This morning's commute
March 11, 2025 at 3:26 PM
This morning's commute
... Gairsay in the distance!
April 9, 2025 at 6:32 PM
... Gairsay in the distance!
Aboard the Eynhallow, gazing at Gairsay (home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in #OrkneyingSaga) on my way back to Rousay, after a brilliant day in @orkneylibrary.bsky.social #Archives looking at monumental inscriptions, Mackenzie's copy of the Uthell Book & the 1492 Rental #Place-Names
April 27, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Aboard the Eynhallow, gazing at Gairsay (home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in #OrkneyingSaga) on my way back to Rousay, after a brilliant day in @orkneylibrary.bsky.social #Archives looking at monumental inscriptions, Mackenzie's copy of the Uthell Book & the 1492 Rental #Place-Names
Gairsay, home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in the #Saga of the Earls of #Orkney!... Will we see the caves in which he hid from Earl Haraldr as we pass Greenholm!? open.substack.com/pub/uonengli...
September 21, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Gairsay, home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in the #Saga of the Earls of #Orkney!... Will we see the caves in which he hid from Earl Haraldr as we pass Greenholm!? open.substack.com/pub/uonengli...
Today I've been prowling around on the SW coast of #Rousay looking at places and their names. This is the pier at Geo of Romps below Hullion in Frotoft, with Gairsay in the distance. #PlaceNames. Marwick notes that the name, recorded on the OS map, is unknown locally #Orkney
April 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Today I've been prowling around on the SW coast of #Rousay looking at places and their names. This is the pier at Geo of Romps below Hullion in Frotoft, with Gairsay in the distance. #PlaceNames. Marwick notes that the name, recorded on the OS map, is unknown locally #Orkney
3 Aug 1944 // HM Trawler Gairsay, on patrol off Ouistreham, Normandy, was sunk by a German explosive motor boat at 3.25am. The sound of an engine was heard just before the explosion, but no evasive action could be taken. There were 10 survivors from her 41 crew. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory
August 3, 2026 at 11:04 AM
3 Aug 1944 // HM Trawler Gairsay, on patrol off Ouistreham, Normandy, was sunk by a German explosive motor boat at 3.25am. The sound of an engine was heard just before the explosion, but no evasive action could be taken. There were 10 survivors from her 41 crew. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory
And of course both Rousay (Hrólfsey) and Gairsay (Gáreksey) occur several times in #OrkneyingaSaga... nice to see the skáli name too!
Another fruitful day in the #Archives… this time in Edinburgh. Particularly like this little entry in a 1694-1696 document for #Gairsay & #Rousay. #PlaceNames underlined for convenience. Nice to see two spellings of Saviskaill just a few lines apart! Transcript in the Alt Text should you want it!
![Original manuscript document reading:
[Margin]
Gairsey & Eg
ilshay heretors
[Main Text]
Hendrie Corssie in Gooe cottar
Heugh coupar in Vacquoye cottar
himself and his wyfe
Thomas Craigie In Sabaskaill
himself and his wyfe two
men s(e)rvants & two woamen
servants
James Brand in Felquoye
and his wife
Thomas Bewes in Hawatua’
cottar to Savaskaill and his
wyfe](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dznhj3q3zumqawrrehi2cmkv/bafkreibgplz7lsncayultyjrajn5czyo5rs3hf5f3o2xkp4fij4tisdi64)
April 14, 2025 at 6:20 PM
And of course both Rousay (Hrólfsey) and Gairsay (Gáreksey) occur several times in #OrkneyingaSaga... nice to see the skáli name too!
Sunrise - Moonset theorkneynews.scot/2025/07/28/s...
Sunrise – Moonset
By Bernie Bell 7th of July, 4.30 am. Sunrise over Gairsay. 11th of July, @3.30 am. Moon-set over Keelylang & the Orphir Hills.
theorkneynews.scot
July 28, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Sunrise - Moonset theorkneynews.scot/2025/07/28/s...
Rendall in the Snow theorkneynews.scot/2026/01/07/r...
Rendall in the Snow
By Bernie Bell. Through the window. In the garden. Thawing out the Bird-bath. Hare tracks. From the garden. The road – before the tractors went through – Hurrah for the farmers! Gairsay…
theorkneynews.scot
January 7, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Rendall in the Snow theorkneynews.scot/2026/01/07/r...
Where are the Orkneyinga #saga #PlaceNames Hellisey & Vǫlunes? Can tracing the route Sveinn Ásleifarson took to escape Earl Haraldr help us locate these 'lost' places? Find out in our latest blog! #Orkney
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
In the wake of Sveinn Ásleifarson: the lost place-names of Hellisey and Vǫlunes - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga
In chapter 95 of the Saga of the Earls of Orkney we hear of one of the many scrapes of the ever-quarrelsome Sveinn Ásleifarson. On leaving Gairsay after a failed attempt to confront Earl Haraldr ( who was not there as he ‘had gone to a small island to hunt hares’), Sveinn ‘made for Hellisey; ...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk
February 15, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Where are the Orkneyinga #saga #PlaceNames Hellisey & Vǫlunes? Can tracing the route Sveinn Ásleifarson took to escape Earl Haraldr help us locate these 'lost' places? Find out in our latest blog! #Orkney
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
#BookweekScotland In the summer of 1910 the school in Gairsay was delighted to recieve a bookcase and 200 books from Mr James Coats jnr, Ferguslie House, Paisley.
'A Library Service for Everyone': Schools theorkneynews.scot/2024/11/22/a...
'A Library Service for Everyone': Schools theorkneynews.scot/2024/11/22/a...
