DASG Blog

Na Fir-Chlis

There isn’t a thing so magical or beautiful to behold in nature but the Na Fir-Chlis (“The Northern lights” or “Aurora Borealis” ann an Laideann) – or the “Na Fir Chlisnidh” in Islay and “Na Fir Chlisne” in South Uist. The same name is found in MacKay Country and East Sutherland as in the Lowlands of Scotland: “Na Dannsairean” (“The Dancers” or the “Merry Dancers.”) The Fir-Chlis can be seen in the Countries of the far north, and to the far south apparently (with the “Aurora Australis,”) all over the globe, especially in Scandinavia. The Fir-Chlis are just as important in Gaelic Folklore as it is in Viking or Native, or Aboriginal folklore throughout the world and we shall have a look at a couple of them in this blog.

Tha name, in Latin, comes from the Greek Goddess “Aurora”, who travels for the east to the west to report the coming of the morning to her brother and sister, Helios, God of the Sun, agus Selene, Goddess of the Moon.

In Gaelic lore it is thought by some that the Fir-Chlis and the fairies were angels cast from heaven. In the book “The Gaelic Otherworld,” by the Reverend John Gregorson Campbell, there is an account that the Reverend Allen MacDonald heard that the angels that stayed neutral in an angelic uprising were cast out of heaven, to be the fairies, in order to fulfil their lives on earth until God forgave them. In an other account God said to them to stop fighting and some of them fell to earth and they changed into the form of the fairies, other fell to the rocks and they became the echos and other fell in the air and they became the Fir-Chlis. There is an other account that the Fir-Chlis­ will fight among each other and when one of them bleeds it will fall to the earth to be a coloured stone with the name “Fuil Sìochaire” (“Fairy Blood.”) It is the same story we have in “Not an orchid...,” by Hughie Dan MacLellan, saying that the Fir-Chlisneach and the Blue Men of the Sea were fallen angels of heaven.

In Viking folklore it was believed that the Fir-Chlis were the shining of the Valkyries’ armour while they were carrying heroes to Valhalla. Others were of the opinion that it was the breath of the brave heroes that died in battle, or that it was the Bifrost Bridge, the bridge on which that brave heroes would travel on the road to Valhalla. In Norway there is a belief that the Na Fir Chlis is the souls of old maidean tavelling to heaven, waving their hands to their kindred and families. In Iceland, some people are of the opinion that the Na Fir-Chlis will bring women that are dealing with the pain of childbirth aid. But, it is recommended that pregnant women should not look directly at the Fir-Chlis otherwise their children will be cross-eyed.

It is different in the Sámi folklore, the Sámi people believe that the Fir-Chlis are a bad omen. More on that, one ought not to talk about the Fir-Chlis. It is dangerous to whistle or sing under the Fir-Chlis as because it will alert them to where you are and if they find you they would take you into the sky with them! Others are of the opinion that the Fir-Chlis will take your head off if they catch you! Therefore it is better for you to stay at home if the Fir-Chlis are outside. In Finland the name “Revontulet,” meaning “fire fox” is used for them. There is a beautiful story that the fox created the Fir-Chlis, running through the skies, with their tails brushing against the top of the mountains, creating sparks in the air. Others will believe that the tails scooped up the tails of their fire foxes the snowflakes up in the air that caught the light of the moon and created the Fir-Chlis. I remembered when I heard about this it reminded me that we have “Teine-Sionnachain,” or “Teine Sionachain,” in Scotland and that it was intereting that the same imagery despite our different cultures!
In Greenland it is different from Norway because they are the spirits of children who were lost in childbirth dancing in the skies instead of the souls of maidens. [For more information about the Fir-Chlis have a look at the pages “Hurtigruten” here, “EwebTribe” here, “CulturallyOurs” here, “TabithaBear” here, “Lapland.fi” here and “NatHub” here etc.]

The Fir-Chlis were, and still are, a sign of weather, in “Màirnealachd” (“Weather Lore,”) you can hear it on the programme “Dealan-Dè” on Tobar an Dualchais.

As well as folklore the Fir-Chlis have a place in the imagination of the Gaels too; in the writings of Rob Donn MacAoidh has the phrase “Cho luath ris na Fir-Chlis” (“As fast as the Northern Lights”) can be seen. When we didn’t have a set vocabulary for new devices in Gaelic and people had got a radio for the first time we didn’t have a word for it. “Rèidio” was, and is still in use, was said but “Bocsa Fhir-Chlis” was said too, showing the imagination of the Gaels for thinking that the Fir-Chlis were dancing and setting in the box and that’s the reason why there was noise and music coming from inside it.

I haven’t shown you every piece of lore about the Fir-Chlis but I would encourage you to read about them because there is a lot of interesting folklore, far and wide, about them that you would enjoy. Do you have any lore about the Fir-Chlis? Did you hear about what we have above already? Let us know on facebook, twitter and our own website!