In the 12th Century, Orkney was an earldom (jarldom) ruled by two jarls, and part of the kingdom of Norway, as was Shetland/ Hjaltland. The Jarls of Orkney also ruled Caithness / Ness, the north-eastern tip of what we now call Scotland. I have mainly used Norse names for places in the novel and aimed for consistency within the world of The Midwinter Dragon.
The old letter ð, pronounced ‘th’, is often represented by a letter ‘d’ in modern spellings, so the god known to us as Odin was Óðinn in old Norse, pronounced Othin. The modern choices made are not consistent and the most common representation of Norðymbralanda seems to be Nordymbralanda, although we spell and pronounce the modern name, Northumberland. Faced with an impossible task, I made choices in spelling place and character names that I thought gave an authentic feel. Here are the place-names I used, with their modern equivalent.
NORÐVEGR/ NORWAY
Biörgvin – Bergen
ORKNEYJAR/ ORKNEY
Brogar – Brodgar
Byrgisey – Birsay
Egilsey – Egilsay
Gareksey – Gairsay
Hamnavoe – Stromness
Heraðvatn – Loch of Harray
Hrolfsay – Roussay
Hrossey – Mainland
Kirkjuvágr – Kirkwall
Orkhaugr – Maeshowe
Papey Meiri – Papa Westray
Sandvik – Sandwick
Scalpeid – Scapa
Skalpaflói – Scapa Flow
Skarabolstadr – Scrabster
Steinnesvatn – Loch of Stenness
Vestrey – Westray
Suðreyjar/ Hebrides, Southern Isles, Isle of Man
(sometimes the kingdom of Man and the Isles, sometimes directly ruled by Orkney or Norway)
Hjaltland/ Shetland
Skio/ Skye
Ness/ Caithness
Vik – Wick
Ireland / Írland
ALBION/ ENGLAND
Nordymbraland – Northumberland
Dunholm – Durham
Jorvik –York
THE HOLY LAND
Jórsalaheim – Jerusalem
Mikligard/ Constantinople/ Istanbul
Novgorod / Russia
Snaeland/ the Old Country/ Iceland