal Norse regions, however, it is possible to list most of the others here, for there are so few. Ullapool possibly from Olrbolstadr, meaning ‘alder farm’ in Wester Ross; Arnipol near Arisaig, from either Arni’s bolstadr or Aerne bolstadr, the former meaning the farm of Arni (a personal name), the latter ‘eagle farm’; Resipole in Sunart, from Hryssabolstadr meaning ‘mare farm’; and Cullipool on Luinga, from Kulabolstadr meaning farm of the knob, or ball-shaped hill. Clearly these four place-names cannot represent the entire Norse settlement of the western Highlands and among the hundred-plus other Norse topographical place-names there must be many an old settlement.
There is another group of place-names that might indicate settlement, those ending in ‘-ary/’-ery’, naming temporary encampments, ‘shielings’. This element actually derives from the Old Norse ‘aergi’ from the Gaelic ‘airigh’ and the presence of such name elements indicates the use, by Norse speakers of temporary summer pastoral encampments. These were certainly settlements but obviously not permanent ones. However their presence does indicate a permanent settlement somewhere in the district from which the herders, cattle-owners etc came, for the stock that grazed about these summer dwellings had to be driven there from winter quarters within droving distances. Such place-names can be found in Caithness’s interior at Dorrery, once Thorrirsaergi; Obisary in North Uist, formerly Hopsaergi, meaning the ‘shieling of the inlet, Eysary on Barra, formerly Eyarsaergi meaning ‘shieling of the isles’ or Eyrarsaergi, meaning ‘shieling of the gravel beach’; and Smirisary in Miodart, once Smidsaergi meaning ‘smiths shieling’ or Smjorsaergi meaning ‘butter shieling’. Dorrery lies close to several certain Norse settlements whilst close to Obisary is Sidinish, i.e. Saetrnes or ‘farm headland’. There is no obvious farm-name settlement on Barra but it is possible that settlers from nearby South Uist used this site whilst Smirisary in Miodart stands within a few miles of Arnipol. Any other ‘aergi’ names could likewise be seen to indicate nearby Norse settlement.
There is another place-name element that deserves mention, that of ‘-scaig’, deriving from the Old Norse ‘skiki’, meaning a strip of land. Examples include (Loch) Sionascaig, from Sjonarskiki, the ‘observation strip’; (Loch) Osgaig from Osskiki, the ‘outlet strip’, both in the far north-west; Finiskaig from Finns skiki ‘Finn’s strip’; and Cowal’s Asgog, from A- skiki, ‘river strip’. Clearly a ‘strip of land’ is a topographical element but does this element name arable land and therefore hint at a nearby setllement ?
Likewise we might look to such place names as Shieldaig for settlement evidence for Shieldaig was ‘sildvik’ and meant ‘herring bay’. Clearly Norse speaking fishermen may have simply boated into the bay to fish from settlements elsewhere but it is quite likely that where such natural bounties were readily available Norse speakers would settle to take advantage. Similar sites include (Loch) Laxford, from Laxfjord, the ‘salmon-firth’; the other Shieldaig near Gairloch and Shiltenish from sildrnes, the ‘herring headland’ in Lewis. Other place-names showing regular usage by Norse speakers, and that again may indicate settlement close by, include Farrmheall perhaps from Fjarfjall, ‘sheep fell’ in Sutherland; Tanera from Hofnarey, ‘harbour isle’, in Wester Ross; Scalpaidh from skalpa, meaning ‘ship river’, in Lochalsh; Cuaig in Applecross, from Kuavik meaning ‘cow bay’; Stornoway, from Stjornavagr, ‘steerage bay’; Scaladale from Skalidal, ‘shielings dale’ in Harris; Scolpaig, Skalpvik, which means ‘ship bay’ in North Uist and elsewhere and Rossel, Russel, Rassal, all from Hrossvollr meaning ‘horse field’.
There are also certain ‘special’ names, already encountered in this study, that illustrate Norse government of the land and therefore show settlement, the most obvious example is Dingwall from Thingvollr in Ross-shire, where there was obviously sufficient local Norse settlement to warrant a ‘Thing’. Other administrative names such as ‘Harris’ from ‘herad’ and Lyth from ‘lyde’ are to be found. Then there are those topographical names that also have a personal name attached to them. Clearly such sites are named for a person and in Iceland such place names are often named for the first settler, in the Highlands the first Norse settler. Such names include Torrisdale in Kintyre, named for Thorrir; Alsaig in Islay, i.e. Alis vik, ‘Ali’s bay’; Gunna by Coll, that is Gunnarey, ‘Gunnar’s isle’; the many Berneras and Bernerays, from Bjornarsay, meaning ‘Bjorn’s isle’; Callanish in Lewis was Kalisnes, ‘Kali’s headland’; and Auckengill in Caithness, was Haakon’s gil, ‘Haakon’s ravine’.
