Farther north, at the head of a small bay, lies Haroldswick, where Harold Haarfager is believed to have landed in 872, when he annexed the Orkney and Shetland Islands to Norway.
On the 20th of August 1589, in spite of Queen Elizabeth's opposition, she was married by proxy to King James, without dower, the alliance, however, settling definitely the Scottish claims to the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
About the same time, and largely owing to the exertions of Olaf, Iceland, Greenland and the Orkney and Shetland islands were also evangelized.
It was established in the Shetland Islands in 1997 following a three-year pilot under the local authority.
The isle of yell is the largest of the northern shetland islands with a population of about 1000.
