II. ON RUNE-INSCRIBED RELICS OF THE NORSEMEN IN SHETLAND. BY GILBERT OOUDIE, ESQ., F.S.A. SCOT. The history of the Shetland Islands (in common with that of the Orkneys) divides itself naturally into three distinct periods, viz.:— Pictise (I.Th ) h period, ending about A.D. 870; e (II.Norsth ) e period, from A.D. 870 to A.D. 1468; and (III.) the Scoto-Norse period, from A.V. 1468. It has heen my privilege, owing to incidental discoveries which have come undeable eyeb y o plac et o m rt , e befor e Societth e y on former occasions contemporaneous relics illustrating interesting fea- tures of the first and third of these periods.1 The rune-inscribed stone now presented furnishes occasion for the illustration of the second. It is obvious, from the results of archoeological investigation, that the native inhabitant f Orkneo s d Shetlanan y d attaine o meaha dn o nt d positio e scal th f ancien o en i n t civilisation n particularI . e Brochth , s 1 The Pictish period—(a) Notice of Excavations in a Broch and Adjacent Tumuli near Levenwick e paristh f Dunrossnessn o hi , , Zetland (" Proceedings," vol. ix . p. 212; (6) On Two Monumental Stones with Ogham Inscriptions, recently dis- covere n Shetlani d d ("Proceedings," vol. xii . e Scoto-Nors20)p . Th . e period —Notice of two Charters in the Norse Language, found among the Papers of the Sheriff Court of Shetland ("Proceedings," vol. xii. p. 472). ON RUNE-INSCRIBED NORSE RELICS IN SHETLAND. 137 or towers of strength, erected by them with a prodigious expenditure of meano n y b s unskilful labour, evinc econcentratioa f energno y for pur- pose f defenco s e which must excite wonde d admiratioan r ne eveth t na presen t e studydayTh . , too f ecclesiasticao , l relics, suc s sculptureha d and Ogham-inscribed monumental stones, which have been brought to light in recent years, furnishes evidence of their culture having been toned, if not altogether altered, in its character by the influence of Christianity, introduced by the followers of St Columba. Specimens of Fig. 1. St Ninian's Stone (edge). those early Christian monuments are here figured, for the purpose of exhibiting the distinction between them, as Celtic relics "with Oghamic inscriptions e rune-inscribeth d an , d e Norsemenrelicth f o s , whice ar h afterward e describedb o t s witd an ,h whice b caso n o t ehn i the e yar confounded. e language e kinTh th f 1character do d an s se th use n i d tw os radicall a racecaseo e tw ar o s e ywhictw th distinc e e hth ar s a t classe f monumentso s separately represent. yeae A.D.2 th 87 r n , I Harald Haarfagr accomplishe e unificatiodth f o n Norwa e decisivth t ya e battl f Hafursfiordeyearo w fe sa lated e an th r, irruption of the Norsemen under his leadership overthrew, with fire and sword e fugitivth , e Viking defieo s authoritwh shi d e Westerth n yi n Isles.2 The result of this conquest was the subjugation and absorption t thei no e Picts rth od f extinction.an , e ChristiaTh 3 n religions a , Both these stones, now in the Museum, were found in Shetland in 1876, and 1 were submitted to the Society, and described in my paper in vol. xii. of the "Proceed- . ings,20 . "p accoune th Orkneyinge e th n Se 2i t e Sag th Haralf aao n i Saga d dan ,Haarfagr . 3 It has been pointed out that the overwhelming preponderance in the Hebrides of place-name f Scandinaviao s n origin d stilan ,l more strikingl n Orkneyi Shetd yan - land, where Celtic place-name unknowne ar s ,e inferenc leadth o t s e thaPicte th t s were probably extirpated theis a , r local nomenclatur s beeneha ,e fro th face f mth o e country. But it is not strange that in thinly-peopled districts like these islands, 138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1879. already indicated, had previously gaine a footind g among themd an ; there is ground for believing that it t waaltogetheno s r destroyedt bu , tha t lingerei t e memorieth n di f o s the people, through their Pictish affinities, until, by a rude retribution, t i again reared s heait d ovee th r ruins of vanquished Odinism. Apart, however, froe probamth - bilities of the case, there is evidence —scant, it is true, but still signifi- cant—o e survivath f a Pictis f o l h original names should be lost sight of— overlaid by those conferred by a later domi- nant race, even though a residue of the earlier race remained knowe W r in.fo -, stance quickl Northow ,the yhin American States the map is covered with Anglo- Saxon