Orkney Islands, Scotland

The Orkney Islands are a group of about 70 islands located approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of mainland Scotland in the United Kingdom. Separated from the Scottish mainland by a narrow strait called the Pentland Firth, the Orkney Islands are known for their isolation and rugged coastal scenery. The largest island in the group is known as Mainland, and is home to the archipelago's largest city and administrative capital, Kirkwall.

Mainland roughly divides the archipelago into its two primary regions: the North Isles and the South Isles. The Orkney Islands spread across an area of 376 square miles (975 square kilometers), and government records dating to 2022 put the total population of the Orkney Islands at 21,958. The people of the Orkney Islands are known as Orcadians, and they speak a unique dialect of English that bears the distinctive influences of the archipelago's Nordic history.

Brief History

The Orkney Islands have been inhabited for thousands of years, and monuments built by their ancient peoples still stand today. The oldest of these monuments date to the Neolithic Stone Age (c. 9000 BCE), and 5,000-year-old houses and burial places have also survived into the present. Orkney is home to nearly 3,000 Neolithic sites, with the best known being the prehistoric settlement of Skara Brae, which is widely considered to be the best-preserved antediluvian village of its kind in northern Europe.

Viking ships from Scandinavia reached the Orkney Islands in the eighth and ninth centuries CE, marking the beginning of about six centuries of Norse rule. In contrast to stereotypical portrayals of Viking warriors, the Vikings of the Orkney Islands largely lived a peaceful farming-based subsistence lifestyle. Viking rule continued in the Orkney Islands until 1468, when the Danish king Christian I ceded control of the islands to the Scottish king James III as part of a dowry arrangement. The Orkney Islands have remained under Scottish control ever since.

These centuries of Nordic rule had a profound effect on the culture, language, folklore, and traditions of the Orcadian people. Nordic influence can also be seen in the names of many of the islands, which frequently end in –a or -ay. This is a derivative of the Norse term ey, which means "island."

One of the most storied events in the history of Orkney under Scottish rule took place in 1528. After Orkney passed to Scottish control, agents of the Scottish crown were charged with collecting rents and dues from the islands' inhabitants. The Orcadian people eventually staged an uprising against Scotland's feudal authority, leading to a confrontation known as the Battle of Summerdale. To date, it was the last battle fought in the Orkney Islands.

Orcadians also spoke their own distinct language, Norn, until about the middle of the eighteenth century. Norn was a derivative of Old Norse, and a by-product of centuries of Viking inhabitance. While Norn is now an extinct tongue, its influence can still be heard in the Orcadian dialect of English spoken today. This dialect includes words, idioms, and turns of phrase passed down directly from Norn. In recent years, revivalists have instituted active efforts to preserve the Orcadian dialect, which had fallen into decline as the result of external influences.

Overview

The exact number of islands in the Orkney archipelago is a matter of debate, as some of its landforms are tiny, unoccupied islets known as skerries. Some counts include these skerries in the total number of islands, while others do not. Sixteen of the seventy-odd islands in the group are inhabited, and government records dating to 2022 put the total population of the Orkney Islands at 21,958.

More than half of the archipelago's total area is taken up by Mainland, which measures 202 square miles (523 square kilometers). Mainland's name is actually derived from Meginland, which was the Old Norse term for the archipelago's principal island. Mainland is unofficially divided into two sectors, which Orcadians refer to as East Mainland and West Mainland. Mainland can also be subdivided into its 13 traditional parishes: Birsay, Evie, Firth, Harray, Orphir, Rendall, Sandwick, Stenness, and Stromness in West Mainland, and Deerness, Holm, and St. Andrews in East Mainland. The final parish, St. Ola, encompasses the city of Kirkwall. Locals often use parish names when referring to general locations on Mainland.

Largely, the Orkney Islands are flat, rocky, and treeless. The ancient Orcadian peoples intentionally deforested the islands, and the archipelago's constant exposure to high winds has largely prevented trees from growing back. While many of Orkney's smaller islands and skerries have desolate landscapes, the larger islands in the group offer some of Scotland's most dramatic coastal panoramas. Orkney's 570 miles (917 kilometers) of coastline is often craggy and jagged, characterized by sharp inlets known as geos. These geos provide natural shelter and excellent habitats for numerous species of seabirds, which live in copious quantities in the archipelago.

One noteworthy exception to these geographic trends is the island of Hoy. Unlike the flat, gently sloping islands that make up most of the archipelago, Hoy has a rugged, hilly landscape. The highest point in the Orkney Islands, Ward Hill, is located on Hoy and reaches a maximum height of 1,578 feet (481 meters) above sea level.

Despite their northern location, the Orkney Islands have a relatively temperate climate, largely due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. During the winter, daytime high temperatures average out to about 41 degrees F (5 degrees C), while summer days usually reach 59 degrees F (15 degrees C). Temperatures rarely exceed 66 degrees F (19 degrees C), even during the warmest times of year. Fog, mist, and rain are common, and winds are near constant. However, snow is very rare, as Orkney's temperature rarely falls below the freezing mark.

Farming and fishing have historically made up most of the economic activity in the Orkney Islands. More recently, tourism has become an influential driver of the Orkney economy, and the archipelago is also actively developing a renewable energy industry that takes advantage of the islands' exposure to continuous winds.

Bibliography

Fleet, Chris. Scotland: Mapping the Islands. Birlinn Ltd., 2016.

Jesch, Judith. The Viking Diaspora. Routledge, 2015, pp. 24–27.

Johnson, Ben. "The History of Orkney and Shetland." Historic UK, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-History-of-Orkney-Shetland/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

Magnusson, Magnus. Scotland: The Story of a Nation. HarperCollins, 2016.

"Orkney Islands." Britannica Encyclopedia, 14 Jan. 2025, www.britannica.com/place/Orkney-Islands. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025. 

"Orkney Islands." City Population, citypopulation.de/en/uk/scotland/wards/S12000023‗‗orkney‗islands/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025. 

"Orkney Islands Factsheet." National Records of Scotland, 8 June 2016, www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/council-area-data-sheets/orkney-islands-factsheet.pdf. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

Ross, David. "Orkney Geography and Climate." Britain Express, www.britainexpress.com/scotland/Orkney/Orkney-Geography.htm. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.