Discover the violent, brutal history of the Vikings in Scotland, and how their legacy continues to influence our culture, language, and traditions.
Bloody Beginnings
The first Viking raid on Scottish soil took place in a picturesque wee island just off the west coast of the mainland. Above swells of waves lapping at the battered rocks, a crown jewel beaconed for the Norsemen’s attention. A sleepy Iona Abbey promised the seafaring Vikings a fat, easy payday.
After the attack on Lindisfarne in 793 C.E. the Norsemen had discovered that holy sites were a source of great wealth and little resistance.
As they settled on the shores of Iona Abbey and docked their longboats, we can only imagine the scene of violence that played out that day. The Vikings armed with axes, swords and shields, descended and unleashed chaos on the unsuspecting monks. Their opponents, unequipped to deal with the ferocious clash of steel and grotesque violence, were without weapons, protection or training.
That day, the stone walls of the Abbey received their first lick of paint in the form of crimson splatters and bloodied entrails. The blood of innocent monks was spilled across flagstones, strewn up walls and soaked permanently into the ground below. The Norsemen mercilessly plundered all wealth that they could find, then they hopped back onto their longships and disappeared back to where they came from.
A similar attack was repeated again in 802 C.E. and 825 C.E – however, the most violent of Viking onslaughts to Iona Abbey came in 806 C.E.
Iona Abbey (Image : Visit Scotland)
Sixty eight monks were brutally slaughtered (this number varies depending on which source you read). They became known as The Martyrs of Iona.
It was suggested that the Abbey, due to the recurring Viking incursions, had moved all sacred artefacts and was later abandoned for a period of almost 100 years.
During WWII, a Norwegian soldier was stationed near the Abbey and was told stories of the Viking attacks. After the war ended, he returned home and collected donations from neighbours. They donated timbers to the Abbey as a form of penance for their ancestors’ brutal attacks.
It was not just small, defenceless coastal Abbeys that felt the bloody effects of the Norsemen.
Orkney and Shetland : Norðreyjar – Northern Islands
At the beginning of the 8th century, the Norsemen strategically began establishing settlements on various islands across Scotland. Prior to that, they were Pictish Kingdoms. It’s said that the Norwegian King, Harald Hárfagri (more commonly referred to as King Harald Finehair) was the first Norseman to begin settling his people on these shores.
Unlike the monasteries, Orkney and Shetland were not ravaged, pillaged, then abandoned as blazing infernos. Frankly, it would’ve made little sense for the Norsemen to have shown a strategic gold mine such blatant disregard. Nor did they.
On their journeys further West to lands such as Greenland and Iceland, the archipelago of islands around Scotland provided a crucial stopping point. They were a place to rest, resupply and trade before continuing the next leg of the journey. They were also a fantastic place for a pit stop before going on to raid mainland Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.
Essentially, these islands were the Viking Age equivalent of a petrol station (I apologise in advance to my Orcadian friends for this analogy!).
Orkney and Shetland were not only a stopping point though, they became one part of a new Kingdom; known as The Kingdom of the Islands.
To the north was Norðreyjar (quite literally North Islands) which encompassed Orkney and Shetland. To the south was Suðreyjar (quite literally South Islands), this encompassed the Hebrides, Islands of the Clyde, the Isle of Man and every island in between.
Kingdom of the Islands circa. end of 11th Century (Image : Wikipedia Commons)
For hundreds of years these islands were passed from Jarl to Jarl, and as always, when we analyse humans throughout history, each of them had their own tragic events and moments of victory which we could write entire novels about.
As the Viking Age drew to a close in 1066, the Norsemen didn’t simply hop back on their ships and return home. These islands were now home to generations of people. The Picts and Norsemen had long since merged cultures and become one proud, tough new people – the Orcadians and the Shetlanders. Their identities, history, language and culture was (and remains to be) entirely individual from both mainland Scotland and Scandinavia.
In the years that followed, Orkney and Shetland were used as a political football. Often they were at the heart of debates between various leaders, Chieftains, Jarls and/or Kings.
That was, until the 20th February 1472, when the islands were traded and absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland.
