ing a meeting on Egilsay on16th April 1116 (or 1117) toresolve their differences.Egilsay was Bishopric landand thus they were to meeton neutral territory.

Each Earl was to take twoships and an equal numberof men. Earl Magnusarrived first and seeing EarlHaakon coming with eightships, he suspected treach-ery, went into the church topray and refused help whenhis followers offered todefend him. Haakon and hismen sought out Magnus thenext morning. He was pray-ing when they came up tohim, and he made threeoffers: to go to Rome orJerusalem and not return, togo into custody in Scotland,or to be maimed and impris-oned. Haakon accepted thelast, but the chiefs wantedone of them dead.

Magnus remained cheerfuland fell on his knees inprayer. Haakon standardbearer, Ofeig, vehementlyrefused to kill Magnus.Haakon then ordered hiscook, Lifolf, to do the deed.Magnus gave his tunic tohim, and prayed for his mur-derers, forgiving them fortheir offences against him-

self. Finally he told Lifolf"to hew him a mighty stroketo the head, so that he waskilled as a lord and not athief."

Thora, mother of Magnus,had ready a banquet to cele-brate the Earls' meeting,which she stoically contin-ued and she persuadedHaakon to allow Magnus tobe buried at Christ's Churchat Birsay. Soon after, aheavenly light was said to beseen over his grave. Men indanger prayed to him andtheir prayers were answered.Many miraculous cures ofillness occurred.

Earl Magnus' nephew, son ofhis sister Gunnhild and Kolof Agdir in Norway, wasmeanwhile growing up.King Sigurd of Norway gavehim half the Earldom and

the name Rognvald, becauseGunnhild thought the namewould bring good fortune.Earl Paul Haakonson strong-ly resisted Rognvald’sattempts to claim his share.

Kol advised Rognvald thatan indirect approach mightsucceed and to him "to seekhelp where it is likely to behad effectually - from theholy St Magnus. You mustpromise that if you gain yourdominions you will build astone minister at Kirkwall,

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St Magnus Cathedral from the southeast

St Magnus’ skull with large gash

St Magnus plaque

St Rognvald plaque

“THE WONDER AND GLORY OF THE NORTH”

THE STORY OF STMAGNUS After the deathof Earl Thorfinn the Mightyin 1065 the successionpassed through his sons,Erlend and Paul, who wereforcibly replaced by Sigurd,son of King Magnus ofNorway in 1098 during agreat expedition to the west .King Magnus took with himthe sons of Erlend and Paul ,Magnus and Haakon, butMagnus refused to fight.

It is said that during a greatbattle in Anglesey Sound, he

sat down on the foredeck.When the king asked why hewould not fight he said thathe had nothing against any-one there. Ordered by theKing to go below, he insteadtook a psalter and sang dur-ing the battle, and did notshelter himself.

After this incident MagnusErlendson slipped away andtook refuge with his relative,the Scottish King, for sometime. Then in 1103 he andhis cousin Haakon Paulsonsucceeded to the Earldom,

the former returning fromScotland to claim his patri-mony. The following yearMagnus married Ingarthwho was a Scottish noble-woman. Thus already thedual nature of the OrkneyEarldom, Norwegian andScottish, was well estab-lished.

The story goes that Magnusnever consummated his mar-riage, taking a cold bathwhenever he felt enamouredby his wife. While the Sagadoes not mention any chil-dren of the marriage, neitheris there any evidence for hischastity, which may well bean invention to fit in with hissaintly status.

The Saga states, “So long asthey remained friends therewere good times and peacein Orkney.” HoweverHaakon became jealous ofthe popularity and greatnessof his kinsman and finally aserious argument broke outat a session of the Ting atTingwall. Blows wereaverted only by them agree-

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St Magnus Cathedral from the southwest

St Magnus Cathedral from the northwest in 1821 by William Daniell South transept door

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been made over the years .In the early 13th century thechoir was extended and theimpressive east windowadded while the nave wasextended westwards. Twintowers were planned for thewest gable, but never com-pleted and the building wasessentially complete by theearly 14th century.

The relics of St Magnuswere found in 1919 in thesoutheast rectangular pillarof the choir, and remainthere today. The woodenbox that contained them is inthe Orkney Museum. Theskull has a large cleavageconsistent with being struckby an axe. Rognvald’sremains are in the north pil-lar. In 1848 the grave ofBishop William the Old wasfound. He died in 1168 andhad been Bishop for 68years. A small inscribedlead plate provided clearidentification.

The Cathedral Today Thebones of St Magnus (with agreat cleft in the skull) nowlie in the North choir pillar,while those of St Rognvaldlie in the South one. TheCathedral of today may dif-

fer from that imagined byKol, but is probably all themore impressive. About69m long, by 30m across thetransepts, and with only 5mbetween the pillars thechurch has a feeling of greatsize and good proportioninside. The Old RedSandstone, used skillfully inits various colours by theDurham masons, lendswarmth to the graceful butsolid structure.

