THE ORKNEYS AND SHETLAXDS 



209 



ancient sheep whose coat has 

 become scraggly with age and 

 exposure to the weather. 



Xorth of the Ring of Sten- 

 ness was the famous stone of 

 Odin, which differed from the 

 others chiefly in having a hole 

 through it. 



A STRANGE WEDDING CERE- 

 MONY 



It was once the custom of 

 the people living near by to 

 gather on the first of each new 

 year at the Kirk of Stenness 

 for a celebration of feasting 

 and dancing which continued 

 several days, or as long as the 

 provisions lasted. This in- 

 spired many of the young 

 people to get married, and 

 they would slip away to the 

 Circle of the Moon, where 

 the woman knelt down and 

 prayed to Odin, or Woden, to 

 help her to be faithful to the 

 man, after which they went to 

 the Circle of the Sun, where 

 the man performed a similar 

 ceremony. Then they re- 

 paired to the Stone of Odin, 

 clasped hands through the 

 hole, and pledged mutual 

 fidelity. 



Such a marriage was con- 

 sidered so binding that even 

 after the death of one of the 

 parties the survivor could ob- 

 tain release only by touching 

 the dead body — a somewhat 

 inconvenient requirement in 

 case of prior separation ; but the only 

 alternative was that if the survivor mar- 

 ried again he or she would be obliged to 

 entertain the former spouse's ghost at the 

 wedding. There was, however, another 

 way of escape, provided the couple agreed 

 to disagree. They had only to go into 

 the kirk and walk out, one by the south 

 door and one by the north, and the tie 

 was effectually dissolved. 



The Stone of Odin was visited by Sir 

 Walter Scott in 1814, and he made a ro- 

 mantic use of it in "The Pirate." In the 

 same year a neighboring farmer broke it 

 up, with several other stones from the 

 Ring of Stenness, to build a foundation 



Photograph by Thomas Kent 



A DESCENDANT OF THE VIKINGS 



In the summer, when the fishing business is active, the 

 Orcadian is a busy individual, but during the long winter 

 time hangs heavily on his hands. 



for his cow-house, for which act of van- 

 dalism he was properly boycotted and 

 driven out of the country. 



There is nothing about the stones them- 

 selves that is wonderful. Anybody could 

 erect similar circles with modern appli- 

 ances. But these monuments were here 

 when the Norsemen landed and were 

 probably at least three centuries old even 

 then. They have stood for 1,400 years. 

 They were doubtless quarried with stone 

 implements and set in place by. the exer- 

 tion of sheer brute force. Their history 

 is shrouded in obscurity, their very pur- 

 pose a mere conjecture. They are a part 

 of the mystery of the islands. 



