Northern Lights on the Cover of Weird Tales

This past week the Northern Lights have been visible in parts of the world where they aren't normally seen. I have seen them only once in my life, in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, in May 1997 with friends I haven't seen in a very long time. In thinking about the lights, I remembered the image below. I can't be sure that the Northern Lights are depicted on this cover, but the lighting effects here have the right appearance, and with a Viking in the picture, I can only assume that the setting is boreal. There are lots of weird lighting effects on the cover of Weird Tales. This is the only one that comes close to a depiction of the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis for lovers of Latin.

Weird Tales, March 1943. Cover story: "Flight into Destiny" by Verne Chute. Cover art by E. Franklin Wittmack.

Text copyright 2024 Terence E. Hanley