Finally there are those settlements mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga that can be related to modern-day settlements, amongst such are the towns of Wick from Vik, ‘inlet; and Thurso, from Thorsa, ‘thorr’s river’; and the villages of Halkirk, Ha-kirkju, the ‘high church’; and Duncansby from Dungadsbae, ‘Duncan’s farm/manor’ and a settlement somewhere in Helmsdale, Hjalmundsdal, ‘Hjalmund’s dale’.
The huge number of Norse topographical names demonstrates just where across the Highlands and Islands the Norse journeyed whilst the more important settlement names, and those others that may indicate settlement, serve, obviously, to illustrate the extent of Norse settlement, a settlement often supported by archaeological evidence, more of which presently.
LEGACY - ARTEFACTS.
We have seen the legacy of the Norse in the names we bear to this day and in the place-names of the Highlands and Islands, a legacy of place and person. What, however, of those objects, those personal belongings, dwellings and artefacts of the Norse themselves? What of these survive?
The answer to this question lies in the hard-work of archaeologists, the specialists who have literally unearthed the Norse past. There are indeed a considerable amount of artefacts found and yet these come from a small number of sites and represent the tiniest fraction of the everyday life of the Norse in our Highlands and Islands.
Archaeology is far from a personal specialisation and I make no claims to archaeological knowledge other than that gleaned from the writings and reports of others. Nor is this study an archaeological one, therefore I present only a brief summary of the marvellous treasure dug from our Norse past.
If we make an imagined tour of the Highlands in search of Norse archaeology we must start in the far north in Caithness, where a wealth of finds have been made. The best known discovery is that of Freswick Links north of Wick where Njall’s Saga informs us Jarl Sigurd of Orkney held lands, governed by a steward. Here at Freswick was found evidence of ancient settlement, dating back to the stone ages and continuing into the modern day. Among the remains were Norse dwellings and a smithy, as well as possible evidence of cultivation.
Elsewhere in Caithness we find at Raey on the north coast Norse burials, probably a part of an old cemetery, among them the tenth century burial of a Norse woman complete with brooches, a pin, buckle, spindle whorl and an iron horse bit. A male Norse burial contained an axe, shield boss, knife and sickle as well as other objects. Nearby were found the remains of circular structures alongside which were many horse bones, perhaps some enclosure involved in the rearing, training or selling of stock.
A little further east, by the ruins of the Bishop’s Castle at Scrabster, remains of what was seemingly an ironworks have been noted whilst at Haimer by Thurso a Norse sword was found. Dunnet is a village bearing a pre-Norse name, in part at least, but was clearly home to Norsemen too for silver armlets of that era were found there in 1872. Furthermore human remains have been found as well as arable land surfaces, domestic middens and structural remains indicating dwellings. Finally there was found the remains of a revetment wall probably constructed to keep the encroaching sands at bay.
Likewise Canisbay was home to Norse settlement and a ninth century brooch was discovered at Harrow. A long local tradition of a ‘viking grave’ seems to have been accurate as a burial of that era has also been found and a midden at Roberts Haven has been taken to suggest a Norse settlement as have drystone walls, an anvil stone, a polishing stone and pot sherds. Furthermore, and most interestingly, the more than usually extensive remains of fish found in the midden may suggest the presence of a fish-processing station.
Huna, just east of Canisbay, is believed to be the Hofn of saga fame, the burial place of Jarl Hlodver, father of Sigurd the stout. Indeed a Norse boat burial has been found near the hotel although whether the body interred was that of Hlodver is not certain. Nor was it only the dead who found rest in Huna for there are the remains of walling of Norse age indicating a dwelling and accompanied by a domestic midden.
Duncansby Head is known from the sagas to have been the home, first to the native lords of Caithness and later to the Norse Jarls who granted Duncansby to Sveinn Asleifsson in the twelfth century and who also had a beacon built there. An old report exists from the nineteenth century stating that a circular feature some twenty-five feet in diameter was to be seen on the headland. However there is no evidence today of this structure and indeed it may have been the markings of a telegraph beacon. However somewhere there should lie the remains of substantial dwellings.
