Orkney's St Magnus inspires Danish Eurovision entry

Rasmussen sings the Danish entry "Higher Ground"

As people across Scotland prepare to watch the Eurovision Song Contest later, in Orkney there will be special interest in one of the entries.

The Danish song this year, "Higher Ground" by the suitably Viking-named Rasmussen, was inspired by the islands' patron saint, Magnus.

That has led to some people in the archipelago to adopt it as Orkney's unofficial entry.

Magnus Erlendsson was a Viking martyred by his cousin 900 years ago.

The song is based on an incident - recorded in the Orkneyinga saga - which records how during a battle at Anglesey (or Ynys Môn), off the north-west coast of Wales, Magnus refused to fight. Instead he spent the duration of the battle singing Christian psalms.

His behaviour was, naturally, frowned on by the Norwegian king. So Magnus decided to jump ship. Literally.

The cathedral dedicated to St Magnus dominates Kirkwall town centre

One night he slipped off the king's boat, and went into hiding.

Eventually he returned to Orkney, and became joint earl with Hakon. But that soon turned sour, with Hakon becoming jealous of his cousin's popularity.

A meeting was arranged to solve the dispute on the isle of Egilsay. It was agreed the two men could take an equal number of ships and men to the summit.

But Hakon broke his side of the agreement, and outnumbered his cousin's contingent significantly.

Local chiefs decided the time for joint earldom had come to an end, and one of the two would have to die.

The face of St Magnus was reconstructed from a skull believed to his buried in a pillar in Kirkwall's cathedral

Magnus put forward no arguments as to why he should be the one to live, and instructed his men not to put up any fight as he was executed.

That story left a deep impact - not least in Orkney, where the cathedral in Kirkwall is dedicated to his memory.

The 900th anniversary of his death was celebrated across the islands last year.

But why has the story provided inspiration for a Eurovision song?

Well the story goes that due to TV shows like "The Game of Thrones" interest in Scandinavia's Viking past is enjoying a resurgence.

The martyrdom of Magnus on the island of Egilsay was re-enacted as part of commemorations in Orkney last year

Rasmussen himself took time out from rehearsals in Lisbon to tell BBC Radio Orkney: "The idea of a pacifist Viking refusing to fight for his king was interesting.

"So they wanted to write a song that dealt with the topic of freezing the arrow in the air before it strikes."

The singer added: "It's so nice that people in Orkney, where he actually is a saint, are loving the song."

And the performer has promised to give a shout-out to Orkney if he wins.