[MR] Up Helly Aa Tonight

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Vikings and Fellow Scots,

Tonight is the Big One in the Shetland Islands--Up Helly Aa. Think Mardi
Gras in Viking suits and you've got it.

Up Helly Aa is the Shetland Viking Fire Festival celebrated on the last
Tuesday in January. The largest event is held in Lerwick, where the whole
thing started in the late 19th century. Many other towns in the Shetlands
also hold smaller events.

Up Helly Aa is usually a torchlit procession of "Guizers" elaborately
dressed in what passes for Viking garb. The procession climaxes with the
burning of a Viking ship. This is followed by drinking, hijinks, some more
drinking, lots of carrying on, still more drinking, and finally the
grandmother of all hangovers the next morning. Folks in the Shetlands
certainly know how to live, don't they!

Wikipedia offers a general explanation of Up Helly Aa at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Helly_Aa .

The official site for the Lerwick event is at http://www.uphellyaa.org .
The most interesting photos are in the "Gallery" section under "Jarl
Squads", "Procession" and "Galley".

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