Before the restoration therewere many chapels andshrines and the walls weredecorated. Today’s unclut-tered church may lack thesemedieval things, but themany interesting old grave-stones, often decorated withskull and crossbones, thememorial to John Rae the19th century Arctic explorer,

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St Rognvald’s Chapel at the east end of the choir

South transept door

“THE WONDER AND GLORY OF THE NORTH”

Northwest aisle looking west

more magnificent than anyin these lands, dedicate it toEarl Magnus the Holy,endow it with money andhave his relics and the HolySee established there."

Earl Paul was kidnapped bySweyn Asleifson whilsthunting Otters at Westnessin Rousay and taken toAtholl, where his sister wasmarried to Earl Maddad.Paul never returned toOrkney, and was possiblykilled by Sweyn.

In addition to St MagnusCathedral at least tenchurches in Norway as wellas the ruined cathedral atKirkjuvagr in the Faroes arededicated to MagnusErlendson. There are alsoseven in Iceland and five in

Shetland. The cult of StMagnus was a strong oneand for centuries peoplefrom as far away as Icelandand Norway came to hisshrine. During the reforma-tion all the shrines wouldhave been dismantled andthe bones hidden in the pillarwhere they remain today.

Building of the CathedralThe Cathedral building wascommenced in 1137, underthe supervision of Kol, on

the edge of the Peerie Sea.Earl Rognvald is said tohave laid the foundationstone on 13th December,Santa Lucia’s Day. Workinitially went ahead quickly,with the choir being com-plete within five years.However Rognvald’s fundsran low and it was only bythreatening to pass a lawstating that the Earls hadinherited all Udal posses-sions, that he managed toraise sufficient funds. Eachfarmer agreed to pay onemark per ploughland to buyback the Udal rights whichthey had really never lost. Inthis way St MagnusCathedral was financed bythe Orkney people them-selves, uniquely becametheir property.

It is probable that the con-struction was far enoughadvanced for consecrationand the reinterment of StMagnus before Rognvaldmade his trip to the HolyLand in 1151. TheCathedral at that time con-sisted of the Crossing,Choir, an Apse with theshrine of St Magnus at theeast end, part of the Naveand the Transepts.Considerable additions have

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Plan of St Magnus Cathedral

St Magnus Cathedral nave from the west door

RCAH

MS

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maintenance continuestoday, with the aim of pre-serving the building for thefuture. The Cathedral isunique among churches inthat it has never belonged tothe Church, but has alwaysbeen the property of the peo-ple of Orkney. At varioustimes the Church, theGovernment and the TownCouncil have claimed own-ership. In 1486 King JamesIII thought he owned it afterthe Impignoration, and“granted it to theMagistrates, Council andCommunity of Kirkwall.”Since the Norwegian Crowndid not ever have any claimto the Cathedral

By the 1840s the Cathedralwas in very poor repair. TheGovernment Board ofWoods and Forests, whichhad taken over the BishopricEstates, assumed that theCathedral must form a part

and “took it over” in 1845.They did a considerableamount of much-neededwork, but in 1851, they werepersuaded that it did in factbelong to the people, not theState. The contractor at the time,Samuel Baikie stated,“During the years 1847-48the operations of repairswere chiefly confined to therebuilding of the parapetwalls of the nave andtransepts together with aconsiderable portion of thewall heads and string cours-es under these parapets thathad fallen much in decayand was admitting water toan almost ruinous extentthrough the wall heads, somuch so, that after a time ofrainy weather the interiorkept up a dropping for someweeks afterwards and sent achill damp in throughout thebuilding.”

He continued, “The interiorwas receiving no small shareof attention, especiallythroughout the nave andtransepts, the floors ofwhich had accumulated tosuch a height as to concealall the bases of the columnsin those parts and thecolumns themselves muggedup in rather a hedious man-ner with the memorials ofthe departed.

“These were all removedand placed along the sidewalls in an orderly manneras now seen, the floor exca-vated of earthy matter to anaverage depth of about 20

inches and repaired withnative flagstones, thus show-ing the bases of the columnsat a reasonable height and

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“THE WONDER AND GLORY OF THE NORTH”

The Consecration Stones dates from1151, now in St Rognvald’s Chapel

The “Mort Brod”

The “Mort Brod”

13th century graveslab

One of many fine 17th century stones

who is buried in the graveyard, a statue of St Olaf gift-ed by Nidaros Cathedral forthe 800th anniversary in 1937and a Tapestry fromHordaland for the 850th alladd to the interest and feel-ing of a continuous past.There are many interestingcarved stones decorating theolder parts of the church andin several places masons

marks may be discerned.

