The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study

This thesis provides detailed studies of settlement on four Faroese islands and in four districts of Shetland in order to isolate and explain differences and similarities between the two island groups. These studies examine topography, place-names, relationships with previous settlements, church dis...

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Main Author: Macgregor, Lindsay
Other Authors: Crawford, Barbara
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of St Andrews 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2728
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spelling ftstandrewserep:oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/2728 2023-07-02T03:32:17+02:00 The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study Macgregor, Lindsay Crawford, Barbara 630 2012-06-11T14:03:24Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2728 en eng University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2728 DA880.S5M2 Shetland (Scotland)--History Faroe (Scotland)--History Highlands (Scotland)--History Thesis Doctoral PhD Doctor of Philosophy 2012 ftstandrewserep 2023-06-13T18:26:23Z This thesis provides detailed studies of settlement on four Faroese islands and in four districts of Shetland in order to isolate and explain differences and similarities between the two island groups. These studies examine topography, place-names, relationships with previous settlements, church distribution, settlement expansion, inter-relationship of settlements and land assessments. The range of sources and methods are set out in the Introduction. The first Regional Study presents two districts of Western Norway, Fjaler and Gaular, which are discussed to illustrate some of the major trends of settlement in the homeland. Detailed studies are then made of settlements on the four Faroese islands of Fugloy, Streymoy, Sandoy and Suduroy and in the four Shetland districts of Fetlar, Delting, Walls and Sandness, and Tingwall. A section arranged thematically follows, bringing together results from the Regional Studies and referring more generally to the whole of Shetland and Faroe. This section examines three themes: firstly, the relationship between the Norse settlers and pre-Norse populations; secondly, the development of the Scattalds and bygdir; -and thirdly, naming patterns. Despite very great differences in the extent of settlement prior to the arrival of the Norse in Faroe and Shetland, primary settlement patterns are essentially similar. The Scattalds and bygdir represent comparable settlement districts and reflect similar agricultural requirements and responses to the landscape while primary settlement sites in both island groups generally feature good harbours and extensive cultivable land with topographical names descriptive of their coastal location. Secondary settlement expansion takes different forms in Faroe and Shetland, however, and this is reflected in nomenclature, in particular the absence of the habitative elements stadir, bolstadr and setr from Faroe. It is concluded that the absence or presence of habitative place-name elements is dependent on the nature of settlement expansion. Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Fugloy Fugloy* Sandoy Streymoy University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository Fugloy ENVELOPE(-6.305,-6.305,62.337,62.337) Norway Sandness ENVELOPE(18.500,18.500,69.317,69.317) Sandoy ENVELOPE(-6.776,-6.776,61.854,61.854) Streymoy ENVELOPE(-7.000,-7.000,62.133,62.133) Suduroy ENVELOPE(-6.830,-6.830,61.519,61.519)
institution Open Polar
collection University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository
op_collection_id ftstandrewserep
language English
topic DA880.S5M2
Shetland (Scotland)--History
Faroe (Scotland)--History
Highlands (Scotland)--History
spellingShingle DA880.S5M2
Shetland (Scotland)--History
Faroe (Scotland)--History
Highlands (Scotland)--History
Macgregor, Lindsay
The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
topic_facet DA880.S5M2
Shetland (Scotland)--History
Faroe (Scotland)--History
Highlands (Scotland)--History
description This thesis provides detailed studies of settlement on four Faroese islands and in four districts of Shetland in order to isolate and explain differences and similarities between the two island groups. These studies examine topography, place-names, relationships with previous settlements, church distribution, settlement expansion, inter-relationship of settlements and land assessments. The range of sources and methods are set out in the Introduction. The first Regional Study presents two districts of Western Norway, Fjaler and Gaular, which are discussed to illustrate some of the major trends of settlement in the homeland. Detailed studies are then made of settlements on the four Faroese islands of Fugloy, Streymoy, Sandoy and Suduroy and in the four Shetland districts of Fetlar, Delting, Walls and Sandness, and Tingwall. A section arranged thematically follows, bringing together results from the Regional Studies and referring more generally to the whole of Shetland and Faroe. This section examines three themes: firstly, the relationship between the Norse settlers and pre-Norse populations; secondly, the development of the Scattalds and bygdir; -and thirdly, naming patterns. Despite very great differences in the extent of settlement prior to the arrival of the Norse in Faroe and Shetland, primary settlement patterns are essentially similar. The Scattalds and bygdir represent comparable settlement districts and reflect similar agricultural requirements and responses to the landscape while primary settlement sites in both island groups generally feature good harbours and extensive cultivable land with topographical names descriptive of their coastal location. Secondary settlement expansion takes different forms in Faroe and Shetland, however, and this is reflected in nomenclature, in particular the absence of the habitative elements stadir, bolstadr and setr from Faroe. It is concluded that the absence or presence of habitative place-name elements is dependent on the nature of settlement expansion.
author2 Crawford, Barbara
format Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
author Macgregor, Lindsay
author_facet Macgregor, Lindsay
author_sort Macgregor, Lindsay
title The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
title_short The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
title_full The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
title_fullStr The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
title_full_unstemmed The Norse settlement of Shetland and Faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
title_sort norse settlement of shetland and faroe, c.800-c.1500: a comparative study
publisher University of St Andrews
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2728
op_coverage 630
long_lat ENVELOPE(-6.305,-6.305,62.337,62.337)
ENVELOPE(18.500,18.500,69.317,69.317)
ENVELOPE(-6.776,-6.776,61.854,61.854)
ENVELOPE(-7.000,-7.000,62.133,62.133)
ENVELOPE(-6.830,-6.830,61.519,61.519)
geographic Fugloy
Norway
Sandness
Sandoy
Streymoy
Suduroy
geographic_facet Fugloy
Norway
Sandness
Sandoy
Streymoy
Suduroy
genre Fugloy
Fugloy*
Sandoy
Streymoy
genre_facet Fugloy
Fugloy*
Sandoy
Streymoy
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2728
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