The Orkney Finnmen Legends: From Early Modern Science to Modern Myth

Westaway, Jonathan orcid iconORCID: 0000-0002-4479-3490 (2020) The Orkney Finnmen Legends: From Early Modern Science to Modern Myth. The Public Domain Review .

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Abstract

At the end of the 17th century there appeared the first noting of a mysterious kayak-paddling “Finnman” seen in Orkney waters. Jonathan Westaway explores the subsequent explanations and how early modern science's fascination with unfamiliar objects, and the “out-of-place” in general, helped conjure the idea of an Inuit presence in the region and, in turn, a new chapter of Scottish folklore.


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