The stripes of the heavens

The northern lights fill the night sky with a magic equal to the power supplied by its cousin the midnight sun. The darkness of winter is never really truly dark in the Arctic Circle Region. And it’s not only snow that lights up the landscape.

From September to March the sky is lit up with green, blue and yellow tints, which shift and form waves, currents and flats from horizon to horizon.

The science behind it
The northern lights are solar particles from space captured by the earth’s magnetic field and which immediately begin a reciprocal effect between the two poles, something which can be seen the whole year round if the nights are dark enough.

What the locals know
But the northern lights are more than that. They’re the living game of the past played out on today’s night sky. For in these splendid lights in the night sky you can see the Greenlanders of bygone days playing a game they always loved while alive:

They play football in the heavens, and the northern lights are the body stripes of the players running through the night after a large, frozen walrus head as their football.

If the game starts moving too far from the spectators, you can whistle out into the night to draw them closer again. But take care – the ancestors can be frightening if too close, so make sure you keep a proper distance, which can be done by rubbing your fingernails together so they make a clicking sound.

Life under the auroral skies
The northern lights give you an opportunity to experience a range of the activities open to you in the Arctic Circle Region.

Even before the snow’s settled you can see the northern lights while you’re out hiking, hunting, fishing for trout, playing golf or sailing.

And it’s this combination of snow, northern lights and dog sledding, skiing or riding round on snowmobiles that offers you an experience you’ll never forget.

So it’s just a matter of getting out into the dark blue of the polar night and tilting your head back. The sky will take care of the rest.