Inland at Bower there is the Ring of Castlehill, a mediaeval ring-work that may well have been the defensive ditch of a so-called ‘campaign castle’ dating to the years of struggle between Jarl Harald Maddadsson and King William ‘the Lion’. Nearby at Banniskirk by Halkirk there were the remains of a chapel dedicated to Saint Magnus and which may have dated from the late Norse era. South-east at Watten a Norse woman’s grave was found and the area of Stenhouse by Watten is the reputed burial place of Jarl Ljot Thorfinsson who died in or about the 970s. At Dunbeath in 1996 schoolchildren made a remarkable discovery on a local beach when they found a Norse-Age rune-stone.
Beyond modern Caithness Sutherland too is host to a number of Norse-era archaeological finds including a midden inside the magnificent Smoo cave by Durness in north-west Sutherland. At nearby Balnakeil Bay a burial with grave goods was found, the goods including a possible spear, a sword, antler comb and fourteen gaming pieces.
In Farr parish Borve Castle, now only a few stones remaining, was reputedly built by a Norwegian called Torquil, or Thorkell, although there is absolutely no evidence to support this. Also in Farr the stone circle named both Clach an Righ and King Harrald’s Pillars is claimed to be a memorial to a battle between King Rognvald of Man and Jarl Harald of Orkney, fought when Rognvald was granted Caithness by King William. Once again there is no evidence in support of this, the saga names no such battle and the stone-circle is of much greater antiquity. At Skelpick Burn a more certain Norse monument was found in the form of a Norse longhouse thirty-three metres long and three and half metres wide. Here is proof positive of Norse settlement.
On the east coast of Sutherland right against the Caithness border there once stood a pre-Norse chapel, known as Saint Ninian's and which seems to have given rise to the Norse name for this valley, i.e. Nemed dal, meaning ‘sacred-place dale’, a name that in time became Navidale. That there was a pre-Norse establishment here is supported by the find of a Pictish symbol stone. We have already studied the Norse settlement in Helmsdale of the twelfth century, that of Frakork, and a pair of iron forge tongs of probable Norse age, burnt bone, charcoal, deer antler and the remains of a stone cup found by the broch at Gartymore may be remnants of this settlement. An archaeological survey of this site may well turn up some interesting results. South a little at Loth a pre-Norse souterrain, or earth-house, was decorated with a later Norse runic inscription and was used as a midden. At the famous Dunrobin castle a grave was found containing two tenth century brooches and an iron axe of the Norse age was found on the beach close by. Finally in Sutherland another brooch was found in the parish of Creich on the Dornoch Firth in 1830 and is known from its find site as the Ospisdale brooch, Ospisdale itself being a Norse name, deriving probably from Ospak’s dal.
South again in Ross-shire there were traces of a military camp reported at Edderton in 1875, reckoned to relate to a reputed battle between ‘Danes’ and the locals. However the story of this battle is nothing more than a fairy tale created to explain certain local place-names and the camp has never been found. Further east at Portmahomack there are definite Norse remains with a silver hoard found at the church there and more recent Norse era finds. Heading westwards through Ross by way of Strath Oykel we find evidence that the Norse did just the same for there is, at the Oykel Bridge Hotel, a Norse runic inscription. Further west in Kintail Diarmaid’s Grave, or ‘Uagh Diarmaid’ is the legendary resting place of the mythical Irish hero Diarmaid but in fact is more likely to be the remains of a Norse boat burial, not the burial of an actual boat but rather of a Norseman in a symbolically boat-shaped grave. The grave was twenty-seven feet long and eight feet wide! Another likely boat burial was discovered at Portnacrich by Lochcarron.
Skye too has its Norse remains and coins and ring-money, precious metals shaped as armlets, were found at Bracadale. At Tote on the east shore of Loch Snizort an ancient cairn was dug into to form a burial place in the Norse age and contained an iron axe, a bone bead and the probable remains of a shield. A gold finger ring was found on Fladda-Chuain off Kilmuir and at Loch Chaluim-Chille Norse chessmen were found.
