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Norge - Pinch Stones. Proposal Stones, Prodigious Stones and Penis Stones in Norway - Part 1

Stone Lifting in Norway Inspired by Ryan Stewart, Nic Whalen and Mark Prows' recently stone lifting tour of Sweden (and Iceland before that), I got all distracted from my Skye research and spent far too long going down the rabbit hole of Norway. You could probably throw a dart at a map of the world, blindfolded, and still hit a country that has a history of stone lifting to some degree, and Norway seemed a likely candidate for having a good number with Sweden clearly having a rich stone history. This blog isn't intended to be a complete document on all of Norway and stones - I wouldn't ever claim to be able to write such, nor is it huge amount of work. It's what I managed to find with a handful of spare hours and a few tussles with Google translate. On a similar vein, I won't sadly be able to make a trip to Norway any time too soon, so don't plan on doing any more follow up work to this post in the near future. If anyone else knows more or plans to do furt...
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The Isle of Skye - Hunting for Stones Part 2

The Isle of Skye - Hunting for Stones Part 2 Dunscaith Castle The final two stones I was seeking were the Dunscaith Castle Stone and the lifting stones of An Sithean. As with many of the Scottish stones, the locations these two took me to were nothing short of stunning. Both these locations were visited on my final day in Skye, so we will start chronologically with An Sithean, the first stop of the morning. Just a few miles south of Broadford, An Sithean lies both imposing and hidden at the same time. Not particularly marked any maps, there's no signage, and in a land full of impressive views, it'd be easy to not notice it, your gaze stolen by  Beinn na Caillich looming in the background. An Sithean. Beinn na Caillich towards the left of the photo, with one of the Celtic-Viking ruins directly below it. Ignore the pillock who decided this was a sensible place to park his motor home. The view looking away from An Sithean Th...
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The Isle of Skye - Hunting for Stones Part 1

The Isle of Skye - Hunting for Stones Part 1 View from the front of our tent, the Red Cullins to the right The Red Cullin range in front of the tent Looking back over tent, the Black Cullin range (and our neighbour's tent) Having recently returned from the Misty Isle, it's time for a rundown on my stone hunting antics, and time to put a brief line under Skye. I've certainly got some other places and stones I want to search for on Skye, but for now there is many other stones and places to visit and the excited child in me struggles to stay on one task for too long!  For a recap, the stones I wrote about on Skye were: Clach Mhor Mhic Crimmon, Glagen-Glune, the lifting stone(s) of An Sithean, Dunscaith Stone, Clach Mhor Na Saothraich, Ultach Gillean a' Bealaich and Clach Chraboithbh I'c Thearlaich. Due to those pesky things called time and distance constraints, my trip involved MacCrimmon's stone, An Sithean and Dunscaith. If you...
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The Isle of Skye Part 6 - Cho laidir ri Cuchullin - As Strong As Cuchillin

The Isle of Skye Part 6 - Cho laidir ri Cuchullin - As Strong As Cuchillin From Place Names Of Skye, As Strong as Cuchullin, a complimentary term used. "Cuchulainn Carries Ferdiad Across the River", illustration by Ernest Wallcousins  from Charles Squire,  Celtic Myths and Legends , 1905 The final installment of this look at stone lifting and associated gubbins on Skye, we're going to take a look at the final stone of the "original five" from the Peter Martin list and with it take a glimpse into Gaelic folklore with a mighty hero, a warrior woman mentor, a grisly spear which is thrown from the toes and some tragedy along the way - Shakespeare eat your heart out. Whilst I draw an initial line (for now) under the Skye series we'll also take a look at a few other stones and potential stones of interest, from those only a giant could lift, to our canine companions making an appearance and the different ways trial could be interpreted - anoth...
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