Hjaltadans

Hjaltadans, also known as Fairy Ring or Haltadans stone circle, is a stone circle on the island of Fetlar in Shetland, Scotland.[1] This site is a ring of 38 stones,[2] of which 22 are still fixed in the soil, and it is 11 metres (37 ft) in diameter.[3] Inside this is an earthen ring 7.9 metres (26 ft) in diameter, with a 1.5 metres (5 ft) gap in the southwest side.[1] In the center of the rings are two rectangular pillars.[1][3]

Hjaltadans
Native name Fairy Ring
A picture of the stone circle
LocationShetland, Scotland
Coordinates60°36′36.57″N 0°51′49.95″W
BuiltDuring the Neolithic Period
Architectural style(s)British pre-Roman Architecture
Hjaltadans shown within Shetland

According to Jakob Jakobsen, the name Haltadans means: "lame or limping dance".[4] This is a reference to the legend that the circle of stones was once a circle of dancing trolls and that the two rock pillars in the centre were once a fiddler and his wife.[3] They had fiddled and danced all night long, and, heedless of the time, were still fiddling and dancing when the sun rose and petrified them all.[2]

See also
  • History portal

References
  1. "Hjaltadans". Stone Circle in Scotland in Shetland. Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  2. Smith, Hamish Haswell (16 May 1998). "Fetlar Island of the Week". Scotland Herald. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  3. "Fetlar, Gravins, 'Haltadans'". Canmore Site Records. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  4. Jakobsen, Jakob (1897). The Dialect and Place-Names of Shetland. pp. 116–117.


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