130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery 🚀 | Visit our Auckland bookstore • Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

An Orkney Tapestry

By George Mackay Brown
0.0 (0 reviews)
4.11 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 106 ratings, 14 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
An Orkney Tapestry by George Mackay Brown paints a vivid picture of the Orkney Islands' rich culture and history. By intertwining myths, legends, and folklore with historical accounts, it explores the islands' unique character and the timelessness of their landscapes and stories. This narrative journey delves into the tapestry of life in Orkney, celebrating its enduring spirit and cultural heritage.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2499
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're fascinated by the rich tapestry of history and folklore of the Orkney Islands. It elegantly weaves together cultural narratives and local legends, offering a vivid exploration of the islands' past that can captivate both history enthusiasts and those who appreciate lyrical storytelling.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

First published in 1969, An Orkney Tapestry, George Mackay Brown's seminal work, is a unique look at Orkney through the eye of a poet and a celebration of Orkney's people, language and history. Unavailable for many years, this new edition has a specially commissioned Introduction written by Kirsteen McCue and Linden Bicket.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A unique look at Orkney through a poet's eye, An Orkney Tapestry is a celebration of its people, language, and place. It is not written as a continuous historical narrative but as a pattern of history, legend, and folklore.

Beautifully illustrated throughout by Sylvia Wishart, a fellow Orcadian, the illustrations show what has been won and lost in Orkney over the centuries.

Chapters discuss modern Orkney; Rackwick, the development and decline of an island community, a microcosm of Orkney life; Vikings, a study of three great Vikings: Earl Sigurd, Saint Magnus and Martyr, and Earl Rognvald the Crusader; Poets, a ballad maker and Robert Rendall, an Orkney poet; Midwinter Music and Midsummer Music, two chapters on folklore and communal art and poetry.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

An Orkney Tapestry by George Mackay Brown is praised for its skilful blend of myth, folklore, history, and poetry, creating a rich narrative that vividly captures the essence of the Orkneys. Critics admire his ability to transform ordinary details into profound revelations, with his simple yet evocative storytelling style. The book is recognised for its celebration of Orkney's landscapes and communities while raising thought-provoking questions about the future.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781846974809

Publisher: Birlinn General

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 June 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited

Illustration: illustrations and line drawings throughout

Contributors:

  • Edited by Linden Bicket
  • Edited by Kirsteen McCue

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 195.0mm

Weight: 271g

Pages: 304

Collections

Best Sellers at Book Hero Education & Reference European History George Mackay Brown History & Archaeology History & Military In Stock Books Non-Fiction

About the Author

George Mackay Brown (192196) was one of the twentieth century's most distinguished and original writers. His lifelong inspiration and birthplace, Stromness in Orkney, moulded his view of the world, though he studied in Edinburgh and later at Newbattle Abbey College. In 1941 he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and lived an increasingly reclusive life in Stromness, but he produced a regular stream of publications from 1954 onwards. These included A Calendar of Love (1967), A Time to Keep (1969), Greenvoe (1972), Hawkfall (1974), and, notably, the novel Beside the Ocean of Time (1994), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Saltire Book of the Year.

Also by George Mackay Brown

View all
  • Simple Fire
    George Mackay Brown was a master of the short story form and produced a steady stream of short fiction collections, starting with A Calendar of Love (1967) and including A Time to Keep (1969) and Hawkfall (1974), as well as his poetry collections and novels. In this selection, edited and introduced by Malachy Tallack, we explore the author's Orkney and...
    By George Mackay Brown
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Beside the Ocean of Time
    WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY AMY LIPTROT SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 1994 WINNER OF THE SALTIRE SOCIETY LITERARY AWARD 1994 ‘Intimate, humorous, effortlessly combining the strands of history and folklore, the past and the present, this is a deceptively simple book, like a tale told to a child. But its echoes sound on unforgettably. A whole universe is created...
    By George Mackay-Brown and George Mackay Brown
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Carve the Runes
    Carve the Runes
    In this new Selected Poems, Kathleen Jamie explores the multi-faceted world of George Mackay Brown's Orkney, the poet's lifelong home and inspiration. George Mackay Brown's concerns were the ancestral world, the communalities of work, the fables and religious stories which he saw as underpinning mortal lives. Brown believed from the outset that poets had a social role and his true...
    By George Mackay Brown
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from History & Military

View all
  • Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    By Doug Gold
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Spy and the Traitor
    The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...
    By Ben Macintyre
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    By Gad Saad
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Cauldron
    How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...
    By Simon Sebag Montefiore
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Wager
    THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian 'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator 'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book... It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully...
    By David Grann
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    By Randa Abdel-Fattah
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Golden Menhir
    Assurancetourix is entering the legendary Gallic bards' competition to win the golden menhir. But with the Romans keeping a close watch, Asterix and Obelix must protect him at all costs. Their mission? Keep him safe-no matter what... even if it means risking their own ears! First released as a book-disc in 1967, this adventure soon became a rare treasure, long...
    By René Goscinny
    Hardback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • All The Presidents' Wars
    New Release
    All The Presidents' Wars
    From a multiple New York Times bestselling author, here is an eye-opening history of the United States' war on terror across four presidential administrations. The year 2026 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11, the most devastating attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Within days, the United States began to declare its war on terror: 'Either you are with us,...
    By Peter Bergen
    Paperback
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Keep Calm – We Are Coming
    Keep Calm — We Are Coming briefly backgrounds the New Zealand Special Air Service deployment in Afghanistan — then goes into action. While primarily training Afghan forces, in Kabul the NZSAS had to respond to a series of ‘spectacular attacks’ by heavily armed Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and determined to inflict major casualties. In the words of those who...
    By Ron Crosby
    Paperback
    $4000
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    By Viktor E Frankl
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Shattered Lands
    'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' – PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation … both original and important' – MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...
    By Sam Dalrymple
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Biological War
    New Release
    Biological War
    There is an invisible weapon among us. By the time you know you are a victim, it has turned you into a killer. A blistering new non-fiction thriller from the Baillie Gifford shortlisted author of Nuclear War (200,000 copies sold). A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential new book, based...
    By Annie Jacobsen
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

History & Military lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all