South, on Canna, a Norse age bronze pin was found whilst in a cave on Rum, at Bagh na h-Uamha, a midden deposit inside the cave yielded a gaming piece of narwhal ivory, a piece carved on one side with Scandinavian interlace patterns. On the adjacent Isle of Eigg two pieces of wood were found in a bog, thought to be stern or bow posts for a boat or ship. These pieces were likely worked in situ where the wet conditions made them easier for subsequent working. Other finds on the island have included a Norse bronze pin, a whetstone, a stone whorl, an iron ferrule and an iron sickle, whilst a Norse grave at Crois Mhor gave us a bronze and silver sword handle dated closely to between 830 and 850, plates of bronze, a buckle and a whetstone. Sadly the location of this grave is now forgotten.
Other Hebridean finds include a Norse grave on Colonsay at Kiloran Bay. In this grave was found not only a man but his horse too and a scattering of rivets suggesting that the burial was covered with a boat. This burial was an odd one amongst Norse graves for it was surrounded by ‘kerb-stones’ in the manner of earlier pre-Norse cairns. However the finest artefact was a pair of scales complete with weights of various size, clearly used in trade.
Oronsay is a tidal isle attached at times to Colonsay and here too a boat burial was found, cut into a natural sandy mound. Here a man and woman were found and again there seems to have been an actual boat placed over them.
Away north and west in the Outer Isles there was a Norse cemetery at Valtos in Lewis, containing, amongst others, a woman and child. This cemetery lies amid sandy grasslands and was apparently a focus of settlement then as now. Another, now lost, cemetery was once found at Corniagbeg on Tiree and another at Ballinaby on Islay, a place-name proving Norse settlement.
Before we leave this archaeological tour one find deserves special mention, not for its historical significance but rather simply for its character. I refer to the Lewis chessmen. The archaeologist Anna Ritchie has rightly described these pieces as ‘the most popular image of Scandinavian Scotland, which appears on anything from tea-towels to gas-fires…’. The chess pieces consist of king and queen of course, mitred bishops, helmeted Norse warriors and berserkers. The berserker in particular has captured the imagination, with his helmet, sword and shield, but more especially as he is biting the edge of that shield in berserk fury, the very image of the ‘viking’. Yet the other pieces, the kings, queens and bishops, reflect their age better than the berserker for the chess pieces are from the late Norse Age, the age of nations, of politics, of law and rule, dating to perhaps the mid twelfth century, the age of Kingdom of Man and the Isles in Lewis, where they were found, at Uig Bay in the west.
This then is the briefest of summaries of the rich archaeology of the Norse Highlands and yet we must remember that these finds represent only the smallest portion of those that must exist, mainly undiscovered and those in turn a portion only of the sites that once existed but which now have been lost forever, rotted away, eroded or built over. That only a small number of settlements have been found can probably be explained by the rather obvious conclusion that they lie under later structures, indeed beneath our very feet.
LEGACY - STANDING STRUCTURES.
Apart from these archaeological remains, most of which are now re-buried in order to preserve them for future study, there are a small number of standing remains from the Norse Age in the Highlands. A greater number are to be found in Orkney and Shetland including Saint Magnus’ Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace in Kirkwall, Saint Magnus’ Church on Egilsay, Cubbie Roo’s Castle on Wyre, the chapel on the Brough of Deerness and the house foundations of Birsay Brough.
south of the Pentland Firth one of the finest is the Castle of Old Wick. This castle, just south of Wick, stands on a small headland overlooking the Moray Firth and has its own landing strip below. The tower remains to this day an impressive fortress, whilst a number of grassy mounds cover the remains of walls that were once the numerous outbuildings and ranges attached to this castle. Old Wick is believed to have been one of the homes of the Orkney and Caithness Jarl Harald Maddadsson and to have been built in the second half of the twelfth century. This makes Old Wick one of the earliest stone castles in Scotland.
Old Wick, however, is not the only standing Norse Age building in Caithness, although surely the best preserved other than churches. Braal Castle by Halkirk is also traditionally associated with Jarl Harald Maddadsson and the surviving fourteenth century tower may be a rebuild of a twelfth century structure. The ruins of Forse Castle at Latheron stand on a promontory by the sea and the keep is thought to be of twelfth or thirteenth century date. Nearby, in the town of Thurso, itself of course an old Norse town, the old St. Peter Church in Wilson Lane contains within its walls the ancient Forss Vault, possibly dating to the twelfth or thirteenth century, perhaps from the last days of Norse control.
