Shetland
or ZETLAND ISLANDS (Old Norse, Hialtlandia, "the viking's land"), a group of over 100 islands (of which 30 are inhabited) lying N. N. E. of the Orkney Islands (formerly included in the same county); area, 551 square miles; pop. (1918) 26,300. The principal are the Mainland (60 miles long, but narrow); N. E. of it Yell (20 miles by 6), Unst (11 miles by 6); Fetlar, Whalsay, and Bressay. The lonely islands of Foula, 20 miles W. of Mainland, and Fair Island, 25 miles S. of it, are also included in the group. The rocks are chiefly Silurian, highly metamorphosed, resting on Laurentian gneiss, and covered in the S. by fragments of the Old Red Sandstone which characterizes the Orkneys. The coast line of the islands is rocky and precipitous and much indented; their surface is rocky and bare. The highest summit is Rona Hill, 1,590 feet high, in the N. of Mainland; Foula Island attains a height of 1,400 feet.
The scenery of the islands is very grand. The climate is humid and mild, but severe storms rage during winter. It seems peculiarly healthy for the natives, who frequently attain a great age.
The chief occupation of the Shetlanders SHIELD to Scotland as dowry of Margaret of Denmark, James III.'s bride. After passing through the hands of various noblemen they were sold in 1766 to Sir Lawrence Dundas, in whose family (the Earls of Zetland) they still remain. Old Norse customs long survived, and are not yet quite extinct, but the English language is now universal. A rich though littlewrought vein of folklore is indicated by the survival of many curious incantations or spell songs, which bear the impress of Odinic origin. A transfigured relic of an Eddic lay-a fragment of Odin's Rune song in a Christianized version-from the lips of an inhabitant of Unst, was received by Karl Blind in 1877.