King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden failed to pay a marriage dowry for his daughter’s betrothal to King James I of Scotland. Instead of finding another way to scrounge the money together (selling some of that gold his ancestors had stolen would’ve been a good start), he offered the islands up as payment.
This is an attitude that I find strange as it gives little regard for the people who live there. Lives, stories, identities, humans, languages and cultures were exchanged – as though they were no more than a scrunched up bank note.
The people of Orkney and Shetland had no say in their fates.
‘Dear friends, you know that you rightly belong under the crown of Norway, even though you are pawned to the king of Scotland. But we intend to redeem your land very soon for the crown of Norway, to remain under us and the King of Norway, as it ought to be by right.’
A letter written to the islanders by King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway in 1514
The Hebrides : Suðreyjar – Southern Islands
Another place in Scotland that felt the effects of Norse settlement was the Herbides.
Before the Norsemen arrived, these islands were predominantly home to the Celts who had already integrated with the indigenous Picts. Much like our neighbours on the Northern islands, Norse settlements began to emerge and a process of cultural exchange began. In coming years, a handful of Hebridean clans began to merge with the Norsemen. Through marriage, treaties and trade, bonds were solidified, families were formed and new allies were forged. Those who did merge became known as Gall-Goídil, who were some of the most ferocious and feared warriors of the time.
Much like Orkney, the Hebrides remained in the Kingdom of Islands and under the control of various different Jarls until 1249. That is, until various rulers of Scotland became increasingly uncomfortable with having Norsemen so close to their doorstep.
Boldly assuming that the Hebrides were the rightful property of Scotland, Alexander II of Alba was the first King to make a move on the southern islands. He sailed to the coast of Kerrera (an island in the Inner Hebrides, not too far from Oban) and attempted to reclaim control of the islands. He never succeeded and died on the ship, but this brazen conquest was continued by his son, Alexander III.
Chess pieces made from whale bone that originated from Norway, most notable is the berserkr rooks biting their shields. Discovered on the Isle of Lewis. (Image: National Museums Scotland)
King Haakon of Norway who ruled over the islands at the time, retaliated. He gathered a fleet of ships and sailed for mainland Scotland.
Legend has it, that much of his his fleet was destroyed in a terrible storm and the survivors were washed ashore. The surviving Vikings journeyed inland, their numbers dramatically decreased from those comrades they’d lost at sea. Determined to still show a strong fist against the Scots, despite their misfortunes, the Norsemen came across a sleeping group of Scottish clansmen. Confident that their fates had taken a turn for better fortunes, the Norsemen kicked off their boots. They began creeping closer to the sleeping Scots, daring not to make a sound so they wouldn’t wake the enemy.
A huge roar of pain sounded through the night sky when one of the Norsemen stepped on a thistle. The incessant wailing alerted the Scotsmen to their presence and naturally, as all embellished folk tales insist, this thistle was the reason that the Scots went on to win the Battle of Largs.
Defeated, the Norsemen retreated and later, King Haakon died of his wounds in Orkney. This devastating defeat to the Scots was an important and deciding factor when signing the Hebrides over to the Kingdom of Alba in 1266.
It’s worth noting that it’s not just the islands with rich ties to Norse history. Several Northern parts of the Scottish mainland were either ravaged by the Norsemen, or settled by them. For example, Thurso. A beautiful coastal town on the mainland that is still steeped in Nordic history, it was once named Thjorsá which translates to Thor’s River.
Were Scottish Vikings a thing?
In a sense, yes. Once the cultures merged, many of those who were once Celtic or Pictish, began to adopt Norse ways of life – one of which was to go a Viking. As described in the Orkneyinga Saga: “These Vikings (in Norðreyjar) used to raid in Norway over the summer and had Shetland and Orkney as their winter base.”
How do the Norsemen continue to influence our culture, language and traditions today?
The places where we still feel the influence of the Norsemen is Orkney, Shetland and the North of Scotland. Once settlements, they have now transformed into strongholds for preserving Norse culture and traditions in Scotland.
