by August V. Koskimies and Toivo I. Itkonen edited by Lea Laitinen translated by Tim Frandy
University of Wisconsin Press, 2020 Paper: 978-0-299-31904-5 | eISBN: 978-0-299-31903-8 | Cloth: 978-0-299-31900-7 Library of Congress Classification GR201.I53K613 2019 Dewey Decimal Classification 398.20948977
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
A rich multivoiced anthology of folktales, legends, joik songs, proverbs, riddles, and other verbal art, this is the most comprehensive collection of Sámi oral tradition available in English to date. Collected by August V. Koskimies and Toivo I. Itkonen in the 1880s from nearly two dozen storytellers from the arctic Aanaar (Inari) region of northeast Finland, the material reveals a complex web of social relations that existed both inside and far beyond the community.
First published in 1918 only in the Aanaar Sámi language and in Finnish, this anthology is now available in a centennial English-language edition for a global readership. Translator Tim Frandy has added biographies of the storytellers, maps and period photos, annotations, and a glossary. In headnotes that contextualize the stories, he explains such underlying themes as Aanaar conflicts with neighboring Sámi and Finnish communities, the collapse of the wild reindeer populations less than a century before, and the pre-Christian past in Aanaar. He introduces us to the bawdy humor of Antti Kitti, the didacticism of Iisakki Mannermaa, and the feminist leanings of Juho Petteri Lusmaniemi, emphasizing that folktales and proverbs are rooted in the experiences of individuals who are links in a living tradition.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Tim Frandy is an assistant professor in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University. A member of the Sámi American community, he has been active in Indigenous cultural revitalization movements in North America and Scandinavia.
REVIEWS
"Frandy has made visible a goldmine of folklore that has been invisible to outsiders, and he introduces it in a deeply informed, nuanced context." —Krister Stoor, Umeå University
"A glimpse of a wide range of oral genres from a little-known Sámi group during the nineteenth century that will fascinate people interested in the folklore of the Sámi, Scandinavian studies, and the study of Indigenous communities." —John Lindow, University of California, Berkeley
“A work of intellectual and cultural repatriation that re-asserts Sámi intellectual and cultural sovereignty within the field of global literature. . . . The text demonstrates how even texts and monuments taken hundreds of years ago in the name of nationalizing projects can be re-appropriated, re-signified, and ultimately returned to their communities.”—Asymptote
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Storyteller Biographies
Glossary of Frequently Used Sámi Terms
Index of Significant Place-Names
1 Songs Joik Songs
Cradle Song
Bear Song
Reindeer Song
Raven Song
The Tawny Owl
Whitefish Livđe
Trout
The Old Man
Hæænda-Maati Joik
Taavvad-Piera Joik
Liström
Aila-Jussa
Ristnȧȧ-Piätȧr
Eerki-Piera Other Songs
Stuorravuona (Isovuono) Market Song
The Girl’s Song
This and That
Väinämöinen’s Nephew
I Saw
Daughter and Mother Song
The Fiancée’s Beauty
2 Animal Tales
The Fox’s Tale
The Fox’s Tale, Version 2
The Fox and the Fisherman
The Story of the Fox’s Blindness
The Man and the Bear
The Bear and Fox’s Wild Reindeer Hunt
The Mouse and the Cat
The Raven and the Fox
The Horse and the Wolf
The Fox and the Hare
The Wagtail and the Dipper
The Story of the Moose and the Bear
3 Fairy Tales
The Poor Boy and the King’s Daughter
The Great Lord’s Son-in-Law
The Boy and the Golden Bird
Acorn Finding
Endless Discontent
The Reindeer Calf’s Hooves
Mattias the Fearless and the Devil & Mattias the Fearless
The Man Who Lashed His Fortune
The Story of Three Girls
4 Short Tales
The Resourceful Boy
The King and the Bank Thief
A Merchant
God’s Miracles
Meniš-Antti’s Life Story
The Poor Boy’s Wedding Luck
5 Humorous Stories and Anecdotes
The Noaidi Axe
The Travels of the Čuđit
The Wife’s Stupidity
Shingle-Stick
The Story of the Girl’s Spinning Rack
The Girl and Her Suitor
The Fool’s Doorposts
Three Lazy People
Good Day—Axe Handle
It Is Truly True
The Butter Churn
The Wild Reindeer Hunters
6 Belief Legends Etiological Legends
Aaččan, Who Tarred the Moon The Stállu
The Stállu, Version 1
The Stállu, Version 2
The Stállu, Version 3
