Is there really Northern Lights-inspired legends and lore?

Why hadn’t I ever wondered what kind of legends and lore (if any) the Northern Lights had inspired? It seemed so obvious once it hit me, yet it wasn’t until I watched It’s a Wonderful Knife that I found myself pondering the question. The lights play a key role in facilitating the creation of the “It’s a Wonderful Life” alternate universe when the main character wishes she’d never been born.

Then, when I wrote about an aurora Borealis-like phenomenon known as “Steve,” someone left a comment that made me wonder about Northern Lights legend and lore even more.

“Aurora is what Caucasians/African Americans call it. The native Americans call it the ‘northern lights’ and they believe those are spirits dancing….i never really bother to stare or look at it long bcuz in my belief those lights will come down and take you.”

Wait what? Some people believed the mesmerizing light display had a dark side? What other kinds of stories had people crafted to explain them?

I finally looked into it and created a video about it (embedded below), but here are the highlights.

Cultural Northern Lights Lore

Norse mythology believed the lights to be the glow from the shields of the Valkyries, warrior maidens who ferried fallen warriors to Valhalla.

The Finnish saw them as a mystical fox, whose tail brushed the night sky, causing sparks to fly out and create the aurora.

In Inuit folklore, the lights were spirits of the departed, playing a celestial game of soccer with a walrus skull.

The Scottish and Irish believed them to be a sign of impending war or turmoil.

The Chinese saw them as the fiery breath of dragons. 

Despite the variation between tales, a common thread runs through them all—a sense of awe, wonder, and reverence for this celestial spectacle. One I hope I finally get to witness with my own eyes someday. (It’s probably why I’m so obsessed with them. And pea green with envy of you if you’ve seen them.)

Check-In

What Northern Lights legend and lore have you heard?

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.