"The Norse element in the Orkney dialect"

The Orkney and Shetland Islands, along with Caithness on the Scottish mainland, are identified primarily in terms of their Nordic cultural and linguistic heritage. Linguistically, in particular, such a focus is an imperative for maintaining cultural identity in the Northern Isles. This paper focusses on placing the rise and fall of Orkney Norn in its geographical, social, and historical context and examines the remnants of the Norn substrate in the modern dialect.