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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—O

Orkneys

Either the Teutonic Orkn-cys (the water or islands of the whirlpool), in allusion to the two famous whirlpools near the Isle of Swinna; or else the Norwegian Orkeyjar (northern islands), the Hebrides being the Sudreyjar, or southern islands.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

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