“The Dark Backward and Abysm": The Orkneys in Books

Last night we were watching the returns from the referendum on independence for Scotland, The very first votes to be tallied and reported came in from the Orkneys, an archipelago of about 70 islands, 20 of which are inhabited, off the north coast of the Scottish mainland. The Orkneys were first settled by Paleolithic tribes, then by the Picts and in the 9^th century by the Viking invaders, and have many of the best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, including a number of extraordinary chambered tombs dating from 2800BC. “Many a proud lady, low stooping, has entered here.” reads an inscription on the wall of the most famous of these tombs, Maeshowe. This  sense of the harshness of life and the inevitability of death is a woven through the Orcadian character.

As George Mackay Brown, the Orkneys’ most notable poet and story-teller, has written: “Everywhere in Orkney there is the sense of age, the dark backward and abysm.”

The literature of the Orkneys stretches back at least 900 years. The Orkneyinga Saga, a 13^th century epic poem in the Icelandic tradition, relates the legends surrounding the Norse invasion of the Orkneys four centuries earlier. The poetry has that raw skaldic flavor, full of warfare and blood:

“Many blasts of horns were blowing,

Through the burgs when bold to battle

Rushed the ruler, while his banner

Fluttered bravely in the breeze.

‘Twas on a rainy Friday morning,

When the day scarce beamed for battle,

That the foeman fierce he scattered;

Weapons flew and wolves were fattened.”

Which brings us, at last, to books about the Orkneys. Books about the Orkneys are uncommon and are much sought after by Orcadians and by those who consider themselves part of the “Orcadian diaspora.” So if you are in a second-hand bookshop and spot a book related to Orkney life and lore, especially a vintage book, do pick it up!

And for contemporary Orcadian writing, see the blogposts of ‘Writing the North,’ dedicated to the literature of the Orkneys and the Shetland Islands.  http://www.writingthenorth.com/news-and-events/

The readers’ site ‘Good Reads’ has a page that highlights books set in the Orkneys, https://www.goodreads.com/places/2261-orkney-islands-scotland and ‘Books from Scotland’ has a useful list of notable Orkney writers, with biographical maps

http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Settings/Orkney\

If, by chance, you get interested in collecting books about the Orkneys or others of the Scottish islands, have a look at our collection at http://www.suttonbooksnorwich.com

from which the book pictured here have come.

Happy reading!