The Stállu, Version 4
The Stállu, Version 5
Andras Pejvi Gufihtarat
The Maker of Seven Churches
Gufihtar Čahalig—Treasure Guardians
Čahalig
Čahalig, Version 2 Giants
A Giant Fights with Small Men
Two Giants The Sieidi
The Sieidi Root Cluster
A Story about Äjjih Island
The Sieidi of Ij-jävri Noaidi Tales
The Old Man Noaidi
Skolt Sámi Noaiddit
The Noaidi Wife
The Moose Skiers
Two Jealous People Shapeshifting Tales
The Whitefish Daughter-in-Law
The Whitefish Daughter-in-Law, Version 2
The Bear Daughter-in-Law Ghost Hauntings
Sárnoo kurrâ (Speaker’s Gorge)
The Haunting of the Old Deceased Noaidi
The Haunting of the Old Deceased Noaidi, Version 2
The Pastor and the Sexton
7 Historical and Regional Legends
Siggá’s Legend
Siggá’s Weeping Strait
The Cannibal Vuolliǯ of Ij-jävri
The Maiden Hannaaǯ’s Decapitation Story
The Dead Constable
The Fight of the Constables
The Late Raassaǯ
Piäjȧȧǯ
Famed Antt-Piättȧr’s Eelliǯ, Fiancé-Waiter
She Who Went to Sleep as a Maiden and Woke as a Wife
8 Stories about Čuđit Čuđit
The Čuđit on the Move
A Story from the Time of Čuđit
The Boy Who Hunted with a Bow
The Boy Who Hunted with a Bow, Version 2
The Death of the Čuđit
Futile Fear
The Disobedient Daughter Laurukȧǯ
The Čuđit Fall into a Ravine
The Čuđit Drown in the Rapids
The Čuđit Die of Hunger
The Čuđit Drown in Lake Aanaar; Hundred Pine Island
Hundred Pine Island, Version 2
Laurukȧǯ Kills Čuđit with a Sword
9 Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ The Feats of Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ
About Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ’s Father, Peeivih
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Burns a Sieidi
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Burns a Sieidi, Version 2
The Capstone
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ on the Sea Shore
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ on the Sea Shore, Version 2
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Fighting
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Fighting, Version 2
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Hunting Wild Reindeer
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ’s Race with a Draught Reindeer
10 Stories about the Skolts
Scaring the Skolt Wife
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 2
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 3
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 4
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 5
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 6
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 7
Kȧȧššȧ
11 Hunting Stories
The Late Haannuǯ’s Bear and Wild Reindeer Hunt
A Draught Reindeer as a Wild Reindeer
The Bear Hunter
The Soddy Root Ball as a Bear
Meniš-Antti’s Bear Hunting Stories
A Bear Story
The Bear Hunters
The Girls and the Bear
The Bear and the Women
The Squirrel Hunters
The Wild Reindeer Skiers
The Moose Hunters
Irjȧn-Ȧnnȧ ja Antti on a Fishing Excursion to Lággujävri (Lankojärvi)
The Ermine Hunters
12 Personal Experience Narratives
The Life of One Aanaar Sámi
An Aanaar Marriage and Life Story
Some Misfortune
The Old Man of Soađigil’s (Sodankylä) Forest Memories
The Autumnal Wild-Reindeer Hunt in Aanaar
Vuȧvnum (Vuongunta), or Hunting Wild-Reindeer in the Spring
Juoŋâstim (Juomustus) and Netting Under the Ice
13 Proverbs and Figures of Speech Proverbs Sayings and Expressions
14 Riddles
15 Omens and Signs
Appendix A North Sámi Joiks
Juhan Vesta’s Joik
Meniš-Irjan
Mihkkus-Āslak
Let us Leave
Pulju
Ninka-Ūla Kāre
Pike
Burbot
Perch Stories
The Lazy One
Skolt Sámi Story Letters
Appendix B Introduction to the 1978 Edition by Lea Laitinen Introduction to the 1917 Edition byAugust V.Koskimies
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
by August V. Koskimies and Toivo I. Itkonen edited by Lea Laitinen translated by Tim Frandy
University of Wisconsin Press, 2020 Paper: 978-0-299-31904-5 eISBN: 978-0-299-31903-8 Cloth: 978-0-299-31900-7
A rich multivoiced anthology of folktales, legends, joik songs, proverbs, riddles, and other verbal art, this is the most comprehensive collection of Sámi oral tradition available in English to date. Collected by August V. Koskimies and Toivo I. Itkonen in the 1880s from nearly two dozen storytellers from the arctic Aanaar (Inari) region of northeast Finland, the material reveals a complex web of social relations that existed both inside and far beyond the community.
