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There are runes on local jewellery, food, knitwear, and other products.

But the modern use of runes in Orkney is not only restricted to displaying a 鈥渢ourist identity鈥� tailored to creating a sense of the exotic for visitors. Runes also play a genuine part in the resident local community, featuring for instance on local business logos, in schools, and in some cases tattooed on local people鈥檚 own bodies. I am sometimes asked by people to translate things into runes for them, for use in everything from wedding rings and tattoos to SWRI trophies. So runes clearly have a place in many people鈥檚 hearts, and I am planning to run an evening class in practical runology next winter.

So I thought it would be fun to go around and photograph as many runic texts as I could find around me here in Orkney. I started doing this several years ago, and when I had a chance I also tried to ask people why they had chosen to use runes. I recently had opportunity to present my finds to an international group of runologists, who found the wide variety of modern uses of runes in Orkney very fascinating.

So, where did I find all these modern runes, and what do they say?

Well, the text above the airport entrance says 鈥渒rimsitir鈥�. That means Grimsetter, the local place name. However, in Viking Age runes there is no letter 鈥済鈥� or 鈥渆鈥�, so they used 鈥渒鈥� and 鈥渋鈥� instead. The runologist Professor Michael Barnes of University College London gave advise on the spelling and design of the runes for the opening of the new terminal building in 2002. Thankfully, later on the Norse people invented a way of writing 鈥済鈥� and 鈥渆鈥�, so in later inscriptions we don鈥檛 see that particular spelling problem.

Inside the airport, there are also runes to be seen in one of the beautiful vinyl pictures decorating the walls. The one nearest to the check-in desk has a runic text reading 鈥渋ngibjorg hin f鈥�. This represents the beginning of perhaps the most famous of the Maeshowe inscriptions from the 12^th century. The full inscription reads 鈥淚ngibjorg, hin fagra ekkja. M谦rg kona hefi r farit l煤t inn h茅r. Mikill ofl谩ti. Erlingr鈥�. That means 鈥淚ngibjorg, the fair widow. Many a woman has gonestooping in here. A great show-off. (Signed:) Erlingr.鈥�

Also, in the bus station there are vinyl pictures with runes. Here, we can read other messages originally from Maeshowe, such as: 鈥淚ngiger冒r er kyn忙na in v忙nsta鈥�. This one is sometimes presented by Maeshowe tour guides as 鈥淚ngiger冒r is the most beautiful of women鈥�, but Michael Barnes in his book on the Maeshowe runes prefers to translate it as 鈥淚ngiger冒r is the most beautiful of ...鈥� and leave the word 鈥渒yn忙na鈥� untranslated, as it doesn鈥檛 really make sense.

Also represented in the bus station is the beautiful Maeshowe inscription number 20: 鈥溍緀ssar r煤nar reist s谩 ma冒r, er r煤nstr er fyrir vestan haf, me冒 镁eiri 酶xi, er 谩tti Gaukr Trandilssonr fyrir sunnan land鈥� 鈥� which means 鈥渢hese runes were carved by the man most skilled in runes in the West Ocean with the axe that Gaukr Trandilsson owned in the south of the land [Iceland]鈥�.

Faithful resemblances of Maeshowe inscriptions also feature on Ola Gorie鈥檚 silver jewellery, the above mentioned Ingibjorg inscriptions being one, and another being number 18, which translates as 鈥淎rnfinn Food carved these runes鈥�. Ola Gorie also produces some more freely inspired runic designs, such as rings and brooches reading 鈥淥rkney鈥� and 鈥淚 love you鈥�, and smaller pieces of jewellery with single runes on them.

Sheila Fleet has taken more artistic liberty with her runic jewellery designs. She mixes runes from different varieties of the runic alphabet, along with a roman letter 鈥渧鈥� to compensate for the runic alphabet lacking this letter. Runes are very noticeable as you approach the front door of Sheila Fleet鈥檚 shop on Bridge Street: The runic text in the circular design on the door, also featuring in jewellery, reads: 鈥渞eflecting times past and present鈥� in the English language. Other Sheila Fleet runic designs read 鈥淥rkney鈥� or 鈥淥rkney Isles鈥�, 鈥渄reams of everlasting love,鈥� 鈥淪kaill,鈥� and 鈥渞eal love transcends time鈥�.

When I contacted Sheila Fleet to ask what inspires her about runes, she replied: 鈥淎s a designer I use Runes very much with an artistic approach. I partly us them to convey a sort of hidden message by using the Runes letters in a twig-like pattern. It is not until they read my origination card that some people realize it is not just a letter it actually has a hidden message. I defi nitely use an artistic license and there are many more ways of using Runes in a modern way which reflects our rich past heritage.鈥�

Runes decorate other Orkney products as well. A design which has proven popular among visitors and islanders alike is the knitted 鈥淥rkney鈥� jumper by Judith Glue. The same runic design also features on other Judith Glue products such as badges, handbags and t-shirts. It was originally designed in 1985 and is still in production. The pattern literally says 鈥渦rkniu鈥�, but the strange spelling is again because the Viking age variety of the runic alphalet, know as the Younger Futhark, doesn鈥檛 have all the letters that we have in our Roman alphabet. So 鈥渦鈥� here has to do several jobs: It is both 鈥渙鈥� and 鈥測鈥�, so that 鈥渦rkniu鈥� actually means 鈥淥rkney鈥�. No wonder the Norse people invented extra letters later!

