Creature Feature – The Legend of the Fire Fox

While people from distant times in history were often intimately connected with nature, they lacked modern science to explain natural phenomena — and so, legends were born. Scores of legends swirl around the aurora borealis — more commonly called the northern lights — stories as mystical and colorful as the lights themselves. 

An Old World Estonian legend tells that when humpback whales frolicked and played in the ocean, their dancing bodies were reflected into the night sky, creating the aurora. The Menominee, a Native American tribe of the Wisconsin region, believed the northern lights were flaming torches carried by malevolent giants as they speared fish at night. My favorite explanation, however, is the legend of Tulikettu, which brings to mind the most beautiful, magical imagery.

In the Lapland region of Finland, where winter rules for over half the year, Tulikettu was a giant red fox whose flaming tail illuminated the dark, snowy woods. As Tulikettu ran swiftly through the frozen forest, his fiery fur gave off sparks that flew into the sky and became the northern lights. Tulikettu is also called the Fire Fox. It’s a perfectly fitting name, as the Finnish word for the aurora — “revontulet” — literally means “fox’s fires.”

Article & photo by Margie Manthey