The massive red sandstone St Magnus Cathedral looms over Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Islands. Inside lie the bones of Magnus Erlendsson, the Viking Earl of Orkney who, in the early 12th ...

From Sigurd the Mighty, the first real Earl of Orkney, to the fearsome warrior Thorfinn Skull-Splitter, Orkney has a rich array of characters that continue to inspire modern residents.

built by Earl Hakon and dedicated to St Nicholas. Picture: Destination Orkney | Other 3rd Party The area had been home to the Picts, with some believing Birsay was an important centre for Scotland ...

1. Bitten by a Dead Man // Sigurd Eysteinsson, Earl of Orkney (c875–892) Sigurd Eysteinsson’s life is a tale of Vikings, pirates, and treachery. But he’s perhaps best remembered for having ...

Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney and Lord of Zetland (Shetland) died on February 4 1593. He left behind a rather dark reputation which was later inherited by his son, Patrick. Robert was the ...

The local saint is not Andrew but Magnus (the first Earl of Orkney, martyred in 1116), whose colossal cathedral presides over the town of Kirkwall, its soft sandstone patterned over the centuries ...

The motto of the Earls of Orkney is Virtute non Verbis (By Courage, not Words). Last week, redheaded Private Cecil O’Bryen (“Ginger”) Fitz-Maurice, who became eighth Earl of Orkney only four ...

The great, hulking pile of red sandstone is a Viking monument to the Earl of Orkney, who offered himself for martyrdom rather than bring strife to his people. Kneeling in prayer, as the saga ...

The doomed earl's head was split in two by an axe ... discovered during renovations to St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall on Orkney. A University of Aberdeen professor and an Aberdeen church minister ...

Politeness, at the least, extends to Town Manager Jodi Ross, who, after a long pause, said she believes that Henry Sinclair, first earl of Orkney, did indeed traipse through the 14th-century ...