Man has
always been fascinated by the natural phenomena that is the Northern Lights and
many myths and legends have been passed down to explain the magic of Aurora Borealis.
Here are a selection from around the world.
AMERICA
Many Inuit
tribes believe that the Northern Lights are spirits of the dead
playing ball with a walrus head or skull. The Eskimos of Nunivak Island had the
opposite idea, and believe it is walrus spirits playing with a human skull.
In 1862, the Northern Lights made a rare
appearance in Virginia, during the Battle of Fredicksburg and the rebel forces
took this as a sure sign God was on their side.
The Makah Indians of Washington State thought the
lights were fires in the Far North, lit by a tribe of dwarfs, half the size of
a canoe paddle, but strong enough to catch whales with their bare hands. Fires
were a popular belief. North Dakota Indians regarded the lights as fires over
which the great warriors of the north boiled their dead enemies in enormous pots.
The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin thought they were
torches used by amiable giants in the north, to spear fish at night.
The Koyukuk
Indians in Alaska banged on metal drums to try and attract the Northern Lights
to them.The Point
Barrow Eskimos, however, believed there was nothing good about the Aurora
Borealis, thinking them to be a dreadful, dangerous, terrifying occurrence and
carried knives to keep the Lights at bay.
The Algonquin Indians took a softer view of the Lights, believing that when Nanahbohzo the Creator
completed making the earth, he travelled to the North and built gigantic fires to
remind his people that he continuously loved them.
EUROPE
According
to Norse mythology, warlike female figures, the Valkyrie, would charge across
the night sky carrying the dead to Valhalla and the red, blue, violet and green
Northern Lights were caused by the reflections of these fearsome women’s armour.
In Scotland,
the Northern Lights were called the “Mirrie Dancers” or na-far-chills, dancers
who would fight each other. The
appearance of the lights was also thought to be a warning for bad weather.
In Old Icelandic folklore it was believed that Northern
Lights would ease the pain of childbirth. They also believed that babies born
of pregnant women who had looked at the Aurora Borealis would have eye
problems.
The Finns
named the Lights, Fox Fires and believed foxes made of fire lived in Lapland
and the lights were the sparks created by their tails when they flew into their
air.
The Sami
people of the Northern Arctic thought it was imperative to be quiet and
cautious when the Northern Lights were present as the lights
were the energies of the souls of the departed. When the fires blazed in the
skies, people were to behave solemnly, and children were admonished to be
respectful or ill luck would strike anyone and this could cause sickness, even
death.
The East Greenland Eskimos claimed that the dancing of
the children who had died at birth caused the continually moving streamers and
draperies of the aurora.
Scandinavians used to believed the Aurora Borealis was
the reflection of huge schools of herring in the sea and they were a sign that fishermen
would enjoy good catches of fish
To the ancient Europeans, Northern Lights were the cause of panic and
fear as to them it signaled outbreak of death and disease. In the Middle Ages, Europeans were convinced that
If Northern Lights glowed red; this was a sure sign of impending war.
ASIA
In China, a
fire-breathing dragon was believed to be the creator of Aurora Borealis
Both Chinese and Japanese cultures believe that a
child conceived under the Northern Lights will be blessed with good fortunes.
The Chuvash
people of Siberia thought the lights were their god attempting though help
women in childbirth.
What an
effect the Northern Lights have had on mankind across continents and through
the ages. The best time to see their beauty Is from September to January and to
go to Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Sweden or Norway.
