or millennia, the beguiling, kaleidoscopic dance across the sky that is the aurora borealis remained a mystery. In the Middle Ages, many continental Europeans viewed the majestic glow as an omen of war or other impending doom. The Estonians were slightly more romantic, believing them to be sleighs ferrying guests to a wedding in the heavens. Cree Indians thought they were a way of communicating with their ancestors, and that when dogs barked at the spectacle, they were recognising their lost companions. Swedish fisherman prayed for an appearance, imagining them to be reflections of giant schools of herring swimming nearby. Sami mythology, in particular, awards them unequivocal powers: they not
