Up Helly Aa: A Thousand Torches and a Burning Galley

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The last Tuesday of January, when the North Atlantic has spent weeks trying to peel the roofs off Lerwick, up to a thousand men march through the town carrying flaming torches over their heads. At the front walks a man dressed as a Norse chieftain, in a raven-winged helmet and a mail shirt he has spent a year and a fortune assembling. Behind him, a full-size wooden longship rolls on wheels. The procession spirals in on a marked burning site, the torch-bearers form a ring, and on a bugle signal they hurl a thousand burning brands into the galley at once. The thing goes up like a struck match. Sixty seconds later it is a bonfire the size of a house, and Shetland stands in the orange dark, singing, while the wind carries the sparks out over the harbour.

Viking on vo.rs

Up Helly Aa: A Thousand Torches and a Burning Galley