Blood Red Sword, Wales
“The sun was setting in flames on the sea, behind the four dark peaks of Snowdon; and suddenly, from sea to zenith, there rushed up the sky an even band of crimson light-fulgurous and burning; it was the rare phenomenon of the ‘blood red sword’, an omen of war even in Roman Times and Caesar’s Commentaries.”
John Hardwick quotes from G Withrop Youngs’s “An impression of Pen-y-pass,1900-1920”.
He took this photo from 2000ft looking over Nant Gwynant with the sun setting behind Y Aran, an outlier of Snowdon.
“I look out for sun pillars but have not seen them very often. This one was very visible. It moved as the sun set, I have one photo where it looks as if the pillar is coming out of the mountain top!”
Images ©John Hardwick, shown with permission
