THE VIKINGS - 2010

2010 Fiery European Festivals

1.Up Helly Aa, a fire festival celebrated for over 130 years now in Scotland's Shetland islands.

2.Feast of Saint Anthony the Great, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, where residents ride their horses and mules through purifying bonfires.

• Up Helly Aa - January 26, 2010

• Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian vikings in the Shetland Islands, marking the end of the yule season, and has employed this theme in the festival since 1870. The event culminates with up to 1,000 'guizers' (men in costume) throwing flaming torches into a Viking longship. The event happens all over Shetland, but it is only the Lerwick galley which is not sent seaward. Everywhere else, the flaming galley is sent into the sea, in an echo of actual Viking sea burials.

A member of the "Jarl Squad" in Viking costume stands near others as they gather around a burning Viking ship during the traditional "Up Helly Aa" festival, in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles, Scotland, Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010.

A shield, an axe and a helmet, belonging to a member of the the Viking Jarl Squad are pictured as they eat breakfast before the start of the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, in Lerwick, Shetland Islands.

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad drink a cup of tea before the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, Lerwick, Shetland Islands.

Reuben Conroy, 10, a member of the Viking Jarl Squad, puts on his costume for the start of the annual Up Helly Aa Festival.

The Viking Jarl Squad are pictured as musicians play during the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, Lerwick, Shetland Islands.

In a misty fog, a member of the Viking Jarl Squad prepares for the start of the Up Helly Aa Festival.

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad are lit by burning torches as they march during the Up Helly Aa Festival in Lerwick, Shetland Islands.

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad surround their leader or "Guizer Jarl" on a Viking galley ship on the Shetland Islands.

A member of the Viking Jarl Squad wearing a winged helment is illuminated by burning torches during the Up Helly Aa Festival.

The "Jarl Squad" all dressed in Viking costume gather around a Viking ship as they take part in the traditional Up Helly Aa festival.

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad are illuminated by flares as they light burning torches.

A helmeted member of the Viking Jarl Squad is silhouetted in front of a burning viking galley ship.

A member of the Jarl viking squad holds up his axe as he is silhouetted by a burning viking longship during the Up Helly Aa Festival.

A viking galley ship goes up in flames, surrounded by the Viking Jarl Squad in Lerwick, on Scotland's Shetland Islands.

The Guizer Jarl or Chief of the Jarl viking squad stands before the burning viking longship during Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Scotland.

• The Feast of Saint Anthony – January 16, 2010

• The festival in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain coincides every year with the eve of the Feast of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. According to tradition, revelers ride their horses through bonfires placed around the village to purify the animals with fire and smoke after receiving a blessing from a priest.

a man rides a horse through a purifying bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals.

A man rides a horse near a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain in honor of Saint Anthony.

A man drinks wine during the annual Saint Anthony purification ceremony in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares near Avila.

Flames lick across the underside of a horse as a man rides it through a bonfire during the annual Saint Anthony purification ceremony in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain.

A boy hides his face from the smoke as he watches horses jumping through flames during the annual Saint Anthony purification ceremony in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain.

A man rides a horse through a embers and flames of a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain.

Onlookers watch as a man rides his horse through a bonfire in the streets of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain.

The head of a horse emerges from the flames as a man rides it through a purifying bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain.

THE END

Music: Chariots of Fire