Leaving Caithness and travelling southwards we find no other standing Norse ruins until we pass Loch Fleet in southern Sutherland. Here, on the south shores of the sea-loch, a castle ruin overlooks the tidal waters and bird life, itself home to nesting Fulmars. This ruin, Skelbo castle, is not a Norse ruin as such for it was built soon after the transfer of Sutherland from Caithness to the de Freskyn Earls, but its construction marked the end of the old Norse era as surely as the beginning of the new Scots one.
South again we reach the pleasant little town of Dornoch, capital of Sutherland, dominated by a mediaeval ‘castle’, in fact a bishops palace of old, and by the lovely red sandstone cathedral, made famous by the marriage there of Madonna. Dornoch cathedral sits squarely in the centre of town and has obvious echoes of Saint Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. Built in the thirteenth century to mark the transfer of the Caithnesss bishopric from Caithness itself to the more securely Scots Dornoch, the cathedral is, like Skelbo Castle, not a Norse structure but again serves to mark the end of the era.
Iin Sutherland the standing ruins come to an end for in Easter Ross only the ruin of St Duthac’s chapel on Tain’s links can possibly claim to date from the Norse Age and even this claim is doubtful, the chapel perhaps, like the Sutherland ruins, more rightly dating to the immediate post-Norse age. In the west, however, ruins can be seen that date from our Norse age. The famous Ardtornish Castle on the eastern shores of the Sound of Mull witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Ardtornish between the Lords of the Isles and the English crown that finally brought down that great Lordship. Those were Celtic days, one might say, but the Lordship descended directly from the Kingdom of Argyll and the Isles and formed a closing chapter in the Norse history of the region. Nor is Ardtornish the only ruin from the days of the Lordship, elsewhere Castle Tioram in Loch Moidart dates from this era being, like Ardtornish, of thirteenth century construction. Skipness Castle in Kintyre, Dunstaffnage castle near Oban, Mingary castle by Loch Sunart, and Dun Scaich by Loch Eishort on Skye are other Lordship castles remaining to this day.
Dunvegan castle also on Skye dates in part to this era but was beyond Lordship bounds and was perhaps founded by Leod Olvirsson of the Kingdom of man and the Isles. Although the castle was extensively rebuilt in about 1500 with subsequent alterations the curtain wall is thirteenth century and so of the late Norse era.
Another castle, Borve, on Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides is likewise early and of the Lordship of the Isles, dating to some time before 1385 when it is first noted in records. On nearby North Uist Teampull na Trionaid at Cairinis is the fragmentary ruin of a church built, according to tradition, by Bethoc, daughter of Somerled and first prioress of Iona, therefore dating to about 1200, a genuine Norse age ruin. Kisimuil Castle on Barra, famously seen in the film Whisky Galore, has claims to a twelfth and even eleventh century date but it is more likely a late fourteenth century Lordship construction. A roofless but substantial ruin of a probably twelfth century church stands at Cille-bharra at Eoligarry on Barra and St. Moluag’s church, Teampull Mholaidh, at Eoropaidh in Lewis carries many similarities to the Norse cathedral at Gardar in Greenland. This Lewis church was restored in 1912 but was probably built in the thirteenth century and so may well belong to the Manx kingdom. Finally in the Hebrides there is the ruin of a church on Raasay, east of Skye, that also dates to the times of the Lordship, if not earlier.
Further south ruins are few and far between but Ardchattan Priory on Loch Etive was founded in 1230 whilst Castle Sween in Knapdale dates firmly to the Celto-Norse era here, and, like the Castle of Old Wick, is among the earliest of stone keeps in Scotland, dating to the twelfth century. Eastwards on Bute stands Rothesay castle, in parts dating to the late twelfth century. Rothesay was not a Norse stronghold ever but was built to defend Scotland against the Islesmen and therefore is part of Norse history.
It is evident from this whistle stop tour of standing remnants of the Norse era that those we have yet are all of the later years of the age. This is in part due to the replacement of earlier structures but more so to the fact that the ruins we have are either fortresses or ecclesiastical buildings. Stone keeps, and it is those that survive, did not appear until the eleventh century and church building suffered a hiatus from the first arrival of the Norsemen in c.800 until their general conversion to Christianity in about 1000. We can however touch the remains of the earlier ages in the archaeology of the region described above and view many fine artefacts in museums and visitor centres in the Highlands, in Edinburgh and in London.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE NORSE.
