The Vikings in Shetland – The Cullivoe Up Helly Aa
The islands became “Hjaltland” and were governed by the Earls of Orkney under the Norwegian crown for over 600 years.
Shetland is the most thoroughly Norse place outside Scandinavia.
From the late 8th century, Norwegian Vikings raided and then settled, rapidly replacing or absorbing the earlier Pictish population by around 850 AD.
The islands became “Hjaltland” and were governed by the Earls of Orkney under the Norwegian crown for over 600 years.
Virtually every farm, hill, voe, and island name is Scandinavian (99–100 % Norse), the local Norn language survived until the 18th century, and the ancient udal land-holding system—free of feudal superiors—lasted until the 20th.
Even after Shetland was pawned to Scotland in 1469, Norse identity endured. People spoke Norn, rowed sixareens descended from Viking boats, and followed Norwegian law long after the transfer. Silver hoards, longhouse ruins, and recent boat-burial finds confirm the intensity of Viking settlement. Genetically, modern Shetlanders carry some of the strongest Scandinavian ancestry in Britain.
Today, the islands’ dialect, place-names, and spectacular Up Helly Aa fire festivals keep the Norse flame burning brighter than anywhere else in Scotland.
The Cullivoe Up Helly Aa
The Cullivoe Up Helly Aa is the smallest and most northerly of Shetland’s famous fire festivals, held annually on the third Friday in November in the North Yell village of Cullivoe.
Unlike the huge Lerwick festival in January, Cullivoe is a true community event with usually one Guizer Jarl (chief Viking) and a single squad of around 20–30 guizers dressed as Vikings. They carry out a day-long programme that includes:
- Morning visits to Cullivoe Primary School and local care homes in full Viking costume.
- An evening torch-lit procession through the village (far shorter than Lerwick’s).
- The burning of a small open galley (Viking longship) on the beach or in the harbour.
- A single hall party that finishes around 2–3 am.
Because Cullivoe is so remote and small (population ~100), the festival has a particularly intimate, family feel. Everyone knows the Jarl, and the whole district turns out. The galley is often built by the Jarl’s squad in a local shed and rowed into the water before being set alight – a spectacular sight against the dark November sea.
It began in the early 1960s and remains one of the purest expressions of Shetland’s living Norse heritage. Visitors are very welcome, but accommodation is extremely limited – book early or day-trip from mainland Shetland.