‘A Library Service for Everyone’: Schools
In this series during Book Week Scotland we are looking at libraries, their past, present, and how they are adapting to the needs of the public. Schools should all have provision for a library. So…
theorkneynews.scot
November 22, 2024 at 7:06 AM
#BookweekScotland In the summer of 1910 the school in Gairsay was delighted to recieve a bookcase and 200 books from Mr James Coats jnr, Ferguslie House, Paisley.
'A Library Service for Everyone': Schools theorkneynews.scot/2024/11/22/a...
'A Library Service for Everyone': Schools theorkneynews.scot/2024/11/22/a...
Gairsay is a special place with an interesting history, once home to the Norse chieftain Sweyn Asleifsson, known as “the Ultimate Viking.”
February 8, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Gairsay is a special place with an interesting history, once home to the Norse chieftain Sweyn Asleifsson, known as “the Ultimate Viking.”
Episode 5... even the Earls of #Orkney find #Christmas travel tricky!
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
5. Time to relax (and worry) with friends… plus some Christmas travel chaos - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga
With the tendency to gather in followers and retainers in winter’s darkest days Christmas seems to have also been a good time to find people at home, and with the men in the saga acting like… men in a saga… this was a good time to go visiting. In Gairsay we find Sveinn Ásleifarson at ...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk
December 21, 2024 at 11:10 AM
Episode 5... even the Earls of #Orkney find #Christmas travel tricky!
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
We're told of Hákon that 'as soon as he was capable of going with other men, then Sveinn took him raiding with himself every summer and sought honour for him in every way'. The kid must have enjoyed Sveinn's winter parties in which he entertained 80 men in his great drinking hall in Gairsay. 4/5
September 17, 2025 at 7:26 AM
We're told of Hákon that 'as soon as he was capable of going with other men, then Sveinn took him raiding with himself every summer and sought honour for him in every way'. The kid must have enjoyed Sveinn's winter parties in which he entertained 80 men in his great drinking hall in Gairsay. 4/5
Here are a few snaps I took early last year on the tiny Orkney island of Gairsay. It’s been a part of the Bichan family for a very long time, and I’ve taken many a trip over there to check sheep, help roll fleeces in the summer, or round them up to take them off the island.
Dev/scanned by Gulabi
Dev/scanned by Gulabi
February 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Here are a few snaps I took early last year on the tiny Orkney island of Gairsay. It’s been a part of the Bichan family for a very long time, and I’ve taken many a trip over there to check sheep, help roll fleeces in the summer, or round them up to take them off the island.
Dev/scanned by Gulabi
Dev/scanned by Gulabi
Another fruitful day in the #Archives… this time in Edinburgh. Particularly like this little entry in a 1694-1696 document for #Gairsay & #Rousay. #PlaceNames underlined for convenience. Nice to see two spellings of Saviskaill just a few lines apart! Transcript in the Alt Text should you want it!
April 14, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Another fruitful day in the #Archives… this time in Edinburgh. Particularly like this little entry in a 1694-1696 document for #Gairsay & #Rousay. #PlaceNames underlined for convenience. Nice to see two spellings of Saviskaill just a few lines apart! Transcript in the Alt Text should you want it!
8) 'The Saga of the Earls of Orkney' by @judithjesch.bsky.social lives up to its claims to be clear & accessible (without dumbing down & with lots of footnotes) Svein Asleifarson still rubs his nose (on the 10th day of Christmas in Gairsay). Place names are so helpful - Orkneys and Shetlands
April 10, 2026 at 12:56 PM
8) 'The Saga of the Earls of Orkney' by @judithjesch.bsky.social lives up to its claims to be clear & accessible (without dumbing down & with lots of footnotes) Svein Asleifarson still rubs his nose (on the 10th day of Christmas in Gairsay). Place names are so helpful - Orkneys and Shetlands
6) Hmm 11th day of Yuletide is now 10th day of Christmastide... "It happened on the tenth day of Christmas-tide that Sveinn Asleif's son sat drinking with his servants in Gairsay. He rubbed his nose and said: "I have a notion that Earl Haraldr is now on his way to the Isles." ...
April 10, 2026 at 12:54 PM
6) Hmm 11th day of Yuletide is now 10th day of Christmastide... "It happened on the tenth day of Christmas-tide that Sveinn Asleif's son sat drinking with his servants in Gairsay. He rubbed his nose and said: "I have a notion that Earl Haraldr is now on his way to the Isles." ...
Feed: "The Orkney News"
By: theorkneynews on Wednesday, January 7, 2026
By: theorkneynews on Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Rendall in the Snow
By Bernie Bell. Through the window. In the garden. Thawing out the Bird-bath. Hare tracks. From the garden. The road – before the tractors went through – Hurrah for the farmers! Gairsay…
theorkneynews.scot
January 7, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Feed: "The Orkney News"
By: theorkneynews on Wednesday, January 7, 2026
By: theorkneynews on Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Feed: "The Orkney News"
By: theorkneynews on Monday, July 28, 2025
By: theorkneynews on Monday, July 28, 2025
Sunrise – Moonset
By Bernie Bell 7th of July, 4.30 am. Sunrise over Gairsay. 11th of July, @3.30 am. Moon-set over Keelylang & the Orphir Hills.
theorkneynews.scot
July 29, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Feed: "The Orkney News"
By: theorkneynews on Monday, July 28, 2025
By: theorkneynews on Monday, July 28, 2025
Orkney, Tingwall jetty to be precise. The small island is Gairsay.
November 18, 2024 at 12:32 PM
Orkney, Tingwall jetty to be precise. The small island is Gairsay.
Gairsay - A Scottish song on Lever Harp
YouTube video by NEW Community Harp
youtu.be
September 20, 2025 at 11:40 AM