The Scandinavians first appeared in Scotland at the end of the eighth century. An artefact depicting this early contact is the "Hostage Stone" found on Inchmarnock, a small island off the coast of Bute. In 2014 this small stone travelled to Denmark, a journey that would surely have amazed its inscriber!
The stone is thought to be the work of a young novice at the monastery on Inchmarnock. It depicts a scene where a hairy, scary Viking is leading away a monk carrying a reliquary. Discovered in excavations beginning in 1999, the stone is now on display in the Bute Museum
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Buteview — 9 years ago
For more see http://www.butemuseum.org.uk/1061-2/
Anne Speirs (Curator of Bute Museum), Louise Henriksen of the Viking Ship Museum and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark at the opening ceremony.
In 2014 the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde in Denmark held a Special Exhibition, "The World in the Viking Age". The exhibits included the Hostage Stone, brought over from Bute on loan.
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Buteview — 9 years ago
Fore more about the loan, see http://www.butemuseum.org.uk/blog/the-hostage-stone-visits-denmark/.
Stimulated by this story, I visited the Viking Ship Museum in March 2015. The Hostage Stone was returned to Bute in December 2014 at the end of the Special Exhibition, but this excellent Museum is well worth a visit at any time, as also is Roskilde Cathedral and the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen.