For those wishing a less literal view of Norse heritage and history there is little better than to stand on the very spot where history was made, the battle sites, burial places, settlement sites and so forth of Norse Highland history for, with a little imagination, there we can stand amid history.
Journey today across the Kessock Bridge from Inverness onto the Black Isle, not an island but a rich farming peninsula. Stand then on the central ridge of this Black Isle and look about you, beyond the modern conifer plantations, beyond the new houses to the shores of the Moray Firth in the east and understand that there the land was Scots land with Fortrose and Rosemarkie already settlements of note. Then turn about, look west, to Udale Bay, to Culbokie and south west to Alcaig and understand again that there, in the 1000s, was Norse land for you stand upon a border, a boundary between nations, between cultures.
Across that western firth, the Cromarty Firth, stands the county town of Ross, Dingwall, shops, housing estates, a fine castle, a football ground. Yet almost a thousand years ago there stood on the level ground by the shore a field and in that field men were gathering, coming from the settlements about, from Udale on the Black Isle perhaps, from Culbokie, from Swordland, from Arboll too, north. This is the gathering of the Norse landed men, the meeting of the governors of the land, of the Thing.
North a little and there is a field by the sea, between the landings of Port Mhor and of Wilkhaven on Tarbat Ness. It is a peaceful place today but once, many, many years ago, on a Monday, a great and bloody battle was fought on that green field, and there was a great slaying and the grass stained red with blood. Norsemen had come and fought with the Scots to win the land about them, and the ravens fed. The Scots were led by no less a man than the King himself, come north to face the foe, and he had about him a mighty host, fighting men from all of Scotland, from Kintyre, from Strathclyde and from Ireland too. Great was his army and never before had the folk thereabout seen such a mighty host, mightier even than that of the Norsemen in their great ships. From the lands across the northern waters came those Norse, from the islands of the north and from the lands of Caithness and Ross. Their leader was a mighty lord and he led his men from their ships to where the Scots had gathered. More and more Norsemen poured onto the land until the landing was full of warriors, but still were there more Scots.
Upon his head the Norse chieftain wore a helmet, shining golden and in one hand a sword and in the other a spear, whilst on his arm there hung a fine shield, made only by the best of the shield-makers among the Britons. The Norse lord was tall and strong, cruel of countenance but clever of mind, a powerful warrior. He strode to the fore of the battle array without pause and without fear, attacking the Irishmen closest to the shore. So fierce was the Norse lord and so fierce were his warriors that soon the Irishmen lay dead or were fleeing for their lives. When the King of Scots saw how strong and brave was the Norse lord he too stood to the fore and had his own war-banner raised above him, a fierce blue boar. He called his men to fight and fight they did but the Norse were strong and soon the Scots were defeated, fleeing as had the Irishmen along the shore, across the fields and back to their homes, however far distant they may be. Yet many could not flee across the sands or across the fields and many would not see again their homes, however near, for they lay dead on the field of battle. No one among the Norse or among the local folk about saw the King of Scots again in the fields and landings of Ross and some said he was dead, but his body was not to be found on the killing field.
Now again the field, Blar a’Chath, the ‘Field of Battle’, lies still above the grey-blue waters, with just the seagulls calling. Yet sometimes, a sail may be seen, out on the grey-blue waters and once again, in the mind, the Norse are come, and the hoarse cries of battle, the calls of the brave, the cries of the dying and the terrible clash of sword on sword rings out across the field, for a moment. Then the soft lapping of the waves on the shore and the calling of the gulls brings back peace to the ancient field of Blar a’Chath and the quiet lands of Ross.
Such was the battle of Torfness, fought by the farm of Brucefield on Tarbat Ness.
Turn now to a more peaceful scene and walk amid the native woods of Spinningdale, look at the bark and boles, and, turning back towards the Dornoch Firth a few miles below, picture by the shore the framework of a longship, its keel, its stern-post, its planking, the tall mast, all crafted from the trees behind. This is the boat-building of the Norse Queen Aud’s ship, in which she will flee the hostile Scots of Moray. The year is perhaps 885 and whilst we do not know if it was here, in truth, that she had her ship built, the woods and waters here provide a perfect setting and it is far from impossible that this was the site.
Turn the years and move forward in time to the eleventh century, Jarl Thorfinn of Orkney has taken command of all the lands about, both in Sutherland and across the waters in Ross too. Still the hillsides bear fine trees and the waters below are thick with rafts of great logs, the Norse lumberjacks, axes in hand, have been busy.
