Category: Orkney

The Winter Solstice: The World’s Oldest Festival

Dec 21, 2023 | Bride, Cailleach, Chambered cairn, Christmas and Yule, Druids, Fire Festivals, Hogmanay, Maeshowe, Neolithic, Orkney, Shetland, Wheel of the Year, Winter Solstice

The World’s Oldest Festival occurs at the Winter Solstice. The ancient ones were hunters and spent...

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Turning the Wheel of the Year

Sep 18, 2023 | Beltane, Calanais, Chambered cairn, Druids, Feasts, Quarter-days, Celebrations and the Celtic Calendar, Fire Festivals, Imbolc, Lughnasadh, Lunastral, Lammas, Maeshowe, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Orkney, Prehistory, Samhain and Halloween, Stenness, Stone Circle, Summer Solstice, Wheel of the Year, Winter Solstice

The turning of the wheel of the year is something which is always with us. At the summer solstice,...

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The Slaying of Saint Magnus

Apr 16, 2022 | Betrayals and Treachery, Dark History, Martyrs, Orkney, Protestant Reformation, Saint Magnus, Vikings

Saint Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney, is an old building. By 1919, it was in urgent need of...

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The Yules, Trows and a big helping of Superstition- The Old Festive Season in Scotland’s Northern Isles

Dec 29, 2020 | Christmas and Yule, Feasts, Quarter-days, Celebrations and the Celtic Calendar, Orkney, Shetland, Trows, Vikings, Winter Solstice

The Yules was the old festive celebration in Orkney and Shetland derived from the old Norse...

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Winter Solstice: Scottish Megaliths and the World’s Oldest Calendar

Dec 20, 2019 | Calanais, Chambered cairn, Maeshowe, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Orkney, Prehistory, Wheel of the Year, Winter Solstice

Anyone who has lived in Scotland can tell you that the Winter Solstice can be a tough time of the...

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Stoor Worm: Orkney’s Dragon

Dec 27, 2018 | Dragons, Myths and Legends, Orkney, Vikings

Does Orkney’s Tale of the Stoorworm have its origins in Viking Folklore? You may never have heard...

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