SMUHA Hop 2013, Guizer Jarl's Speech

South Mainland Up Helly Aa: The Hop Night at Cunningsburgh Hall (2013)" On the night of March 9th, 2013, the community of Cunningsburgh in Shetland gathered to celebrate the South Mainland Up Helly Aa—the island’s youngest fire festival—culminating in its now-traditional “Hop Night” at the local hall. This video captures one of the evening’s high points: a live performance by Muddy Bay, joined partway through by the Guizer Jarl Squad, who entered in full Viking dress to perform and deliver a speech by that year’s Jarl, Dale Smith—appearing as Rognvald “The Wise” Eysteinsson, a legendary Norse figure whose lineage, according to lore, connects to the founding of Normandy and beyond. Set to music and ritual, this moment condenses the social energy of the event: the layered sounds of electric folk, the resonant acoustics of the community hall, the visual symbolism of costume and firelight, and the easy interweaving of humor, tradition, and kinship. It offers a glimpse not only into Up Helly Aa as spectacle, but also into the deeper resonances—interpersonal, performative, and historical—that sustain it as a living practice. This recording is part of a broader ethnographic archive assembled during my fieldwork in Shetland (2012–2013), focused on music-making, identity, and the aesthetics of local celebration. More materials at: March 9th 2013, Cunningsburgh, Shetland. South Mainland Up Helly Aa, the ‘HOP’ night. Maskarade had played their set, and Muddy Bay was onstage when the Jarl Squad joined them for a number of tunes, followed by a speech by Rognvald “The Wise” Eysteinsson , Dale Smith. This clip provides us with a sense of the interpersonal, social, acoustic and visual resonances at play at Cunningsburgh Hall that night.

Collection context: Shetland, Scotland

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