Language
A sister language to Old Norse (called Norn) was spoken in Orkney and Shetland until around 1850 – although a Faroese linguist called Jakob Jakobbson suggest that this could’ve been spoken until much later. As with all languages, a whole group of people don’t wake up one morning and decide to stop speaking their native tongue. It was a gradual decline, this was also the case with Norn. There’s been a calling to reclaim and rebuild the language (called Nynorn or New Nyon) which you can now learn online. Whether the revival of Norn succeeds or not, there are many words and dialects on the islands which would sound foreign to the untrained ear.
We can also see evidence of Old Norse littered across our maps, there’s too many places across the country to list but here’s a few examples:
Orkneyjar (Orkney) : Seal Island, Kirkjuvagr (Kirkwall) : Church Bay, Þingvǫllr (Tingwall) : Parliament Field
The list goes on!
Traditions
In Shetland there is the Up-Helly-Aa festival which occurs every year on the last Tuesday in January. This is the ceremonial burning of a Viking longship. Prior to the longship being introduced, ceremonial tar barrels were set alight and rolled through the town. After several accidents involving the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol, fiery tar barrels and shop windows (you can imagine!) the tradition evolved into an organised and more Norse-inspired longship burning. Now, people from all over the world come to watch the ceremonial event. Learn more about Up-Helly-Aa.
Another tradition that’s theorised to be rooted in Norse origins is the Kirkwall Ba’ which occurs every year in Kirkwall, Orkney. Imagine a huge mob football game with no rules, scrums, lots of blood and (in good ol’ Scottish fashion) violence. This game has been played for hundreds of years, since before records began and one theorized origin of the first ba’.. is that a particularly unfavoured Norse chieftain was beheaded by the people of Kirkwall. With a little imagination, you can figure out what was used as the Ba’.
Religion
Several parts of Scotland still celebrate Yule instead of Christmas (despite the fact both celebrations were illegal in Scotland until 1958). Throughout many Pagan communities, Norse deities are still worshipped. Our folk traditions, beliefs and mythology often draws close parallels to our Scandinavian neighbours.
For example, the story of the Stoor Worm tells us how Orkney, Shetland, and Iceland were formed. The Stoor Worm was a huge, ginormous sea monster that could wrap around the entire world. It was defeated by a hero in a boat.
Sound familiar? It should!
In Norse Mythology a similar beast exists. The sea serpent called Jörmungandr can wrap around the entire world and what’s more, Thor goes fishing for it in a boat.
Of course these are just a few examples, the list goes on!
Summary
By exploring the elements of Norse history in Scotland, we can see how our country remains a melting pot of various different people. Those who settled here all those years ago still influence our lives and we are part of these people who came before us.
We’re not just Celts. Nor are we just Picts, just Anglo-Saxons or just Norsemen.
We are all of the above.
Indigenous people, settlers and immigrants from each of these backgrounds all helped to form this beautiful land.
We’re a diverse stew of so many different beliefs, languages, histories, cultures and traditions.
Each one helps to make us who we are.
So let’s stop confining ourselves to this bland, tasteless dish by defining Scotland as solely ‘a Celtic country‘.
We’re so much more diverse than that.
References:
As I’m sure you can appreciate, it’s impossible to fit hundreds of years of history into one blog post. If you want to explore this topic more, I highly recommend reading the Orkneyinga Saga which details the events in much more detail. It’s worth noting that the Sagas are considered a secondary source as they were written a couple hundred years after the Viking Age ended. However as only small fragments of primary evidence about the Norsemen in Scotland remain, this is one of the most reliable sources we have.
https://coast.scot/stories/viking-attacks-on-iona/
https://www.mull-historical-society.co.uk/churches/churches-2/the-abbey-iona/
http://saintsandstones.net/saints-iona-stcolumbasbay-journey.htm
Vol. 48, No. 145, Apr., 1969, Part 1: Scotland and Scandinavia: Studies Commemorative of the Union of Orkney and Shetland with Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 1969)
Orkneyinga Saga, The History of the Earls or Orkney, Penguin Classics, Translated by Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards, ISBN: 987-0-140-44383
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