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Crowds delight at morning visits from Lerwick Jarl's Squad

Hunting Viking spirit in Shetland

Hunting Viking spirit in Shetland Janice Hopper © Provided by The Independent What’s not to love about a series of raucous fire festivals celebrating the end of winter and the coming of spring, where torchlit processions of Vikings set a galley ship alight before partying through the night? January to March would normally see Shetland come alive during Up Helly Aa, the festival that echoes dramatic Norse rituals of cremating celebrated Viking leaders in their ships. The event has evolved over time, and can be attributed to a heady combination of influences: the Norse tradition of celebrating the end of Yuletide; masked and disguised “guizers” visiting neighbours; and lively male fire-starters rolling flaming tar-barrels through the Shetland streets (a practice that was banned in 1874). By the late 19th century, Up Helly Aa included the torchlit procession and galley ship we know today, while the “Viking squads” were introduced after the First World Wa