Tom Muir – författare

‘Tom’s new anthology contains a “wide pantheon of supernatural beings, from the dangerous Blue Men of the Minth and the jealous mermaid of Caithness to the gentle selkie folk who live between two worlds” in stories harvested from the coastlines, lochs and islands of his native lead.’ - Coast magazine Book of the MonthScotland has over 11,600 miles of coastline, so it’s no surprise that the sea and shore have been inspiring folk tales for millennia.In Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea, Orkney storyteller Tom Muir weaves tales from this lore-steeped shoreline, finding selkie folk, pirates and even the devil in the liminal space between land and sea. Learn how death was captured in a nut, how a mermaid wreaked her revenge and how whirlpools were created. Discover a land beneath the waves, the mysterious island of Tir-nan-Og and a chorus of demon cats – but beware the most grotesque monster of them all, the hideous Nuckelavee.

Scotland is a land steeped in romance – often these stories end happily but, inevitably, they must sometimes end in tragedy too. The tale of love, faith and heartbreak has been told across the ages, a story that humanity never tires of reading. Such timeless magic weaves through the folk tales of this ancient land, now scattered across the pages of this book.Within this collection we learn of love in its many and varied forms; love between two people, between parents and children and between friends and communities. From selkies and fairies to witches, ghosts and even the Devil, these ancient Celtic myths are entwined with Scottish folk tales to bring to life experiences of doomed love, cursed love and love foretold by dreams. These tales have been carefully chosen and retold by Orkney storyteller Tom Muir and lovingly given form through the artwork of Hester Aspland.

The Orkney Islands are a place of mystery and magic, where the past and the present meet, ancient standing stones walk and burial mounds are the home of the trows.Orkney Folk Tales walks the reader across invisible islands that are home to fin folk, mermaids and seals that are often far more than they appear to be. Here Orkney witches raise storms and predict the outcome of battles, ghosts seek revenge and the Devil sits in the rafters of St Magnus Cathedral, taking notes!Using ancient tales told by the firesides of the Picts and Vikings, storyteller Tom Muir takes the reader on a magical journey where he reveals how the islands were created from the teeth of a monster, how a giant built lochs and hills in his greed for fertile land, and how the waves are controlled by the hand of a goddess.

Orkney’s folklore reflects centuries of storytelling shaped by landscape, livelihood, and long‑standing ties to the wider North Atlantic world. This book explores the islanders’ accounts of fairies, hogboons, giants, mermaids, selkies, Finfolk, and other characters that helped people make sense of their surroundings on land and at sea. It also looks at the customs that guided everyday life — from birth and courtship to marriage, death, farming, and fishing — and how these practices offered protection, structure, and meaning. Witchcraft beliefs, trial records, and tales of the Devil reveal how fear, morality, and community pressures intertwined, while annual festivals show how older traditions adapted over time. This is an exploration into how folklore shaped Orkney’s culture and the rhythms of island life.