This is the industry of the north.
Northwards, in the Strath of Kildonan there stood a Norse settlement, home of the wicked Lady Frakork and her clique, but where? We cannot be certain but perhaps we can choose one likely site and let our imagination fill in the picture. Stand today by the remains of the broch at Gartymore and picture beside a less ruined broch a blacksmith at work by his forge, working hard on farming tools or perhaps on weapons, swords, axes, spears. Picture too by his forge a farmstead, a settlement, a long low house of stone and turf. Within an old woman and her followers and kinsmen, plotting, always plotting. Then picture again, on the hills south of the settlement, a warrior striding boldly towards the houses, more warriors about him, armed. Picture too the calls of alarm from below, the rush to weapons, the sudden fighting and death by the river. A man escapes, Olvir, and flees across the river and onto the hills to the north, never to be seen here again. Then return the gaze to the farmstead, now ablaze, the old women, wicked in her work, burning to death in the flames.
This was the violent end of Frakork, Celto-Norse chieftainess, at the hands of the chieftain Sveinn Asleifsson in 1142.
North a few miles is Berriedale, just inside Caithness and here a happier picture can be brought to mind. A house, a longhouse, and perhaps a church or chapel too. A priest stands before a man and a woman and close by stands a proud father, a noble man of fine bearing and finer standing, Jarl Rognvald of Orkney stands at his daughters wedding.
North again, by a cliff side, stands the remains of the Castle of Old Wick. Here we do not have to imagine too hard to bring to mind the Norse age for Jarl Harald Maddadsson's stout tower still stands and in the grassy mounds about are the remains of a greater settlement, the home of Harald and of Hroald Sveinsson too, a fine twelfth century settlement this. Look below to the rock-cut slipway and picture a longship drawing in, bringing the Jarl home.
Within a short distance stood the Norse Thrasvik, Freswick today, and here there was another Norse settlement, longhouses, outbuildings and such, and about them two groups of men, one of Scotsmen and one of Norse, swords in hand dealing death blows to the others, the men of the Norse steward Havard, killed in 986 by invading Scots
We might stand instead on the grassy headland of Duncansby, a mile or so beyond John O’Groats and try to piece together a picture of a fortress, stone walls enclosing more buildings. For here was the capital of the native kingdom of Caithness, here lived Lord Dungad, the first named ruler of Caithness. In later years the Norse built a watch-tower here, a beacon rather, to guard their coasts and here too lived the despotic Margad Grimsson, Sveinn Asleifsson’s man. We can stand here and picture the coming and going of longships in the Pentland Firth or the violent battle of Duncansby of 986 in which Sigurd of Orkney faced and defeated those same Scots forces.
West at Thurso another violent but far less noble affair took place in 1231. Three men are locked in violent struggle, a mean little murder, for in that year in a cellar beneath a Norse house in the town Jarl Jon Haraldsson, last Norse ruler of Orkney and Caithness, was cornered and murdered.
Much of Caithness’ history was bloody and at Forss there stood, in 1158, a farm and farmyard, low stone buildings, perhaps turf roofed, or capped with Caithness slabs. A troop of men approach the farm and ahead of the rest rides one man, his finery telling of his standing and his countenance, familiar to all, proclaiming his identity. The farmer, witnessing this arrival, rushes from the house calling loudly to his unexpected guest, naming him so that others, hiding, can hear. Others rush from the farm buildings, there is a clash of arms, a thrust of spears and blood in the filth of the farmyard. Jarl Rognvald lies in the mud and blood dying, his killer flees, mortally wounded as the others approach in confusion.
Miles west, on the rocky western coasts of Sutherland, amid great mountains the chasm-like Loch Glendhu reaches into the hills from Kylesku. Here where submarines secretly trained in the Second World War generations earlier a ship, a longship, sailed into the Loch from the seas beyond. On board was the Scotsman GilleOdran, fleeing the wrath of the dreadful Sveinn Asleifsson. In vain, for Sveinn came upon him in the loch and GilleOdran was killed.
