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A photoblog describing the walk to and around the Norse settlement at the Brough of Birsay.

St Magnus Church, founded at the site of the killing of Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney by an axe-blow to the head in ca. 1116 at the orders of his cousin Hákon Pálsson. This episode, referred to in Orkneyinga saga, is possibly corroborated…

Information board outside the Norse St Magnus Church on Egilsay, Orkney.

The Brough of Birsay was an important defensive site in Orkney from the earliest settlement. It was under Norse control from the ninth century, and most of the ruins on the Brough (ON Byrgisey, or 'Fort Island') date from this time. The causeway…

The Brough of Birsay was an important defensive site in Orkney from the earliest settlement. It was under Norse control from the ninth century, and most of the ruins on the Brough (ON Byrgisey, or 'Fort Island') date from this time. The causeway…

Peel Castle in the Isle of Man was originally constructed by the Norse King Magnus Barefoot, who reigned in the eleventh century. It incorporated an earlier celtic round-tower into the defences. Several important Viking Age finds have been recovered…

Photo by Ella Grødem - Visit Greenland

Hvalsey church was probably built in the early 14th Century, and is located in the Norse settlement of Hvalsey (modern Qaqortoq). There are some indications it was built on the site of an earlier Norse church. Photo by David Trood - Visit Greenland