First published in 1918 only in the Aanaar Sámi language and in Finnish, this anthology is now available in a centennial English-language edition for a global readership. Translator Tim Frandy has added biographies of the storytellers, maps and period photos, annotations, and a glossary. In headnotes that contextualize the stories, he explains such underlying themes as Aanaar conflicts with neighboring Sámi and Finnish communities, the collapse of the wild reindeer populations less than a century before, and the pre-Christian past in Aanaar. He introduces us to the bawdy humor of Antti Kitti, the didacticism of Iisakki Mannermaa, and the feminist leanings of Juho Petteri Lusmaniemi, emphasizing that folktales and proverbs are rooted in the experiences of individuals who are links in a living tradition.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Tim Frandy is an assistant professor in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University. A member of the Sámi American community, he has been active in Indigenous cultural revitalization movements in North America and Scandinavia.
REVIEWS
"Frandy has made visible a goldmine of folklore that has been invisible to outsiders, and he introduces it in a deeply informed, nuanced context." —Krister Stoor, Umeå University
"A glimpse of a wide range of oral genres from a little-known Sámi group during the nineteenth century that will fascinate people interested in the folklore of the Sámi, Scandinavian studies, and the study of Indigenous communities." —John Lindow, University of California, Berkeley
“A work of intellectual and cultural repatriation that re-asserts Sámi intellectual and cultural sovereignty within the field of global literature. . . . The text demonstrates how even texts and monuments taken hundreds of years ago in the name of nationalizing projects can be re-appropriated, re-signified, and ultimately returned to their communities.”—Asymptote
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Storyteller Biographies
Glossary of Frequently Used Sámi Terms
Index of Significant Place-Names
1 Songs Joik Songs
Cradle Song
Bear Song
Reindeer Song
Raven Song
The Tawny Owl
Whitefish Livđe
Trout
The Old Man
Hæænda-Maati Joik
Taavvad-Piera Joik
Liström
Aila-Jussa
Ristnȧȧ-Piätȧr
Eerki-Piera Other Songs
Stuorravuona (Isovuono) Market Song
The Girl’s Song
This and That
Väinämöinen’s Nephew
I Saw
Daughter and Mother Song
The Fiancée’s Beauty
2 Animal Tales
The Fox’s Tale
The Fox’s Tale, Version 2
The Fox and the Fisherman
The Story of the Fox’s Blindness
The Man and the Bear
The Bear and Fox’s Wild Reindeer Hunt
The Mouse and the Cat
The Raven and the Fox
The Horse and the Wolf
The Fox and the Hare
The Wagtail and the Dipper
The Story of the Moose and the Bear
3 Fairy Tales
The Poor Boy and the King’s Daughter
The Great Lord’s Son-in-Law
The Boy and the Golden Bird
Acorn Finding
Endless Discontent
The Reindeer Calf’s Hooves
Mattias the Fearless and the Devil & Mattias the Fearless
The Man Who Lashed His Fortune
The Story of Three Girls
4 Short Tales
The Resourceful Boy
The King and the Bank Thief
A Merchant
God’s Miracles
Meniš-Antti’s Life Story
The Poor Boy’s Wedding Luck
5 Humorous Stories and Anecdotes
The Noaidi Axe
The Travels of the Čuđit
The Wife’s Stupidity
Shingle-Stick
The Story of the Girl’s Spinning Rack
The Girl and Her Suitor
The Fool’s Doorposts
Three Lazy People
Good Day—Axe Handle
It Is Truly True
The Butter Churn
The Wild Reindeer Hunters
6 Belief Legends Etiological Legends
Aaččan, Who Tarred the Moon The Stállu
The Stállu, Version 1
The Stállu, Version 2
The Stállu, Version 3
The Stállu, Version 4
The Stállu, Version 5
