EXPLAINED: Why the Orkney Islands are more Norwegian than you'd think
The Orkney Islands, off the northeastern coast of Scotland will look into the possibility of becoming a self-governing territory of Norway. The connection between the islands and the Norwegian mainland stretches back over 1,000 years.
Orkney council will look into the possibility of being a Norwegian territory for the first time since 1472, UK public broadcaster BBC News reports.
Among the proposals, Stockan suggests that the council could secure a "Nordic connection" with Denmark, Norway or Iceland.
"We were part of the Norse kingdom for much longer than we were part of the United Kingdom. On the street in Orkney, people come up and say to me when are we going to pay back the dowry? When are we going back to Norway," Stockan said.
"There is a huge affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there. This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible," he added.
READ MORE: UK's Orkney Islands to explore the possibility of becoming Norwegian territory
The historical links between Norway and Orkney stretch back more than 1,000 years. The Flag of Orkney is a great symbol of this connection. The colours red and yellow are from both the Scottish and Norwegian royal coat of arms.
Pictured is the Flag of Orkney, which bares a resemblance to the Norwegian flag. Rab Knight from en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Orkneys were Norwegian longer than they have been Scottish
Norwegian presence on Orkney stretches back to the late eighth century. During this period, the Orkney Islands and Shetland saw an influx of Norwegian settlers.
Vikings made the islands the headquarters of their pirate expeditions which would be carried out against Norway and the coast of mainland Scotland. Orkney was then annexed by Norwegian king Harald Fairhair in 875. Orkney and Shetland would then become an earldom.
Structures dating back to this period are still found on the Orkney Islands today. The ruins of St Magnus Church, a former earl of Orkney, are located on the island of Egilsay. Until 2001, the Flag of Orkney was the St Magnus Flag. This flag has a red Scandinavian cross (like you see on the flags of Norway, Denmark and Sweden) on a yellow background.
The islands' early history was chronicled in the Orkneyinga Saga (also called the History of the Earls of Orkney). The original text was written in the twelfth century and no longer exists, with a new version written in the thirteenth century. The works documented the lives of the earls of Orkney.
However, chapters of the saga intertwine folk legend with the narrative history of the now Scottish archipelago.
How did the Orkneys become Scottish?
The Orkney Islands were as a security on a dowry in 1468. The impoverished Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, gave Orkney to the Scottish Crown as part of a marriage agreement with King James III.
Christian had betrothed his daughter Margaret to the Scottish king and pledged to pay 50,000 Rhenish florins. When the payment wasn't made, he pledged Shetland as part of the security for a further 8,000 florins.
Christian I missed this payment too, and in 1472, the Orkney Islands fell under Scottish rule.
Despite this, the influences of Norse culture and superstition would remain. Urine is smeared on ploughs in Orkney before cutting the first furrow in spring to promote fertility. Meanwhile, the last household to finish harvesting would have a straw dog placed on its chimney stack.
Furthermore, Norn, the Scandinavian language spoken on Orkney, which was derived from a variant of Old Norse, would continue to exist until the late 17th century. However, by then, Scots had long been the dominant language of the Orkney islands.
Due to it being a language spoken by the common people, very few documents in the language existed. Official documents were often written in Norwegian.
With an Old Norse-derived language being spoken on Orkney for almost 1,000 years, there is a reasonable amount of overlap between Norwegian and the Scots language.
Several Scots words are derived from Old Norse, such as bairn (child), midden (dump), muckle (large), braw (bra in Norwegian – meaning good) and even kilt.
Some words like barn (child in Norwegian) sound very similar to their Norwegian counterparts. Meanwhile, the way some English words are pronounced by those from Scotland, like out (oot) and house (hoose), sound a lot like the corresponding words (ut and hus) in Norwegian.
Another shared word still used by locals in Scotland and England is the word dram. A dram in Norwegian is a small glass of spirit, normally aquavit. Typically it's offered as an after-dinner tipple to help ease the digestion of a particularly big or rich meal.
The same word in English is used by Scots to refer to a small glass of whisky.
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Orkney council will look into the possibility of being a Norwegian territory for the first time since 1472, UK public broadcaster BBC News reports.
Among the proposals, Stockan suggests that the council could secure a "Nordic connection" with Denmark, Norway or Iceland.
"We were part of the Norse kingdom for much longer than we were part of the United Kingdom. On the street in Orkney, people come up and say to me when are we going to pay back the dowry? When are we going back to Norway," Stockan said.
"There is a huge affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there. This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible," he added.
READ MORE: UK's Orkney Islands to explore the possibility of becoming Norwegian territory
The historical links between Norway and Orkney stretch back more than 1,000 years. The Flag of Orkney is a great symbol of this connection. The colours red and yellow are from both the Scottish and Norwegian royal coat of arms.
The Orkneys were Norwegian longer than they have been Scottish
Norwegian presence on Orkney stretches back to the late eighth century. During this period, the Orkney Islands and Shetland saw an influx of Norwegian settlers.
Vikings made the islands the headquarters of their pirate expeditions which would be carried out against Norway and the coast of mainland Scotland. Orkney was then annexed by Norwegian king Harald Fairhair in 875. Orkney and Shetland would then become an earldom.
Structures dating back to this period are still found on the Orkney Islands today. The ruins of St Magnus Church, a former earl of Orkney, are located on the island of Egilsay. Until 2001, the Flag of Orkney was the St Magnus Flag. This flag has a red Scandinavian cross (like you see on the flags of Norway, Denmark and Sweden) on a yellow background.
The islands' early history was chronicled in the Orkneyinga Saga (also called the History of the Earls of Orkney). The original text was written in the twelfth century and no longer exists, with a new version written in the thirteenth century. The works documented the lives of the earls of Orkney.
However, chapters of the saga intertwine folk legend with the narrative history of the now Scottish archipelago.
How did the Orkneys become Scottish?
The Orkney Islands were as a security on a dowry in 1468. The impoverished Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, gave Orkney to the Scottish Crown as part of a marriage agreement with King James III.
Christian had betrothed his daughter Margaret to the Scottish king and pledged to pay 50,000 Rhenish florins. When the payment wasn't made, he pledged Shetland as part of the security for a further 8,000 florins.
Christian I missed this payment too, and in 1472, the Orkney Islands fell under Scottish rule.
Despite this, the influences of Norse culture and superstition would remain. Urine is smeared on ploughs in Orkney before cutting the first furrow in spring to promote fertility. Meanwhile, the last household to finish harvesting would have a straw dog placed on its chimney stack.
Furthermore, Norn, the Scandinavian language spoken on Orkney, which was derived from a variant of Old Norse, would continue to exist until the late 17th century. However, by then, Scots had long been the dominant language of the Orkney islands.
Due to it being a language spoken by the common people, very few documents in the language existed. Official documents were often written in Norwegian.
With an Old Norse-derived language being spoken on Orkney for almost 1,000 years, there is a reasonable amount of overlap between Norwegian and the Scots language.
Several Scots words are derived from Old Norse, such as bairn (child), midden (dump), muckle (large), braw (bra in Norwegian – meaning good) and even kilt.
Some words like barn (child in Norwegian) sound very similar to their Norwegian counterparts. Meanwhile, the way some English words are pronounced by those from Scotland, like out (oot) and house (hoose), sound a lot like the corresponding words (ut and hus) in Norwegian.
Another shared word still used by locals in Scotland and England is the word dram. A dram in Norwegian is a small glass of spirit, normally aquavit. Typically it's offered as an after-dinner tipple to help ease the digestion of a particularly big or rich meal.
The same word in English is used by Scots to refer to a small glass of whisky.
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