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Shetland: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Geology And Geography —
Shetland.
~10 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
The archipelago known as Shetland lies between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. It marks the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands sit about 100 miles to the northeast of Orkney and 250 miles from mainland Scotland. They are also roughly 300 miles west of Norway. This location places them at a border between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area covers approximately 974 square miles. A coastline stretching over 600 miles defines its rugged edges. Only sixteen of about one hundred islands remain inhabited today. The largest island is called Mainland. It holds an area of 580 square miles. This makes it the fifth-largest island in the British Isles. Other significant islands include Yell, Unst, and Fetlar to the north. Bressay and Whalsay lie to the east. Smaller islands like East Burra, Muckle Roe, and Papa Stour cluster to the west. Fair Isle sits south-west of Sumburgh Head. Out Skerries extends to the east. Lerwick serves as the capital and largest settlement with a population of nearly seven thousand people. About half of the total archipelago population lives within five miles of this town. Scalloway on the west coast was the capital until 1708. Its population now numbers fewer than one thousand. The geology here is complex with numerous faults and fold axes. These islands form the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny. Outcrops of Lewisian, Dalradian, and Moine metamorphic rocks exist alongside Old Red Sandstone deposits. Granite intrusions also appear throughout the landscape. A distinctive feature is the ophiolite found in Unst and Fetlar. This rock type represents a remnant of the Iapetus Ocean floor. It consists of ultrabasic peridotite and gabbro. Geological evidence suggests a massive tsunami struck Shetland around 6100 BC. This event resulted from the Storegga Slide off the coast of Norway. Waves may have reached heights of up to thirty meters in voes where modern populations reside today. Ronas Hill stands as the highest point at 450 meters above sea level. Pleistocene glaciations covered the entire islands during that period. A glacial erratic weighing two thousand tonnes rests on a hilltop in Lunnasting called Stanes of Stofast. Approximately 275 sea stacks dot Scotland's coasts. Around 110 of these stand along Shetland shores. Many lack any record of climbing attempts.
Prehistoric Settlements
Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period. A midden site at West Voe on the south coast of Mainland provides the first evidence of this activity. Dates for this site range between 4320 and 4030 BC. The same location offers dates for early Neolithic activity. Finds at Scord of Brouster in Walls date back to 3400 BC. Stone tools known as Shetland knives were made from felsite found in Northmavine during this era. Pottery shards discovered at Jarlshof indicate Neolithic activity there. The main settlement at Jarlshof dates from the Bronze Age. It includes a smithy, wheelhouses, and a later broch. Evidence shows habitation continued through various phases up until Viking times. Heel-shaped cairns are chambered tombs unique to Shetland. A particularly large example exists in Vementry. Numerous brochs were erected during the Iron Age. Significant ruins remain at Clickimin, Culswick, Old Scatness, and West Burrafirth. Their origin and purpose remain controversial among scholars. Mousa holds the finest preserved example of an Iron Age broch. In 2011, the collective site called The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland joined the UKs Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. This group includes Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness, and Jarlshof. The late Iron Age inhabitants were likely Pictish. Historical records regarding them remain sparse. King Bridei I of the Picts ruled in the sixth century AD. His influence over Shetland appears distant according to Hunter. Recent scholarship by Allen Fraser identifies an archaeological discontinuity of approximately 250 years between the last securely dated occupied Pictish structures and earliest permanent Norse settlements. This gap suggests population collapse or abandonment prior to Norse arrival.