The graveyard has a largenumber of fascinating oldheadstones, not least the oneof the person who died on30th February! There areattractive views of theCathedral and Bishop’sPalace from various parts ofthe kirkyard. Changes in themasonry clearly indicate the

various construction peri-ods. The exterior is particu-larly impressive when flood-lit against a moonlit wintersky. The copper cladding onthe spire was renewed in the1990s and is slowly weath-ering.

Considerable restorationwork was carried out in the19th and 20th centuries and

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Moonrise over St Magnus Cathedral

West front of St Magnus Cathedral

St Magnus window paid for by the Thom bequest

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munion table, chair andlectern. Carved figures rep-resenting Kol, EarlRognvald and BishopWilliam were designed byartist Stanley Cursiter.

For the 850th anniversary in1987 a new window wascommissioned for the WestWindow of the nave. Thismodern stained-glass designfits in well with the ancientCathedral and casts a beauti-ful light down the nave inthe late summer afternoon.Most of the other stained-

glass windows are also quiterecent and were paid for bythe Thoms bequest.

St Magnus Festival Duringthe Festival each June theCathedral is venue to manyperformances, providing anevocative backdrop to thewonderful music beingplayed. This successfulArts Festival has gone fromstrength to strength and isnow very much on theScottish and indeedInternational calendar.

This event was to a largeextent the inspiration of thecomposer Sir Peter MaxwellDavies and the poet GeorgeMackay Brown. Many ofthe composer's works havebeen premièred at theFestival, several of whichhave been collaborationswith the Stromness poet.The first Festival wasformed around The“Martyrdom of St Magnus”,which is based on GeorgeMackay Brown's novel,“Magnus”.

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TIMELINE1116 or 1117 Murder of Magnus1136 Rognvald wins Earldom1137 Construction begins1152 Choir and part of nave built1158 Death of Earl Rognvald1168 Death of Bishop Williamc 1200 Crossing rebuiltearly 1200s East end extendedearly 1300s Tower builtlate 1300s Transept chapelsc.1400 West gable complete1486 Kirkwall Royal Charter1528 Bells cast in Edinburgh1544 Bishop Reid1560 Reformation Gilbert Foulzie

last priest first minister1614 Stewart Rebellion1650s Cromwell’s men billeted1671 Spire destroyed by lightning1845 State claims ownership1851 Kirkwall reclaims Kirk1903 Thoms bequest1913-1930 Restoration1925 Church claims ownership1937 800th anniversary

St Magnus Pageant1958 Society of Friends1965 St Rognvald Chapel1972-1974 Major repairs1977 First St Magnus Festival1987 850th anniversary, new west

window, Hordaland TapestryChildren’s Pilgrimage

2001 St Magnus Centre opens2005 Public toilets installed

“THE WONDER AND GLORY OF THE NORTH”

Stained glass in the west window of the nave from 1987

as no doubt the originalfounders had intended.”

The Church of Scotlandtried to claim ownership in1925. In 1929 they agreedthat the Provost, Magistratesand Councillors would forall time retain the fabric ofthe church.

A bequest of £60,000 bySheriff Thoms paid for verysubstantial renovation workfrom 1913 to 1930. Thesomewhat eccentric Thomshad been Sheriff of Orkney,Caithness and Zetland dur-ing 1870-1899. Today theSociety of Friends of StMagnus Cathedral raisesfunds to pay for repairs andmaintenance.

There are many interestingtombstones standing againstthe inside walls, the oldestof which is 13th century andstands in the choir. Mostdate from the 17th centuryand have well-preserved let-ting and symbols of death.The “Mort Brod”, hangingin the north isle, is a curiousmemorial. There are variousflamboyant monumentsfrom the 19th century,notably that to John Rae, ofArctic fame.

Nowadays small plaques arein favour, but it is rather sadto note that only maleOrcadians of letters are sofar commemorated. In thenorth aisle near the choir the

memorial to those lost onHMS Royal Oak in WorldWar II is a poignantreminder of more recent his-tory.

Marwick’s Hole is a dun-geon between the southeastaisle and the south transeptchapel. Men and womenwere held here as late as the18th century to await theirfate after being sentenced.Originally prisoners weredeposited to the chamber viaa chute from above, but theProtestants stopped this anddelivered their unfortunatesby ladder.

The hangman’s double lad-der in the south triforium is areminder of what was then acommon punishment.Witches were “worried atthe stake unto death”, how-ever it seems that some atleast did manage to escape,often with the assistance oftheir family or friends.

The east end of the choirwas dedicated as StRognvald’s Chapel in 1965.Old wooden panels areincorporated in the com-

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St Magnus Centre is to the east of the kirkyard

Hordaland tapestry

“HMS Royal Oak” memorial

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