The Faeroe Islands and Orkney

Question 1

What year did Norse settlers arrive in Faeroes and how do we know this?

Answer 1

Around 800

Archaeological/ dendochronological dating, although it is hard in the faeroes as there aren’t many timber remains

Question 2

What is the topography of the Faeroes

Answer 2

The topography of the islands limits the settlement areas to the main coastal strip along the fjord
This affects archaeology as these are still the areas inhabited today

Question 3

Compare the faeroese landscape to Norway

Answer 3

The landscape in the faeroes is similar to western Norway, which means that much of the emigrants way of life was easily adapted to their new location, especially in terms of farming

Question 4

The faeroese agricultural system…

Answer 4

was very dependent upon animals and fishing

Question 5

what was the geopolitical result of the faeroese agricultural system

Answer 5

that the faeroes never became wealthy enough to support a true aristocracy, so no earls, and thus eventually came under Norwegian control due to proximity

Question 6

How do we know that not all of the faeorese settlers were Norwegian

Answer 6

the mitochondrial DNA of the current faeroese population suggests that 83% have gaelic maternal ancestry, whereas male ancestry is 87%

Question 7

what does the different gaelic/ scandinavian DNA percentages suggest

Answer 7

that the norse men came from gaelic settlements and brought gaelic wives with them

Question 8

how do we see the gaelic influence in the faeroes

Answer 8

1. through toponymy; the use of the word ærgi (which is irish) as opposed to the norse ‘sætr’
2. pottery; also shows gaelic influence. Pottery found at sørvágur reflects the northern irish style
3. gaelic contingent also probably christian; hence two wooden crosses discovered at Toftanes

Question 9

Christianity in the Faeroes…

Answer 9

The Gaelic contingent was probably christian, hence the discovery of two wooden crosses at Toftanes which suggest that Christianity began to be established in the Faeroes at the beginning of the 10th century.

But a fixed diocese wasn’t established until the 12th century

Question 10

Discuss: The Saga of the Faeroes

Answer 10

The Saga of the Faeroes is a work describing the events in the faeroes before 1000, most of which are connected with the introduction of Christianity
. But the account was written c.1200 and is presumably based on traditional Faeroese stories; but this is impossible to verify

Question 11

How did the Norse find/ know about the Faeores

Answer 11

may have stumbled upon them or may have heard about them from the irish

Question 12

The orkneys v the faeroe settlement: difference in terms of POPULATION

Answer 12

The faeroes were uninhabited when the Norse arrived
V
Orkney was inhabited by Christian picts who had well established farms and churches

Question 13

The orkneys v the faeroe settlement: difference in terms of : RESOURCES

Answer 13

The Faeroes are small and have little land which is suitable for growing grain. But there is quite a lot of land for grazing and plenty of fish and birds.
There are few trees and no iron

V
The Orkneys are similar but larger, and with trees and iron only a few miles away

Question 14

The orkneys v the faeroe settlement: difference in terms of : LOCATION

Answer 14

The Faeroes are close to Norway and are easily controlled from there
V
Orkneys are further from Norway but closer to Scotland and Ireland. The Orkneys are in a strategic location for self sufficiency and this combined with its size, and good for trading and raiding: Norse rulers had considerable independence

Question 15

The sources for the settlement of the Faeroes and the Orkneys (7 THINGS)

Answer 15

1. Toponymy
2. Archaeological evidence
3. Geologic evidence
4. Íslendingabók and Landnamabók
5. Dícuil
6. Coins
7. Palaeobiological evidence

Question 16

Discuss archaeological evidence

Answer 16

Helps to establish where the Scandis reached and when (ALTHOUGH establishing particular dates can be problematic)

Question 17

Discuss Geological evidence

Answer 17

i.e. chronologies established by ice cores

Question 18

Discuss palaeobiological evidence

Answer 18

i.e. pollen analysis and the identification of animal remains

Question 19

Discuss Dícuil

Answer 19

He provides the earliest written source from c.825
He was an Irish geographer at the Frankish court.
He describes and expedition by Irish clerics to Iceland 795 where they met no Vikings.
He also gives a detailed account of the Faroes and says they’d been inhabited by irish hermits since 725 (and indeed it has recently been shown that there were 2 pre-viking stages of habitation)

Question 20

Why is toponymy useful

Answer 20

it provides evidence of cultural relations that help to establish the origins and affiliations of settlements

Question 21

Discuss place names on the Orkneys

Answer 21

Norse place names reflect a Christian presence
They used the name-element ‘papa’ to designate sites where there were/ had been priests or hermits—- The remains of a chapel from before 975 have also been found at Deerness

Question 22

When did the settlement of the orkneys begin

Answer 22

many norse pagan graves dating between c.850-c.950

James Barrett thinks that settlement began in the mid 9th century

Question 23

What are the two theories as to what happened to the Christian picts who had been living on the orkneys

Answer 23

war theory and peace theory

Question 24

Discuss war theory….

Answer 24

War theory suggests that the norse settlement of Orkney must have resulted in a virtually complete pictish depopulation of the islands.
the absence of any pre-norse place names is seen as indicator of the extent to which the picts were overwhelmd

Question 25

Discuss peace theory…

Answer 25

Some argue that the two populations co-existed evacuations indicate there was some continuity between pictish and norse artefacts: the site of Buckquoy has unearthed combs and pins of indigenous pre-viking style recovered under a 10th century pagan grave
—- AN OCCURRENCE OF INDIGENOUS AND SCANDI MATERIAL CULTURE

Question 26

Discuss the actual settlement of the Orkneys

Answer 26

It seems that the irish-norse settlement was established first, with the Orkney settlement coming afterwards.
They moved for the perceived economic opportunities and with support from the migrants already in place in Ireland.
Archaeology indicates evidence for settlement as opposed to raiding

Question 27

What percentage of the modern Orkney population have scandi ancestry

Answer 27

30%- a significant but not overwhelming norse presence.
The norse seem to have established a society with at least an underlying Christian element, practised by the Gaelic population.

Question 28

What did the landscape of the Orkneys mean in terms of the geo-political landscape

Answer 28

The orkneys have a lot of land suitable for farming (more than the Faeroes)
This means that the settlement of the Orkneys became wealthy enough to support an earldom of considerable size
The norse earls appear to have maintained their paganism , and there is evidence of a high level of grave goods.