Oh, it was wild and weird and wan, and ever in camp o’ nights
We would watch and watch the silver dance of the mystic Northern Lights.
And soft they danced from the Polar sky and swept in primrose haze;
And swift they pranced with their silver feet, and pierced with a blinding blaze.
They danced a cotillion in the sky; they were rose and silver shod;
It was not good for the eyes of man — ‘Twas a sight for the eyes of God.
I
Robert Service, “The Ballad of the Northern Lights”
remember the first and only time I saw the
northern lights. I was seven years old, and
visiting family in Fort McMurray, Alberta. One
late night, my family and I were lying at the edge of
a small lake; I looked up and was completely amazed
by the sight that greeted my eyes. Fingers, long, green
and blue fingers, were stretching down from the sky
from all directions. I didn’t understand what I was
seeing, and it seemed as though these celestial beings
were coming at me from all directions, wanting to
scoop me up. They took up the entire sky and as soon
as one light would disappear into the vastness of the
sky another would reach down, so close to my face. I
lay there transfixed for what felt like hours (in reality
it was probably only half an hour). My Dad told me
what I was seeing were the northern lights. I thought
they were angels.
The northern lights (Aurora borealis) are
a visual occurrence that can be seen in many
different skies across the world. They have
spawned countless stories, poems, songs, and folklore. At times, the northern lights can be a faint
light in the sky. The northern lights can take on
the shape of a sparkling ribbon, a swirling arch,
or simply patches of colour. Other times they are
a faint glow in the distance, always moving. The
varying colour, brilliance, and form all depend
The northern lights over the Swedish town of Kiruna
IGNACIO GARCÍA
on different factors: the sun, the earth’s magnetic
field, the time of year, the location, and the time of
day. The spectacle of the lights does happen during
the day, but is seen only at night because the sun’s
bright light outshines the northern lights. People
living in places like Alaska, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden
are frequent spectators of the lights.
Today, thanks to science and technology, the
northern lights are no longer a mystery. However,
for centuries and centuries, residents of the north
were baffled by the occurrence in the sky and came
up with their own explanations. The stories the
northern lights have inspired could fill a book, but
this article will explore a few of the myths and folklore that have survived through the centuries.
Northern Europe
Myths surrounding the northern lights date back at
least as far as the Viking Age. The Old Norse word
for the northern lights is norôrljós. The first time
the term is used is in the book The King’s Mirror,
which dates to 1250, after the end of the Viking Age
(800–1100AD). In the book, the early settlers of
Greenland describe their reactions upon seeing the