Islanders

This month the Stromness Library Reading Group will be discussing Islanders by Margaret Elphinstone. 

Set on 12th-century Fridarey (Fair Isle) Islanders tells the story of Astrid, the only survivor of a shipwreck, and her struggle to come to terms with her new home amongst the small community with all its tensions and conflict. 

As well as a glimpse into a different time and culture the book offers a different view of the world in a time where all travel was at the mercy of wind and tide. A map at the front of the book reverses the usual north/south orientation and  offers a new perspective on Orkney's place in the world. Rather than remote, we now see Orkney as a central point in the Norse world, sitting in the middle of the trading routes from Norway to Ireland. 

The islanders of Fridarey owe their allegiance to the Earl of Orkneyjar, and Kirkjavagr with its cathedral to St Magnus is  talked of as a seat of power and riches. Much of the wealth of Orkneyjar comes from the activities of the 'Orkneyjar pirates'  and Snorri Hakonsson, Fridarey's smith has returned to the island a cripple having fought alongside the infamous Svein Asleifarson who, 'keeps eighty men in Gareksy all winter, and when he goes to sea [...] mans at least four longships'. 

Come along to the library on Wednesday 25th September at 7pm for a lively discussion of the book and its view of the Norse world. New members very welcome, there will be tea and coffee and, as far as we know, no Orkneyjar pirates!

Travel North

We thought our readers might be interested in an online event which will also include a physical venue in Orkney. On Wednesday 28th August the Northern Studies Virtual Conference 2013 will take place and this year's theme is Travel North. Speakers from across Britain and Europe, including three from Orkney, will give papers on a range of subjects from Archaeology to Literature and these will include several with a direct connection to Orkney.

You can download the full conference programme from the NSVC website to see the full range of subjects being covered but those of particular interest to our local readers might be a paper on Busta House in Shetland, one on North Ronaldsay, and one looking at Orkney as a fictional location in literature.

Guest speaker at the conference will be Dr Louise Sørensen from the University of Sheffield whose talk Virtually impossible? The challenges of connecting Norwegian-Americans to their heritage in a 3D environment, will give an insight into her work on the Ola Nordmann project,  which uses virtual reality to recreate the experiences of Norwegian emigrants to America during the nineteenth century.

There is the possibility for folk to view the conference by arranging to connect from your own computer, for details about this please contact the organisers via email: northernstudiesvirtualconference@yahoo.com

However for those who can get to Orkney College on the day you will be very welcome to join the Orkney speakers in the college's conference room, where you can watch the conference proceedings and take part in the question and answer sessions at the end of each panel. There is no obligation to stay for the whole event - you can just drop in for individual panels.

Of course if any of the papers spark your interest, and you want to find out more about any of the  subjects, then your local library should be your first port of call.