What can archaeology, old songs, parish churches, sagas and folk memories tell us about the people who lived in Orkney hundreds of years ago?
Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon features in Tom Muir’s latest podcast, where they talk about the stories, songs, beliefs and archaeological remains that help us understand how Orkney became the place it is today.
From the Christianisation of Norse Orkney and the mysterious little churches found beside ancient settlements and “watery places”, to the contested question of where St Magnus was originally buried, Sarah Jane brings archaeology and historical research together with the living traditions of the islands.
They talk about Orkneyinga Saga, parish churches, medieval power and status, healing wells, the trauma of the Reformation, the Orkney witch trials, and the ways that folk memory can continue to influence historical research.
And then the conversation turns to song.
Along the way, there are stories of archaeological adventures, midges, middens, trolls, ghosts, a mysterious stone with a double footprint, and what it might mean to look at medieval Orkney through medieval eyes rather than our own.
