That Shetland was inhabited from remote times is evident from the number of primitive stone implements found all over the islands. The rude hammer and axe; the finely-polished celts and knives; the stone circles and brochs; the burial mounds, with urns and stone coffins—all bear mute testimony to successive stages of progress towards civilisation. Who the earliest inhabitants were it is not easy to discover; but it is generally agreed that for a number of centuries the Picts held sway till supplanted by invaders from Norway. Norse influence began with Viking raids, and then towards the end of the ninth century assumed the form of conquest. Scandinavian domination lasted till 1468. During this period the people were Norse to a large extent in blood and altogether in language, manners and customs; and although Scottish influence has brought about many changes, yet the Shetlander still retains many of the Norse characteristics of his ancestors.

The spoken language is a Scottish dialect with a mixture of Norse words—many thousands, says Jacob Jacobsen—with accent and pronunication distinctly Scandinavian. Some of its peculiarities are as follows: th becomes d or t, as dat eart for that earth; qu as in squander is sounded like wh; long o is shortened; oo in good is modified (something like French u) and written Ü as gÜd. This Ü is the shibboleth of the dialect, and is extremely difficult for any but a Shetlander to pronounce.

Nearly all the place names are of Norse origin. Islands and rocks are denoted by uy, holm, baa, skerry, drong, stack; openings along the coast by voe, wick, firth, ham, hoob, min, gio, gloop, helyer; capes by noss, noop or neep, bard, mool, ness, taing, hevda or hevdi, rocks or cliffs by clett, hellya, berry, bakka, berg, ord; inland heights by wart or ward, vord, virdick, fell or fil, hool, sneug, kame, coll or kool, roni, bjÖrg; valleys by wall or vel, dal, grave or gref, gil, boiten, koppa, sloag, quarf, wham; fresh water by vatn, fors, kelda, o, ljÖag, brun; crofts and townships by seter, or ster, bister, skolla, taft; enclosures by garth, gard, gord, girt, gairdie, krÜ, bÜ, toon, pund, hoga, hag, quhey. An isthmus is called aid; a Pictish broch is burg or burra. Peti means Picts; Finni, Finns; Papa or Papil an Irish missionary settlement.

A century ago the population was 22,379, and reached its maximum (31,670) in 1861. After that it gradually decreased, chiefly owing to emigration, to 27,911 in 1911. The density is about fifty to the square mile.