Tom Muir

Storyteller, historian, archaeologist and folklorist Tom Muir has a great love for the stories and history of his native Orkney. His humorous delight is infectious.

Tom was born on a small farm by the sea in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. His parents were older when he was born, so the old customs were still very much alive in his family.

As a writer, Tom has retold traditional Orkney folktales in ‘The Mermaid Bride and other Orkney Folk Tales.’ The History Press published his book ‘Orkney Folk Tales’ as part of their county folk tale series. Tom edited the Orkney stories collected by Walter Traill Dennison and the works of folklorist and local historian George Marwick. He’s published and contributed to many other books about Orkney history, Nordic folk tales and the Icelandic Sagas.

As a storyteller, Tom has shared his stories from Newfoundland and Greenland in the north to Slovenia and Hong Kong in the south, and all over Scotland, Scandinavia and Europe. He’s a founding member and president of the Orcadian Story Trust, which runs the annual Orkney Storytelling Festival, known as the little festival with a big heart … probably because he feeds his visiting storytellers so well.

Tom can be contacted through his website, https://www.orkneyology.com/ and through his member profile in Traditional Arts Culture Scotland, https://tracscotland.org/storytellers/tom-muir/.