Norse Colonization
Shetland was colonized during the late eighth and ninth centuries. Expanding Scandinavian populations led to resource shortages and arable land scarcity. This drove a period of Viking expansion from plundering to invasion. Norse settlers gradually shifted their attention toward these islands. The fate of existing indigenous Pictish populations remains uncertain. Modern DNA studies indicate Shetlanders are just under half Scandinavian in origin. Sizeable amounts of Scandinavian ancestry appear in both patrilineal and matrilineal lines. Studies report 68 percent Scandinavian ancestry in Shetland compared to 55 percent in Orkney. Vikings used the islands as a base for pirate expeditions against Norway and mainland Scotland coasts. Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre annexed the Northern Isles in 875. Rognvald Eysteinsson received the Earldom of Orkney which then included Shetland. He passed the earldom to his brother Sigurd the Mighty. Sigurd conquered further territory by his death in 892. By that time, the earldom stretched from Shetland down to Caithness and Sutherland on mainland Britain. The islands converted to Christianity in the late tenth century. King Olaf I Tryggvason summoned jarl Sigurd the Stout during a visit to Orkney. He ordered all subjects to be baptized or face death and ravaging with fire and steel. Sigurd agreed immediately. The islands became Christian at once. In 1194, Earl Harald Maddadsson faced rebellion against King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway. Eyjarskeggjar sailed for Norway but were defeated in the Battle of Florvåg near Bergen. King Sverre placed Shetland under direct Norwegian rule in 1195. This created the Lordship of Shetland separate from the earldom of Orkney.
Scottish Annexation
From the mid-thirteenth century onwards Scottish monarchs sought control over surrounding islands. Alexander II began this strategy followed by successor Alexander III. Haakon IV Haakonsson led an invasion of Scotland resulting in the Battle of Largs. A stalemate occurred there before he retreated to Orkney where he died in December 1263. His death halted further Norwegian expansion. The Hebrides and Mann were yielded to Scotland via the 1266 Treaty of Perth. Scots recognized continuing Norwegian sovereignty over Orkney and Shetland. Jon Haraldsson murdered in Thurso in 1231 was the last Norse jarl. Thereafter earls were Scots noblemen from houses of Angus and St Clair. On the death of Haakon VI in 1380 Norway formed a political union with Denmark. Royal interest in the islands declined thereafter. In 1469 both Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I as security against payment of his daughter Margaret's dowry. She was betrothed to James III of Scotland. As money was never paid the connection became permanent. William Sinclair ceded his title to James III in 1470. Northern Isles were directly absorbed by the Crown of Scotland the following year. This action was confirmed by Parliament of Scotland in 1472. Grohse demonstrates that under Norwegian constitutional practice monarchs lacked authority to alienate Shetland without consent of Council of the Realm. The pledge explicitly provided for redemption but did not transfer sovereignty. Danish-Norwegian Crown repeatedly maintained pledge remained redeemable. Redemption was rejected by Scottish Crown. Sovereignty was never lawfully transferred by treaty or sale.
Modern Economy
Today main revenue producers include agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, renewable energy, petroleum industry, creative industries, and tourism. Oil and gas were first landed in 1978 at Sullom Voe. It has since become one of largest terminals in Europe. Taxes from oil have increased public sector spending on social welfare, art, sport, environmental measures, and financial development. Three-quarters of workforce is employed in service sector. Shetland Islands Council accounted for 27.9 percent of output in 2003. Balance of fund in 2011 reached £217 million. This equals about £9,500 per head. Fishing remains primary sector with total catch valued over £73.2 million in 2009. Atlantic mackerel makes up more than half catch by weight and value. Significant landings occur of haddock, cod, herring, whiting, monkfish, and shellfish. Plans exist to expand aquaculture offerings in Yell. Unst hosts SaxaVord Spaceport formerly known as Shetland Space Centre. A February 2021 news item indicated German rocket manufacturer HyImpulse Technologies planned launches starting in 2023. Viking Wind Farm signed partnership agreement in January 2007. It involves 200 turbines producing about 600 megawatts. Project contributes roughly £20 million annually to economy. In August 2024 completion of first part connected Shetland to mainland National Grid via 600 MW HVDC link. PURE project in Unst uses wind power and fuel cells to create wind-hydrogen system. ORION project aims to establish energy hub using clean electricity for blue and green hydrogen generation. Government plans investment of £100 million in hydrogen sector. Shetland Charitable Trust funds wide variety local programmes. Crofting farming small plots legally restricted tenancy basis remains key tradition. Crops raised include oats and barley despite harsh environment. Fair Isle design well known knitwear faces challenges due to plagiarism. Certification trademark The Shetland Lady registered to protect industry.
