Sunday, 8/5/23, Lerwick, Shetland Island, Scotland

 Today for the first time I set foot on my ancestral homeland of Scotland.  And it may well be that my father’s Anderson family, with its Viking origins, came from the Shetland Islands. The Shetlanders identify more with the Norse than with Scotland.



Who were the Vikings? They were not a race nor an ethic group. The closest definition is “a group of uncivilized people from a foreign land.” But many of them were Scandinavian. The rule of inheritance was that all the family land and fortune went to the oldest child — whether male or female!  So what became of all the younger children?  They started a movement to explore and conquer. They developed a culture of warring “manliness.”  Bravery and valor were everything. It was far preferred to die fighting than to die in bed of old age.

We took a shore excursion to Jarlshof archaeological site.  I will post the interpretive signs first. You can easily read them by clicking and expanding them.








Since those were posted in no particular order, here are pictures of the site, also on no particular order. 😂 I am having a LOT of trouble with the blogger app today.

In the foreground is a garbage pit, showing they are mostly shellfish.



A Viking long house. Living quarters at one end, kitchen in the middle, and livestock at the other end.





Jarlshof was by far the most interesting excursion we’ve had so far!

On the way there we stopped above a beach where we saw porpoises far below playing in the water.  The road crossed the runway of the main airport, and we saw lots of lovely scenery.















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