Prehistoric Remains
The inscription which is carved on the edge of the Bressay stone has been found difficult of interpretation, as not only are the Ogam characters obscure, but there is uncertainty about the language, which is said to be a mixture of Celtic and Norn. One reading gives for the inscriptions on the edges:
“The cross of Natdod's daughter here.
Benres of the sons of the Druid here.”
It has been pointed out that Naddod was the name of the Viking who discovered Iceland about 861, and that he had a grandson named Benir. If the Natdod of the Bressay stone is identical with the discoverer of Iceland, the age of the monument would be about a thousand years. It will be remembered that Floki called at Shetland on his voyage to Iceland in 867, and that his daughter Geirhild was drowned in the Loch of Girlsta. It would be a curious coincidence if both the
discoverer of Iceland and the man who
99