The Orkney Fudge boxes bear a nonsensical inscription in the Elder Futhark, transliterating as rRkts.ufelp. An explanatory text on the back of the box states: 鈥淲hen the Vikings arrived in Orkney during the 8th century, they brought with them a unique form of writing 鈥� Runes. The word 鈥淩une鈥� derives from the Old Norse word meaning 鈥榮ecret writing鈥�. An example of these Runes feature on the front of this box.鈥� Like with Sheila Fleet鈥檚 jewellery, informing the customer that 鈥渞une鈥� means 鈥渟ecret writing鈥� or 鈥渟ecret message鈥� adds interest to the product. The runes on the Orkney Fudge box are accompanied by a picture of the Ring of Brodgar in sunset, and the text 鈥渢he sweet taste of the isles鈥�. In combination, it communicates a sense of the exotic and of mystery.

Runes can also be seen in logos of local businesses, schools, clubs and societies. The Orkney Netball Association鈥檚 runic logo reads 鈥減romoting netball in Orkney鈥�. The tour guiding business Discover Orkney鈥檚 logo reads, naturally, 鈥渄iscover Orkney鈥�. And the Orkney Kidney Patient Association鈥檚 logo reads 鈥淥KPA鈥� in runes. The runes on the sign of Orkneyinga Saga centre are, ironically, nonsensical.

One runic text that puzzled me for years was the Stenness Community School logo. It has a picture of an owl and some standing stones, and a text that first appeared to read 鈥渂rkhohwklt鈥�. This text did not make sense to me. But one day I suddenly saw the light. The confusion had come about because the 鈥渂ranches鈥� have been attached too high up in the last four letters. Runic letters all consist of a vertical 鈥渟tave鈥�, with the addition of one or more 鈥渂ranches鈥� going off to the right or left. The branches can be attached at the top or middle of the stave, and the position of the branch is very important for determining which letter it is. So attaching a branch too high up would be like writing 鈥淭鈥� when you meant to write a 鈥�+鈥� sign. When I realised what had happened in Stenness, and moved all the branches of the last four letters down to the middle position, and substituted what looks like a branch with a dot in the third last rune, the text suddenly made sense. The text represents the end of one of the Maeshowe inscriptions. It says 鈥渂reh酶h镁ena鈥� which is normalised Old Norse would be 鈥渂ryti haug 镁enna鈥�, which means 鈥渂roke (into) this mound鈥�. Whoever designed the logo must have taken the runes from James Farrer鈥檚 1862 publication of the Maeshowe runes. Farrer didn鈥檛 realise that 鈥渂roke this mound鈥� was the continuation of the text that runs up the upright stone to the left of the entrance. At one point, the carved couldn鈥檛 reach any higher, and therefore continued horisontally, and perpendicularly to the rest of the text, on the next stone. Farrer thought these were two different messages, and published drawings of them separately. Farrer got some professors to look at the drawing and provide translations, including George Stephens, who got back with the following hilarious translation of the vertical bit of the text: 鈥淭hat man who sat here in ache (sorrowfully) He at the Fee-Ware (at the treasure-gate鈥攆rom the treasure-guard) forth a broke, with three comrades from the stronghold broke forth the Hero 脝nthaeir.鈥� Professor Stephens comments: 鈥淭his probably announces the escape of a prisoner, perhaps an Englishman鈥�. 132 years later, Professor Michael Barnes realised that the bit on the next stone belonged to the same text, and made a much more believable, but still equally exciting translation: 鈥�'That will be true which I say, that treasure was carried away. Treasure was carried away three nights before they broke this mound.鈥� Of this tantalizing message, the Stenness School logo repeats only the ending: 鈥�... broke this mound鈥�.

So runes clearly play a part in representing Orkney to visitors, but just as important is the internal use of runes in the Orkney community. When pupils from Papdale Primary School made a tapestry with a picture Orkney for the international Golden Tapestry project, they chose to include the text 鈥淧apdale, Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland鈥� in runes. The tapestry now hangs on display in the school. One Orcadian man I know has 鈥淥rkney鈥� tattooed in huge runes on his arm. I also had the good fortune to meet one out of a pair of Orcadian sisters, both of whom had runes tattooed on their wrist. The one I met had the text 鈥渘ey鈥�. When I asked her why she had 鈥渘ey鈥� in runes tattooed on her wrist, she explained that her sister has the other half of the text: 鈥淥rk鈥�. Orcadians happily wear Judith Glue鈥檚 runic knitted jumpers and t-shirts. One day I caught convener Steven Heddle wearing such a t-shirt, and when I asked him about it, he explained to me: 鈥淚t makes a talking point when I鈥檓 on holiday outside of Orkney. It gives me a chance to explain about Orkney鈥檚 history.鈥� Do we detect a little pride in Orkney鈥檚 Norse history?

Runes function as a mark of difference, and as reminders of the past. They provide tourists with the sense of uniqueness that they seek, and locals with pride in Orkney鈥檚 history and heritage. We could end with George Mackay Brown: 鈥淐arve the runes. Then be content with silence.鈥