revontulet
/ˈrevonˌtulet/
The northern lights. Literally, fox fires. Finnish calls them fox fires, and the forecast is in Finnish too
Quick answer
Revontulet is the Finnish word for the northern lights. It means fox fires.
- The name comes from a folk tale: a fox running across the fells throws sparks into the sky with its tail.
- It is a plural word. Näkyykö revontulia? - are the northern lights out - is the sentence to have.
What revontulet is
Two parts. Revon is the genitive of repo, an eastern dialect word for fox that standard Finnish otherwise replaced with kettu. Tulet is fires. So: the fox's fires.
The fox is not decoration added later. In the folk explanation it runs along the fells and its tail strikes the snow or the trees, and the sparks go up into the sky. Karelian has the same picture in the same shape.
The word survives in modern Finnish; the fox it is named after mostly does not. Repo is now a surname and a folk-tale animal, and the fox in a Finnish field is a kettu.
revontulet at a glance
How Finns actually use revontulet
Always in the plural. A Finn asks näkyykö revontulia or says nyt näkyy revontulia, and the singular revontuli survives mainly inside compounds like revontulikaari.
The verb that goes with it is näkyä, to be visible, rather than a verb of appearing. The lights are treated as something the sky either shows you or does not.
A Finnish weather forecast will say tänä yönä voi näkyä revontulia. That is the sentence worth recognising, because it is the one the forecast actually uses.
Asking whether revontulet are out
- Näkyykö revontulia? Are the northern lights out? Always plural, and the verb is näkyä - the sky either shows you or it does not.
- Nyt näkyy revontulia! The northern lights are out right now! Shouted through a doorway, which is how most people find out.
One word.
Every morning.
One real Finnish word every morning - what it means, what the book form is, and when Finns actually say it.
Where revontulet turn up, and when
- Tänä yönä voi näkyä revontulia. The northern lights may be visible tonight. The sentence a Finnish forecast actually uses, worth recognising as a unit.
- Revontulia näkyy etelässäkin, noin kerran kuussa. The lights are seen in the south too, about once a month. Not Lapland's alone. The southern coast gets them across the dark season.
- Puhelimen kamera näkee revontulet ennen silmää. The phone camera sees the aurora before your eye does. True since night mode arrived. The first sign is often a green smear on somebody's screen.
revontulet in a conversation
The mistake everyone makes with revontulet
Assuming they belong to Lapland. They are most frequent in the north, but they reach the whole country - the southern coast sees them on the order of once a month across the dark season.
Treating the fox as a modern nickname. The name is the old explanation, not a tourist-board invention, and it is the literal content of the word Finns use.
The fox inside revontulet
- Revon tulet, eli ketun tulet - siitä nimi tulee. Revon tulet, the fox's fires - that's where the name comes from. Repo is an eastern word for fox that standard Finnish replaced with kettu.
- Kettu juoksee tuntureilla ja häntä lyö kipinät taivaalle. The fox runs on the fells and its tail strikes sparks into the sky. The folk explanation, told the same way in Karelian. Not a tourist-board invention.
Questions people ask about revontulet
What does revontulet mean?
The northern lights. Literally it means fox fires, from repo, an old eastern word for fox, and tulet, fires.
Why does Finnish call the aurora fox fires?
From a folk explanation in which a fox running across the fells throws sparks up into the sky with its tail. Karelian carries the same image.
Is revontulet singular or plural?
Plural, and that is how it is used. The singular revontuli exists but survives mainly inside compounds, so a Finn says näkyykö revontulia rather than naming one light.
How do I ask whether the northern lights are out?
Näkyykö revontulia? If they already are, somebody will say nyt näkyy revontulia.
Can you see revontulet outside Lapland?
Yes. They are far more frequent in the north, but the southern coast gets them on the order of once a month through the dark season, given a clear night away from lights.
Is repo still the Finnish word for fox?
No. Standard Finnish uses kettu. Repo lives on in this compound, in folk tales and as a surname.
Is revontulet a bad word?
Safe everywhere. The only trap is grammatical: it is a plural, and Finns do not use the singular in a sentence.
Words that go with revontulet
Sources for revontulet
- Revontulet Finnish Meteorological Institute - How often the lights occur at different latitudes in Finland, and the viewing conditions.
- Kielitoimiston sanakirja: revontulet Kotimaisten kielten keskus
- Mistä revontulet ovat saaneet nimensä? Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The etymology: revon as the genitive of repo, the fox, and the folk explanation behind the compound.
- Revontulet - aurora borealis Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, University of Oulu - The physical phenomenon, measured from the observatory that has watched it longest in Finland.
- Northern lights in Finland thisisFINLAND, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland - Where and when they are seen across the country rather than only in Lapland.
One word.
Every morning.
One real Finnish word every morning - what it means, what the book form is, and when Finns actually say it.
