Shetland has seemed to be some kind of magnet for thousands of years to marauding warriors on planned expeditions, along with fishermen, traders, explorers and smugglers. Even the Romans are said to have travelled this far north, naming the cluster of 100 islands, Ultima Thule.
Vikings, Norsemen and Danes along with seafarers from other countries landed and made their home here, seasoning further the culture that can be experienced here today. In the ninth century Norsemen voyaged in their long ships in search for new lands across the sea. Caithness, the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland all succumbed to the powerful might of the Vikings. From 872 AD the natives gave way to them and after the warriors, came farmers and their families and with them, a whole new culture establishing a powerful Viking earldom in Orkney. Scandinavian rule was to last in Shetland until the mid 15th century until it was given to Scotland as a dowry, although the Scandinavian influence prevails even to this day. The Vikings took their law and their language wherever they went and most of Shetland's place names are derived from the Viking language.