In Nordic mythology, the celestial bridge, "
Bifrost", is mentioned as the link between not only Earth and the home of the gods but between life and death, as well. Such a notion may have been prompted by the northern lights and, even in popular belief, this phenomenon has always been associated with death. People believed in the ability to contact the dead through the arc of the northern lights that stretches across the sky. A remnant of this belief may still be observed among northern-
Norwegian children when they can be caught waving white cloth at the northern lights, in sheer defiance of this sight.
Naturally, the northern lights have inspired both artists and travelers - once they have seen it. The summer, however, is the usual time of year for journeys to the North, and this is also why most visitors have not seen the northern lights. The active periods of the northern lights vary, too, and may differ in time with solar activities. Sunspot activities have been at low occurrences for long periods of time and, as a result, observations of the northern lights have been correspondingly few. This is the reason why we do not find mention made of the northern lights in well-known depections of northern Norway during the 17th-century. But
Fridtjof Nansen spent numerous winter nights under a canopy of blazing northern lights.
http://www.ub.uit.no.../northlight.htm
