Folklore of the Orkney Islands

‘Fairy tales and legends, magical creatures and enchanted places, also the everyday practices, customs and beliefs surrounding the stages of life, farming, fishing, weather, and the cycle of the year, folk medicine and beliefs in charms, rituals and witchcraft. Muir’s vast and intimate knowledge of Orkney’s folklore gives his work a richness that leaves the reader with the feeling of having been privileged with a true insider’s view. Folklore of the Orkney Islands will definitely join my go-to pile of frequently consulted books.’

‘Tom Muir knows Orkney folklore with the depth of a lifetime’s research and collecting, but most importantly, he knows it with the intimacy and warmth that only comes from living with it. In Tom’s distinctive voice, this book opens up fascinating layers of belief, tradition and practice that have shaped a unique Orcadian world-view over centuries, and which continue to do so.’

‘Tom Muir is a storyteller of international repute. On the back of a lifetime of events, talks and publications, Folktales of the Orkney Islands is a major piece of scholarship, highly readable, with a beautiful, evocative cover by Hester Aspland.’

‘This charming and important collection of Orkney folklore tales interspersed with well observed critical contexts is a valuable resource for anyone interested in folklore in general and Orkney in particular. A lovely read!’

‘A necessary purchase for anyone wishing to gain some sense of the ways in which the Orcadians of the past sensed, understood and dealt with the ever-present dangers of the environment that they inhabited. Ranging from tales of mermaids, selkies, trows, and water horses to detailed discussions of Orcadian folk medicine, life rituals and superstition, Tom Muir’s long-awaited volume takes readers on a magical mystery tour through the multifarious narratives, beliefs and traditions known in the past by the people of Orkney. It simultaneously reinstates the historical landscape of the islands marked by ancient ruins, open grave mounds, well-worn paths, and wind-swept seashores with a mystical dimension that would have been natural to earlier inhabitants. It is a valuable dimension that once encountered, the readers of today will never be able to forget.Tom Muir has dedicated his life to collecting, preserving and communicating to others the folk narratives of his island-dwelling forefathers and foremothers that he has always had so much love and respect for. In addition to containing another rare collection of stories about the supernatural beings that inhabited the islands of Orkney and their watery environs, this volume introduces us to the unique types of folk medicine, life customs, and superstitions that gave colour, depth and character to the farming year of the people of Orkney in the past.’

Tom Muir is a professional storyteller born in the Orkney Islands on a farm by the sea. In 2025, he was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list for services to Orkney folk tales. He has worked in archaeology and at the Orkney Museum, and appears on television, radio, and in magazines.

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