Swona

Swona
Swona of South Ronaldsay seen from
Waters	North Sea
Archipelago	Orkney Islands
Geographical location	58 ° 44 '32 "  N , 3 ° 3' 26"  W Coordinates: 58 ° 44 '32 "  N , 3 ° 3' 26"  W
length	2 km
width	1 km
surface	92 ha
Highest elevation	Warbister Hill 41  m
Residents	uninhabited
Ordnance Survey map sheet (1959)

Swona (Old Norse Swefney) Pig Island, is the southernmost formerly inhabited island of the Orkney , but the southern tip of South Ronaldsay extends further south. It is located southwest of Burwick at the height of the southern tip of South Ronaldsay. The dangerous tidal jumps and fog in the Pentland Firth have turned the island's shores into a ship graveyard, especially before radar was used. Automatic lighthouses are therefore located at both ends of the island.

map

The island is an attractive island for game and feral pets. Its grass consists of a floor of wildflowers in summer. A passage tomb of the Orkney-Cromarty type (OC) shows that the island was already inhabited prehistorically . It had a short chamber by the sea that is threatened by erosion.

Swona was also settled in the Viking Age because of its fertile soil . Narrated is a man named Grim, whose sons Asbjorn and Margad were followers of Sweyn Asleifssons . Shortly before Yule in 1133 AD, Sweyn's father Olaf was killed by Olvir Rosta and his men who burned his house in Duncansby. Sweyn, who later became a famous warrior (The Ultimate Viking), and the sons of Grims escaped to their home island of Swona.

The island, off which a ship was in distress on which Robert Louis Stevenson traveled, was abandoned by the last inhabitants in 1974 and is largely a protected area. It is not used by the current owner.

literature

• Hamish Haswell-Smith: The Scottish Islands. A comprehensive guide to every Scottish Island . Canongate, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 1-84195-454-3 .

Web links

Commons : Swona  - collection of images, videos and audio files