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West Mainland: Latest Posts |
Showing 1-10 of 2,521 posts. Most recent first | Next 10 
Maeshowe (Chambered Tomb) — Folklore |
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Maes Howe or Maeshowe is among the finest chambered tombs in Europe, dating from around 2700 BCE. It was said to be inhabited by a creature known as a Hogboy, but human beings too left their mark on the site. When it was excavated in 1861, the archaeologists found they were not the first on the scene: Vikings had broken, about 700 years earlier, and left graffiti on the walls. The presence of the twelfth-century vandals is recorded in twenty-four runic inscriptions, two of which refer to 'Jorsalafara' - literally, 'Jerusalem-farers', or crusaders. The sort of things prople write on walls hasn't changed all that much over the centuries. Thorny bedded; Helgi writes it' -perhaps the tomb, macabre though it might seem, was where the locals did their courting, or perhaps the men were thinking of happier times: Ingigerd is the most beautiful of women', says one inscription. Also carved here is a picture of an animal usually interpreted as a dragon, and some of the writings relate to buried treasure.. the poem Beowulf tells of a hoard guarded by a dragon in a barrow containing a secret passage, and it has been suggested that on entering Maes Howe the Vikings drew the dragon and wrote the runes because they were vividly reminded of the episode. There may, however, have been some factual element: one of the inscriptions states that the treasure was concealed north-west of the barrow, and in 1858 a cache of Viking silver ornaments was found at Sandwick, some way north from Maes Howe. Particularly interesting is an inscription in large, even runes, informing us that these were cut, 'with the axe which belonged to Gaukr Trandilsson in the South of Iceland'. The carver does not add his name, but, Hermann Palsson of Edinburgh University has used centuries old Icelandic poetry to establish his identity: he was Thorhallr Asgrimsson, named in the Orkneyinga Saga as captain of the ship that brought Earl Rognvaldr Kali back from the crusade to Orkney late in 1153, and great-great-great-grandson of Asgrimr Ellitha-Grimsson, named in Njals Saga as the slayer of Gaukt Trandilsson. The axe of the victim was kept as an heirloom by the killer's family for six generations, around 200 years, and was brought to Orkney by a direct descendant of Asgrimr. The tracing of its history is an astounding example of archaeological and scholarly detective work. The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends Westwood & Kingshill |
Posted by drewbhoy21st January 2024ce |
The Standing Stones of Stenness (Circle henge) — Folklore |
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Several eighteenth- and nineteenth- century sources describe ceremonies performed at the Ring Of Brodgar and the Stones Of Stenness. On the first day of the New Year, young people of the neighbourhood used to meet at the Kirk of Stenness, taking enough food with them to last four or five days. Pairs of lovers would then leave the rest of the party and go to the Stones Of Stenness, known as the Temple Of The Moon, where women would pray to Odin that he would enable them to perform the promises they made to the men; after that the couples would go to the Temple Of the Sun (the Ring Of Brodgar) where the men made similar prayers. They would then go the Stone of Odin, a standing stone with a round hole in it through which the couples would clasp hands and plight their troth, 'a pledge of love which to them was as sacred as a marriage vow'. The Archaeologia Scotica (1792) records the case of a young man who had got a girl pregnant then deserted her: The young man was then called before the session; the elders were particularly severe. Being asked by the minister the cause of so much rigour, they answered, you do not know what a bad man this is; he has broke the promise of Odin, they put him in mind of the Stone at Stenhouse with the round hole in it; and added, that it was customary, when promises were made, for the contracting parties to join hands through this hole, and the promises made were called the promises of Odin. It was further said that a child passed through the hole when young would never shake with palsy in old age. When visiting the stone it was customary to leave an offering of bread, cheese, a piece of cloth, or a pebble. The Ring Of Brodgar and Stones Of Stenness can still be seen, although many of the stones have fallen and are embedded in the ground. The Stone Of Odin, however, was removed in around 1814 by a farmer, not a native of Orkney, who was annoyed by the number of visitors coming to see it. He is said to have used the stone to build a cow-house, and although no supernatural punishment is reported to have followed, two unsuccessful attempts were made by aggrieved neighbours to set fire to his property. The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To The Legends Of Scotland Westwood & Kingshill |
Posted by drewbhoy 14th January 2024ce |
Ring of Brodgar (Circle henge) — News |
Ring of Brodgar: Temporary toilets ruled out for Orkney landmarkTemporary loos will not be installed at Orkney's famous Ring of Brodgar stone circle, despite concerns over "undesirable toileting behaviour". More info : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-67700871 |
Posted by drewbhoy 15th December 2023ce |
Ring of Brodgar: Concerns as visitors caught short at Orkney landmarkConcern has been expressed about "undesirable toileting behaviour" at Orkney's famous Ring of Brodgar stone circle. More info : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-67577908 |
Posted by drewbhoy 2nd December 2023ce |
Maeshowe (Chambered Tomb) — Folklore |
Excavation work began on the Brough of Birsay last week. Mr Drever is again in charge of the operations, and most of the workmen who worked there in previous seasons have been re-engaged. A good area has now been excavated on this site, but there is still a considerable area to explore, and one never knows what discoveries may be brought to light. It is an old belief that the treasure of Maeshowe was carried off in a north-westerly direction and hidden in some secret place, and, if there is any truth in the old legend, that treasure still remains to be discovered.A weirdly geographically specific tale from the Orkney Herald, 23rd June 1937. |
Posted by Rhiannon16th June 2023ce |
The Standing Stones of Stenness (Circle henge) — Images (click to view fullsize) |
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Posted by Ravenfeather19th April 2023ce |
Ness of Brodgar (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — News |
Orkney Neolithic project to carry out final digsAn archaeology project is to make its final excavation of a 5,000-year-old Neolithic site in Orkney next year. More info : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy05zdvv1zjo |
Posted by drewbhoy 9th March 2023ce |
New discoveries at Orkney's Ness of Brodgar Neolithic siteWhale bones and some of the UK's oldest steps are among new finds unveiled at the famous Ness of Brodgar Neolithic settlement in Orkney. More info : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-62594500 |
Posted by drewbhoy 19th August 2022ce |
Neolithic buildings in Orkney see light of day againArchaeologists have reopened a major ancient settlement in Orkney after Covid-19 stopped work on the site for three years. More info : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-62068094 |
Posted by drewbhoy 6th July 2022ce |
‘Every year it astounds us’: the Orkney dig uncovering Britain’s stone age cultureArchaeologists excavating the windswept Ness of Brodgar are unearthing a treasure trove of neolithic villages, tombs, weapons and mysterious religious artefacts, some to be displayed in a blockbuster exhibition If you happen to imagine that there’s not much left to discover of Britain’s stone age, or that its relics consist of hard-to-love postholes and scraps of bones, then you need to find your way to Orkney, that scatter of islands off Scotland’s north-east coast. On the archipelago’s Mainland, out towards the windswept west coast with its wave-battered cliffs, you will come to the Ness of Brodgar, an isthmus separating a pair of sparkling lochs, one of saltwater and one of freshwater. Just before the way narrows you’ll see the Stones of Stenness rising up before you. This ancient stone circle’s monoliths were once more numerous, but they remain elegant and imposing. Like a gateway into a liminal world of theatricality and magic, they lead the eye to another, even larger neolithic monument beyond the isthmus, elevated in the landscape as if on a stage. This is the Ring of Brodgar, its sharply individuated stones like giant dancers arrested mid-step – as local legend, indeed, has it. More: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/feb/15/orkney-ghosts-of-past-world-of-stonehenge-british-museum?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other |
Posted by ryaner15th February 2022ce |
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