Northern Lights and Folklore
The northern lights and folklore
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Since time immemorial, through different cultures and whenever they occur, there have been many beliefs about the northern lights. The Inuit around Hudson Bay had the following explanation of what they saw:
The sky is a huge dome of hard material arched over the flat earth. On the outside there is light. In the dome there are a large number of small holes, and trough these holes you can see the light from the outside when it is dark. And trough these holes the spirits of the dead can pass into the heavenly regions. The way to heaven leads over a narrow bridge which spans an enormous abyss. The spirits that were already in heaven light torches to guide the feet of the new arrivals. These torches are called the northern lights
In Middle-Age Europe, the northern lights were thought to be reflections of heavenly warriors. As a kind of posthumous reward, the soldiers that gave their lives for their king and country were allowed to battle on the skies forever. The northern lights were the breath of these brave soldiers as they resumed their fight in the skies.
Otherwise the northern lights were a sign of omen. They warned of illness, plague and death. When red, which is the most common colour at low latitudes, they signalled the outbreak of war.
No such omens are known in North Norway. Up here, people's conceptions were more characterized by awe for this mighty phenomenon. One should tread carefully and in no way should the northern lights be intimidated by waving, whistling, staring or any other form of defiane.
Already several centuries before Christ time, detailed descriptions and explanations were put forward. In his book Metereologia, Aristoteles described the northern lights as a light which resembled the flames of burning gas. if these flames spread and at the same time sent out sparks and rays, they were called jumping goats. Without such rays, they were called simply fire.
In contrast, we find a sober and objective description of the northern lights in the nordic book Kongespeilet (The King's Mirror) written approximately 1230. Here the author writes:
Otherwise it is the same with the northern lights as with anything else we know nothing about, that wise men put forward ideas and simple guesswork, and belive that what is most common and probabale.
He then puts forwards several theories, some of which are based upon the fact that the northern lights were then common over Greenland, but rare over Norway. For example,
Some people say that when the sun is under the horizon at night, some rays of light reach up to the skies over Greenland, a landmass so close to the edge of the earth that the earth's curvature is which hides the sun must be less there.
Even today there are many different theories about the northern lights. Some say that if you wave to them, they will increase in activity or even reach down and catch you. Or that if you look at them you will damage your eyes. One visitor to the Planetarium in Tromsx wondered how they came right down to the ground. He had seen it happen several times. Another wanted an explanation for the crackling noises he could hear when the northern lights were strong. One common notion is that the lights only appear when it is cold. They are, of course unaffected by the weather, but to see them, it should be dark and the sky cloudless. Under such conditions it is generally cold in North Norway.
alku
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Since time immemorial, through different cultures and whenever they occur, there have been many beliefs about the northern lights. The Inuit around Hudson Bay had the following explanation of what they saw:
The sky is a huge dome of hard material arched over the flat earth. On the outside there is light. In the dome there are a large number of small holes, and trough these holes you can see the light from the outside when it is dark. And trough these holes the spirits of the dead can pass into the heavenly regions. The way to heaven leads over a narrow bridge which spans an enormous abyss. The spirits that were already in heaven light torches to guide the feet of the new arrivals. These torches are called the northern lights
In Middle-Age Europe, the northern lights were thought to be reflections of heavenly warriors. As a kind of posthumous reward, the soldiers that gave their lives for their king and country were allowed to battle on the skies forever. The northern lights were the breath of these brave soldiers as they resumed their fight in the skies.
Otherwise the northern lights were a sign of omen. They warned of illness, plague and death. When red, which is the most common colour at low latitudes, they signalled the outbreak of war.
No such omens are known in North Norway. Up here, people's conceptions were more characterized by awe for this mighty phenomenon. One should tread carefully and in no way should the northern lights be intimidated by waving, whistling, staring or any other form of defiane.
Already several centuries before Christ time, detailed descriptions and explanations were put forward. In his book Metereologia, Aristoteles described the northern lights as a light which resembled the flames of burning gas. if these flames spread and at the same time sent out sparks and rays, they were called jumping goats. Without such rays, they were called simply fire.
In contrast, we find a sober and objective description of the northern lights in the nordic book Kongespeilet (The King's Mirror) written approximately 1230. Here the author writes:
Otherwise it is the same with the northern lights as with anything else we know nothing about, that wise men put forward ideas and simple guesswork, and belive that what is most common and probabale.
He then puts forwards several theories, some of which are based upon the fact that the northern lights were then common over Greenland, but rare over Norway. For example,
Some people say that when the sun is under the horizon at night, some rays of light reach up to the skies over Greenland, a landmass so close to the edge of the earth that the earth's curvature is which hides the sun must be less there.
Even today there are many different theories about the northern lights. Some say that if you wave to them, they will increase in activity or even reach down and catch you. Or that if you look at them you will damage your eyes. One visitor to the Planetarium in Tromsx wondered how they came right down to the ground. He had seen it happen several times. Another wanted an explanation for the crackling noises he could hear when the northern lights were strong. One common notion is that the lights only appear when it is cold. They are, of course unaffected by the weather, but to see them, it should be dark and the sky cloudless. Under such conditions it is generally cold in North Norway.
alku
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