Orkney Folk Tales

The Orkney Islands are a place of mystery and magic, where the past and the present meet, ancient standing stones walk and burial mounds are the home of the trows. Orkney Folk Tales walks the reader across invisible islands that are home to fin folk and mermaids, and seals that are often far more than they appear to be. Here Orkney witches raise storms and predict the outcome of battles, ghosts seek revenge and the Devil sits in the rafters of St Magnus Cathedral, taking notes! Using ancient tales told by the firesides of the Picts and Vikings, storyteller Tom Muir takes the reader on a magical journey where he reveals how the islands were created from the teeth of a monster, how a giant built lochs and hills in his greed for fertile land, and how the waves are controlled by the hand of a goddess.

TOM MUIR is a professional storyteller who was born and raised in the Orkney Islands on a small farm by the sea. He has worked in the field of archaeology and at the Orkney Museum, where he writes exhibitions and advises and appears on TV programmes, radio, newspapers and magazines. He is a well-travelled storyteller and has authored many books on folk tales and history, and he runs the Orkney Storytelling Festival.