Cultural Heritage
Almost every place name traces back to Vikings. Norn language spoken until eighteenth century gradually replaced by insular Scots dialect called Shetlandic. This is now being replaced by Scottish English. Few written sources remain though influences persist in Insular Scots dialects. Lerwick Up Helly Aa fire festival held annually middle winter last Tuesday January. Festival just over one hundred years old highly organized form. Originally held break long nights winter mark end Yule. Now celebrates isles heritage includes procession men dressed as Vikings burning replica longship. Forty Fiddlers formed 1950s promote traditional fiddle style vibrant part local culture today. Notable exponents include Aly Bain, Jenna Reid, Fiddlers Bid, late Tom Anderson, Peerie Willie Johnson. Thomas Fraser country musician never released commercial recording life work popular more than twenty years after death 1978. Annual Shetland Folk Festival began 1981 hosted first weekend May. Walter Scott 1822 novel The Pirate set remote part Shetland inspired 1814 visit. Name Jarlshof meaning Earl Mansion coinage his. Robert Cowie doctor born Lerwick published 1874 work Hugh MacDiarmid lived Whalsay mid-1930s through 1942 wrote many poems directly address reflect environment On A Raised Beach inspired visit West Linga. 1975 novel North Star Hammond Innes largely set Shetland Raman Mundair 2007 poetry book Choreographer Cartography offers British Asian perspective landscape. Shetland Quartet Ann Cleeves series crime novels set islands Red Bones became basis BBC crime drama television series Shetland. Vagaland grew Walls arguably finest poet twentieth century Haldane Burgess historian poet novelist violinist linguist socialist Rhoda Bulter best-known recent times poets Christine De Luca Robert Alan Jamieson Sandness Lollie Graham Veensgarth Stella Sutherland Bressay William J Tait Yell Laureen Johnson Roseanne Watt. One monthly magazine production Shetland quarterly New Shetlander founded 1947 Scotland longest-running literary magazine. Real ale-producing Valhalla Brewery most northerly Britain. Shetland Black blue potato dark skin indigo-coloured flesh markings. Cuisine based locally produced lamb beef seafood some organic. Shetland has three national nature reserves seabird colonies Hermaness Noss Keen Hamar preserve serpentine flora. Eighty-one SSSIs cover 66 percent land surfaces Fair Isle Papa Stour Fetlar Noss Foula Mainland forty-five separate sites. Shetland mouse-ear endemic flowering plant found only Shetland first recorded 1837 botanist Thomas Edmondston currently grows two serpentine hills island Unst. Shetland Monkeyflower unique mutation introduced nineteenth century. Brown rat house mouse two rodent species present archipelago fourth endemic subspecies Shetland field mouse variants Apodemus sylvaticus varieties Yell Foula Fair Isle archaeological evidence suggests species present Middle Iron Age around 200 BC to 400 CE. Diminutive Shetland pony probably best known indigenous breed important farming tradition. First written record pony 1603 Court Books Shetland strongest all horse breeds size. Shetland Sheepdog Sheltie endangered Shetland cattle goose sheep believed originated prior 1000 AD Grice semi-domesticated pig attacked lambs extinct middle nineteenth century 1930s.
Shetland lies between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. It marks the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
When did Shetland become part of Scotland?
The islands were pledged by Christian I in 1469 as security for his daughter Margaret's dowry to James III of Scotland. The connection became permanent when money was never paid and Parliament confirmed absorption in 1472.
What is the highest point on Shetland?
Ronas Hill stands as the highest point at 450 meters above sea level. Pleistocene glaciations covered the entire islands during that period.
Who colonized Shetland during the late eighth and ninth centuries?
Norse settlers gradually shifted their attention toward these islands from expanding Scandinavian populations. Modern DNA studies indicate Shetlanders are just under half Scandinavian in origin.
How many islands remain inhabited today?
Only sixteen of about one hundred islands remain inhabited today. The largest island is called Mainland with an area of 580 square miles.