Across those nearby seas, beyond the mouth of the sea-loch and over the Minch lies Lewis, the greatest of the Outer Hebridean isles, and at its northern tip is the parish of Ness. Here, in 1094 Lagmann Gudrodsson, son of the Manx King Gudrod crobhan, and sub-king of the Hebrides, was chased down and captured by the Norwegian king Magnus barefoot during the latter's first expedition to the west. It was during this expedition perhaps that the ravaging of the isles took place, at the hands of the king and his men and we could stand here at Ness and imagine the landscape about dotted with smouldering ruined houses and spires of smoke towering into the sky. People standing, bewildered, homeless, their loved ones slain, fathers, brothers and sons dead and for what? Surely most did not really understand. This was a scene repeated elsewhere, in Uist, Skye, Mull, Islay and Kintyre.
Another violent scene, another isle. Skye and the ruins of Duntulm castle standing at the northernmost tip of Trotternish. Stand here at the roadside and look past the ruins to the waters beyond, to the Minch, with the Outer Hebrides visible, perhaps, in the distance, if the weather is fine. The waters today are peaceful in such weather and there is little shipping beyond local fishing boats but turn the clock back to the year 986 and we would see here, perhaps, two longships, locked together, men on board fighting fiercely, their voices, the voices of Icelanders and Caithness men, carry across the waves, urgent and coarse in the savagery. Picture too a third ship coming from the south, men on board pointing and shouting to the sea battle ahead. This third ship bears Kari, Jarl Sigurd of Orkney's tax collector, and his men, coming to the aid of the beleaguered Icelanders, under attack by the sons of Moddan, Lord of Caithness. These were the waters of Scotland’s fjord, the seas of the Hebrides, where Norse longships sailed north and south through the long age of the Norsemen.
Southwards across Skye at Kyleakin where until recently the ferry from the mainland came in, and where today the bridge ‘lands’ on Skye, there once anchored in the waters about, a great fleet, the fleet of King Haakon of Norway, a hundred ships or more, rocking in the waves, warriors aboard the ships and on one, a greater ship than the others, the regal figure of the king, looking away south to where another, smaller fleet approaches, led too by a king, the King of Man.
Nor was Kyle Akin the only site to witness this great fleet for a short time after the same fleet, bolstered by that of Man, lay at anchor again in the Sound of Mull before sailing on southwards to Gigha, Arran and Largs. In the late autumn, winter’s weather closing in, the same fleet anchored again in the Sound, by Calve Island opposite Tobermory, but this time there was no confidence in the men, no great hopes, only dejection and a feeling of disappointment surely, as Haakon’s fleet returned north, unbeaten but without a victory, the campaign over.
One hundred and ninety-nine years later in Ardtornish Castle, the ruins of which today overlook the Sound of Mull and the ferry boat to the isle, the great and mighty of the Isles again gathered, the mac Donald Lords of the Isles, there to sign a treaty, alongside Douglas lords and English envoys, a treaty proposing the invasion of Scotland and the partition of the kingdom. This famous Treaty of Ardtornish, signed in 1462, was the last great throw in the game of independence in the Isles.
Ardtornish looks across the Sound to Mull and if we travel on across that island, down the long Ross of Mull and across the waters again we reach fair Iona, little isle of grass, rock and shining white sands. Home to Saint Columcille and his followers. Over the years this was a land of peace for the most part, but we must imagine, as we soak-in the quiet, bands of violent men, vikings, trooping across the grasses to the monastery, then of wood. We must imagine the vikings shoving past the monks, eager to take the treasures within, hewing down any of the brothers who stood in their path. We must imagine the abbot, steadfast before the warriors, arms outstretched perhaps, refusing bravely, but unwisely, to hand over the precious relics and imagine too his blood flowing as the vikings cut him down, his men about him too. Imagine flames licking the woodwork, the monastery burning, monks lying dead.
Picture again, years later, a regal man, bare-legged in Celtic style but the King of the Norse, Magnus barefoot, striding towards a little chapel, shouting to his men, not ordering plunder but retreat, sparing the chapel and its sanctity whilst the isles about burn.
So it is that with imagination we can stand in sites across the Highlands and turn our minds back to Norse days, when warriors fought dreadful battles, when monks were murdered for the riches they protected, but where too men gathered to order their lands, to pass laws, to enforce them, to do deals and make marriages. We can see too weddings, intrigues, the sailings of ships and all the comings and goings and doings of Norse life, of our history, our past, our heritage. This is not foreign history, this is not the world of those who came, saw and conquered, only to sail away in due course to their homelands. This is the history of our own forebears, our ancient grandfathers and grandmothers, this is our very own history, our legacy, the history of the Viking Highlands.