Pentland Firth
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The Pentland Firth is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east.
Looking across the waters of the Pentland Firth to the island of Hoy in Orkney
Stroma Lighthouse
Orkney
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Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is sometimes used, but this is erroneous. Part of the Northern Isles a
Pentland Firth
…The Pentland Firth (Scottish Gaelic: An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. Despite the name, it is not a firth in the…
Ring of Brodgar, on the island of Mainland, Orkney
Midhowe Broch on the west coast of Rousay
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Harald Fairhair (on the right, with fair hair) took control of Orkney in 875. He is shown here inheriting his kingdom from his father Halfdan the Black, in an illustration from the Flateyjarbók.
Artist's conception of King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who forcibly Christianised Orkney. Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo.