Author's Historical Notes: Saga of the Light Isles

VIKING AND PICT

l started writing the Saga of the Light Isles after reading about berserk warriors, sometimes called berserkers. In some old stories these fearsome fighting men tear off their clothes and rush into battle naked, becoming so frenzied by blood-lust that they chew holes in their own shields.

The name berserk comes from berserkir, or bear-shirts. Another name for this band of elite warriors was ulfhednar, or wolfskins.  This was most probably because they wore a cloak of wolf skin or bear skin over their standard tunic and breeches, though some stories attribute the name to their wolf-like behaviour, as if they were shaman warriors fighting in the guise of wild animals. There are also theories that the berserk warriors may have taken some form of hallucinogenic drug before charging into battle, as that could explain their complete lack of concern for their own safety. On the other hand, as loyal followers of the god Odin, they believed the call to battle was the only thing that mattered. To die bravely in combat meant a passage straight to the afterlife and a seat of honour at the god's right hand.

In Wolfskin, I have made my berserk warriors followers of Thor, who was a far more straightforward god than Odin, and much better attuned to the mind and culture of a professional soldier. I read several of the old Norse sagas and discovered that, far from the crazy and alarming creature we think of as a berserk, such a warrior was well-respected in his own time, though respect was inevitably tinged with fear.  To become a member of the Jarl's berserk force meant prestige, financial reward and popularity amongst your own people. Of course, it also guaranteed a short life, but that was balanced by the certainty of the god's favour.
A lot has been written about the Vikings: who they were, what they did, where they went. It's not for me to step into that arena, save to say that the activity of viking itself was highly seasonal - generally, a leader made two viking trips a year, in spring and autumn, and made sure he was at home for seeding and harvest. These raiders were also farmers, fishermen, and merchants. 

About the Picts we know a lot less. They left behind them a treasury of art work: decorative jewellery, carved symbol stones of ornate, imaginative detail, and archaeological remains of settlement in northern Scotland. The remnants of Pictish dwellings can be found in several parts of Orkney, notably at Gurness and on the Brough of Birsay, a tidal island off the north-west coast of Mainland. At Birsay the Pictish settlement  included a bronze workshop for making jewellery. The Pictish remains have been overlaid by a Norse settlement of some note - it had its own sauna.

The true history of the Picts, who had more or less vanished from the scene by 1000 AD, will probably never be known. We do have the Pictish Chronicle, which gives a list of kings and the dates of their reigns. We do know that the royal succession of the Picts was through the female line.  It's also understood that before the first Norsemen reached the shores of Orkney in the late eighth century, the people dwelling there were Pictish, owing a loose allegiance to the Pictish kings of northern Scotland, but maintaining considerable independence by virtue of their isolation. By the mid ninth century, the Norse were settled in Orkney and appointing their own Jarls as overlords of the islands. 

So what happened? Did the marauding Vikings take the islands by invasion and force, or did they simply find the place by chance, like it, and decide to settle down alongside the existing inhabitants? Wolfskin tells the story of what might have happened.

 

ORKNEY

The Saga of the Light Isles is set on and around the islands of Orkney, situated off the north coast of Scotland. Orkney is rich in history, and its ancient heritage has been sheltered by the isolated location. The remains of settlement date back to 4000 BC, and include the amazingly well preserved Neolithic village of Skara Brae nestled amongst the dunes, and the mysterious chamber of Maes Howe. Evidence of later habitation by Pictish tribes, and by the Viking explorers who sailed across in their longships and decided to settle, can be found in many parts of the islands. It's a magnet for historians and archaeologists. 

Responsibility for Orkney changed hands several times after Norse settlement in the late eighth century, passing between Norway, Denmark and Scotland. These days the islanders are proudly Orcadian: officially part of Scotland, but in truth very much their own people. They wear their history and folklore lightly, living their lives in the shadow of the great stone circles, the monoliths, the hidden chambers and massive fortified brochs of their ancestors. 
In the Saga of the Light Isles, I pay tribute to Orkney and its people. I don't attempt to recreate history: I use what is known to postulate what might have been. The Orkneyinga Saga, set down by an Icelandic chronicler in around 1200 AD, tells us the story of the Norse Jarls of Orkney, how they ruled, what battles they fought. But nobody knows what happened when the very first Norsemen came to that place in the western sea. Nobody knows what became of the folk who lived there before them: the Pictish tribes of the isles.

In this series I have created a story of how it might have been, loosely based on what is known about Pictish culture and belief and the settlement of Orkney. Many of the Pictish place names are my own inventions: the Whaleback, for instance, is the Brough of Birsay, Silver Bay is the Bay of Firth, and as Orkneyjar is the Norse name for the islands, I have given Nessa's people their own name for their homeland: the Light Isles. 

Wolfskin is essentially a story of colonisation and the clash of cultures. It is also the tale of a warrior sworn to serve until death, and what happens when he can no longer keep his vow. 

Link to Heritage of Orkney, Sigurd Towrie's comprehensive site on Orcadian history and folklore.

Link to Orkney Tourist Board site.