Andras Pejvi Gufihtarat
The Maker of Seven Churches
Gufihtar Čahalig—Treasure Guardians
Čahalig
Čahalig, Version 2 Giants
A Giant Fights with Small Men
Two Giants The Sieidi
The Sieidi Root Cluster
A Story about Äjjih Island
The Sieidi of Ij-jävri Noaidi Tales
The Old Man Noaidi
Skolt Sámi Noaiddit
The Noaidi Wife
The Moose Skiers
Two Jealous People Shapeshifting Tales
The Whitefish Daughter-in-Law
The Whitefish Daughter-in-Law, Version 2
The Bear Daughter-in-Law Ghost Hauntings
Sárnoo kurrâ (Speaker’s Gorge)
The Haunting of the Old Deceased Noaidi
The Haunting of the Old Deceased Noaidi, Version 2
The Pastor and the Sexton
7 Historical and Regional Legends
Siggá’s Legend
Siggá’s Weeping Strait
The Cannibal Vuolliǯ of Ij-jävri
The Maiden Hannaaǯ’s Decapitation Story
The Dead Constable
The Fight of the Constables
The Late Raassaǯ
Piäjȧȧǯ
Famed Antt-Piättȧr’s Eelliǯ, Fiancé-Waiter
She Who Went to Sleep as a Maiden and Woke as a Wife
8 Stories about Čuđit Čuđit
The Čuđit on the Move
A Story from the Time of Čuđit
The Boy Who Hunted with a Bow
The Boy Who Hunted with a Bow, Version 2
The Death of the Čuđit
Futile Fear
The Disobedient Daughter Laurukȧǯ
The Čuđit Fall into a Ravine
The Čuđit Drown in the Rapids
The Čuđit Die of Hunger
The Čuđit Drown in Lake Aanaar; Hundred Pine Island
Hundred Pine Island, Version 2
Laurukȧǯ Kills Čuđit with a Sword
9 Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ The Feats of Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ
About Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ’s Father, Peeivih
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Burns a Sieidi
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Burns a Sieidi, Version 2
The Capstone
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ on the Sea Shore
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ on the Sea Shore, Version 2
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Fighting
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Fighting, Version 2
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ Hunting Wild Reindeer
Peeivih-Vuȧlȧppȧǯ’s Race with a Draught Reindeer
10 Stories about the Skolts
Scaring the Skolt Wife
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 2
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 3
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 4
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 5
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 6
Scaring the Skolt Wife, Version 7
Kȧȧššȧ
11 Hunting Stories
The Late Haannuǯ’s Bear and Wild Reindeer Hunt
A Draught Reindeer as a Wild Reindeer
The Bear Hunter
The Soddy Root Ball as a Bear
Meniš-Antti’s Bear Hunting Stories
A Bear Story
The Bear Hunters
The Girls and the Bear
The Bear and the Women
The Squirrel Hunters
The Wild Reindeer Skiers
The Moose Hunters
Irjȧn-Ȧnnȧ ja Antti on a Fishing Excursion to Lággujävri (Lankojärvi)
The Ermine Hunters
12 Personal Experience Narratives
The Life of One Aanaar Sámi
An Aanaar Marriage and Life Story
Some Misfortune
The Old Man of Soađigil’s (Sodankylä) Forest Memories
The Autumnal Wild-Reindeer Hunt in Aanaar
Vuȧvnum (Vuongunta), or Hunting Wild-Reindeer in the Spring
Juoŋâstim (Juomustus) and Netting Under the Ice
13 Proverbs and Figures of Speech Proverbs Sayings and Expressions
14 Riddles
15 Omens and Signs
Appendix A North Sámi Joiks
Juhan Vesta’s Joik
Meniš-Irjan
Mihkkus-Āslak
Let us Leave
Pulju
Ninka-Ūla Kāre
Pike
Burbot
Perch Stories
The Lazy One
Skolt Sámi Story Letters
Appendix B Introduction to the 1978 Edition by Lea Laitinen Introduction to the 1917 Edition byAugust V.Koskimies
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE