Enthusiastic welcome to Viking Congress

There had been worries about mist possibly hindering delegates arriving for the prestigious Viking Congress, coming home to Shetland for the first time since its inception in 1950.

But Shetland Amenity Trust manager and mover and shaker of the whole event Jimmy Moncrieff was full of enthusiasm on Sunday morning for the packed programme for the day ahead.

Flags from the representative nations flew outside Mareel, heralding a week which sees well over 100 visitors for a week of Viking academic discussion with over 70 talks.

Sunday was open to the public with more than 10 papers presented and question-and-answer sessions, following a Shetland welcome from Mr Moncrieff and a history of some previous congresses from local archivist Brian Smith.

The illustrated lectures were on many topics from “Death and Wealth in Viking Age Shetland” to “Norse/Native Contact in Arctic Canada”.

The former talk, by Patricia Sutherland, was cited as a major piece of work by Mr Moncrieff, showing that there is still so much more to discover about the Vikings. This, the 17th congress, certainly puts Shetland at the centre of the Viking world this week with a very comprehensive programme.

• Full report and more photos in The Shetland Times on Friday.

Stephen Gordon