New life for Orkneyinga Saga
Story dated: January 7, 2004

Delegates from Shetland, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and Norway will be gathering in Orkney later this month as part of a EU project to develop cultural tourism using the Icelandic Sagas.

Delegates from Shetland, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Norway and Sweden will gather from January 24 -27 to discuss their projects and to see some of the Norse sites in Orkney.

Orkney Heritage, the local authority department which runs the Orkney Islands Council owned museums, will act as hosts. Part of Orkney Heritage's project is the development of an Orkneyinga Saga Trail linking places that appear in Orkney's Orkneyinga Saga.

The general public will also be involved as there will be talks on various aspects of the Orkneyinga Saga, music and storytelling on the afternoons of the 23rd and 24th. There is also a play based on the Orkneyinga Saga which will be performed by local primary school children.

The play will be performed in St. Magnus Cathedral (the most famous saga site in Orkney) on the afternoon and evening of the 26th January.

By the end of the project (December 2005) Orkney Heritage will also be publishing a children's Orkneyinga Saga, lavishly illustrated; a book setting the context for the Sagas and their relevance to Orkney sites and artefacts; and an academic publication on aspects of the Sagas.