[MR] BBC: Photos from Shetland Viking Fire Festival

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Vikings and Fellow Scots:

The night you have all be waiting for has come and gone -- Up Helly Aa, the
world famous Viking Fire Festival celebrated every year on the last Tuesday
in January.

Actually, there are 12 such festivals, which have some similarities to
mardi gras or carnival. The grandaddy of them all is the huge event in
Lerwick. At each of the 12 festivals, Guizer Squads led by a Guizer Jarl
dress in faux Viking outfits (each squad has an elaborate uniform) and
parade through the streets carrying torches. The parade ends when a mock
Viking ship is set ablaze. That's not the end of the festivities. The
participants next head indoors and get roaring drunk.

Curiously, Up Helly Aa was organized in the 19th century as a temperance
event.

Some spectacular photos from this year's celebration in Lerwick can be seen
at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-51294326
.

In recent years Up Helly Aa has been racked by controversy over the role of
women. Some smaller festivals allow women to dress as Guizers, and there
have even been female Guizer Jarls. Not so in Lerwick, though there have
been discussions about a greater role for women. Organizers (all men, no
doubt) say women play an important role by organizing the drinking parties.
(Sounds like a lame excuse from sexist pigs.)

The BBC recently reported on the whole question of Lerwick women as
Guizers. One of the articles is here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-51281146 .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