names white pushen th s ema a e , sth E.ed Indian westward; but more particu- larle States thith i ye cas f th sn o i s e Southern America, wher e aboriginath e l races remain to a large extent coexistent or commixed wite descendantth h f theio s r conquerors, while most places known to us bear name f unmistakablo s y European complexion. Indeed Shetlandn i , e th t a , present day, the ancient Scandinavian name fase sar t perishing muco s t y b hno , any changgraduae th y racf b e o s l ea influ - ence of the English language, and the natu- l movementra e merth f eo s individual f so populatione th e musW .t bea n mindi r , too, that there were no written titles to iand r otheo , r documents preserves u o t d from the remote ages, to stereotype such Fig. 2. Lunnasting Stone (face.) names, as has been the case in later times. ON KUNE-IXSCR1BKD NORSE REMCS IN SHETLAND. 139 remnant. Among others, it may be mentioned that on the spot where the rune-inscribed Norse memorial stones—t afterwarde oh s described— were found, several unmistakabl ee Pictisrelicth e havf o shag e been brough o t lightt , including fragment f o sculptures d Oghaman d - inscribed stones, undoubtedly Celtic and Christian. The inference from these is—a continuity of occupation, a continuity of resort for the pur- pos f intermenteo e continuitth d an a ,recognise f yo d religious site from Pictish times througn o , invasioe hth d permanenan n t settlemene th f o t Norsemen, to our own day. It is scarcely possible to conceive such a survival of sacred sites and traditions among people of another race, language, and religion, coincident with the total extinction of the preceding rac whico t e h those sited traditionan s s belonged.1 Several instances are expressly mentioned in the Sagas of intermaniages between Norsemee th nativd an n e Celtic familieNorte th f Scotlann ho i s d an d elsewhere therd an ,s ever i e y reaso believo nt e thae samth t e took place in Shetland and Orkney. THE NORSE PERIOD. It is almost exclusively to the evidence furnished by the remains of the early ages that we are indebted for the limited knowledge we possess of the Pictish times to which I have referred. But the age of the Norseme islandse th n ni , embracin ga periohundrex si f do d years, from t withouo 1468t no A.n. 2 s i , 87 a literatur t e independent mannera n i , , of archaeology. The story of the Conquest, the lives of the island Jarls, e bloodth y e Vikingse home-lifraidth th e Odalmen f th d o s an f ,o e , were transmitted orally in songs and narrative for ages, until, in the e latehandth f r o ssaga-men , these assume e literarth d e y th for f mo Saga (histor havw no er story)ye o them e Orlcneyinc/aw s Th a ,. Saga, late eTh 1 Professor Munch seem havo t s e thought thaPicte th t s were "wholly absorbed" by the Norse settlers in Orkney and perhaps in Shetland ("Chronicle of Man, . xviii.)"p Georgr Si . e W. Dasen opinios thi gives a nt s i that originae "th l inhabitants were not expelled, but held in bondage as thralls" ("Burnt Njal," . clxxxivp . vol. i.). 0 14 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F SO , FEBRUAR , 1879Y10 . or History of the Earls of Orkney and Shetland, and the Saga of Earl Magnus Saint,e th compile earln a t yda Old-Northere datth n ei n tongue, contain a vivid portrayal of life and manners in those rude ages. It is rememberee b o t d that in these island region e languagth s civilisad an e - Latine th tio f o ns never penetrated excepservice th formularied n i te an s e Church oth whole fe boas th th d thi f es an o t;i s Gothic North—that its literature and civilisation are of purely native growth, independent e classicaoth f l influences which elsewhere were paramoun n Europei t . Consequently, Saga literatur s i characterisee a ruggednes y b da d an s simplicit n entiri y e harmony wite prevailinth h g aspec f o naturt e around t mosbu , t unlikpolise th complexitd o eht an classice th f yo . While these Saga valuable sar e historically, their importanc s showei n e greatlb o t y enhanced d theian , r picture f lifo s e illustratee th y b d material remain f thoso s e ages which have from tim o timt e e been disinterred.1 Few as these are, compared with the multitude of such remains winch have been found in Scandinavia, they aid us most materially n understandini e mos e th Sagasth g t d typicaan , l aspecf o t ancient northern life with whic e Sagahth s abound—roving expeditions sworde th f o .