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Beschreibung

The most comprehensive collection of Sámi folktales ever translated into English

From the vast region of Northern Sápmi comes Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds, the most extensive compilation of Sámi narratives recorded from Sámi storytellers ever published in English translation. Comprising more than 300 folktales and legends from Northern Norway, including many from the coastal Sámi and the Skolt Sámi of Eastern Finnmark, this volume illuminates an oral storytelling tradition and shares narratives told by fishers, farmers, reindeer herders, lay preachers, and teachers from the interior plateaus and valleys to the Arctic fjords.

Originally recorded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the Norwegian philologist Just Knud Qvigstad and the Sámi politician and folklorist Isak Saba, this collection spans centuries of storytelling in multiple genres, from migratory fairytales with kings and princesses to legends of ghosts and the Devil to fables with talking animals. A young lad from a poor family embarks on a quest through the wilderness to find treasure, receiving help from a wise female elder along his path. A Sámi boy falls in love with a háldi girl from another world, and they find a way to marry. A man carries sickness out of a village and stops the plague from spreading. Cunning foxes outsmart bears and humans alike. The villainous Chudes are tricked, foiled in their plans to steal from and kill the Sámi. People are turned into wolves, able to turn back only if they don't taste the blood of a reindeer or if they are given cooked food. The ogre Stállu appears again and again, terrorizing the community until he's outwitted or subdued. Rávgas, undead creatures of the sea, drag themselves out of the depths to lure others to their demise.

With historical context that reveals the cultural resilience of the Sámi people, Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds honors these traditional narratives, often overlooked in other folktale anthologies from the Nordic countries. Translator Barbara Sjoholm's insightful introduction describes Qvigstad's and Saba's backgrounds and their work in gathering and translating these essential texts, and she introduces Sámi storytellers Johan Aikio, Efraim Pedersen, and Elen Utsi, who contributed dozens of stories.

An unprecedented trove of Sámi narratives, this expansive collection brings most of these tales to English readers for the first time, marking a major contribution to Indigenous folk literature and enhancing a broader understanding of Sámi and Nordic cultures.

Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.

The most comprehensive collection of Sámi folktales ever translated into English

From the vast region of Northern Sápmi comes Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds, the most extensive compilation of Sámi narratives recorded from Sámi storytellers ever published in English translation. Comprising more than 300 folktales and legends from Northern Norway, including many from the coastal Sámi and the Skolt Sámi of Eastern Finnmark, this volume illuminates an oral storytelling tradition and shares narratives told by fishers, farmers, reindeer herders, lay preachers, and teachers from the interior plateaus and valleys to the Arctic fjords.

Originally recorded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the Norwegian philologist Just Knud Qvigstad and the Sámi politician and folklorist Isak Saba, this collection spans centuries of storytelling in multiple genres, from migratory fairytales with kings and princesses to legends of ghosts and the Devil to fables with talking animals. A young lad from a poor family embarks on a quest through the wilderness to find treasure, receiving help from a wise female elder along his path. A Sámi boy falls in love with a háldi girl from another world, and they find a way to marry. A man carries sickness out of a village and stops the plague from spreading. Cunning foxes outsmart bears and humans alike. The villainous Chudes are tricked, foiled in their plans to steal from and kill the Sámi. People are turned into wolves, able to turn back only if they don't taste the blood of a reindeer or if they are given cooked food. The ogre Stállu appears again and again, terrorizing the community until he's outwitted or subdued. Rávgas, undead creatures of the sea, drag themselves out of the depths to lure others to their demise.

With historical context that reveals the cultural resilience of the Sámi people, Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds honors these traditional narratives, often overlooked in other folktale anthologies from the Nordic countries. Translator Barbara Sjoholm's insightful introduction describes Qvigstad's and Saba's backgrounds and their work in gathering and translating these essential texts, and she introduces Sámi storytellers Johan Aikio, Efraim Pedersen, and Elen Utsi, who contributed dozens of stories.

An unprecedented trove of Sámi narratives, this expansive collection brings most of these tales to English readers for the first time, marking a major contribution to Indigenous folk literature and enhancing a broader understanding of Sámi and Nordic cultures.

Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.

Über den Autor

Just Knud Qvigstad (1853–1957) was a Norwegian philologist, linguist, and ethnographer. He wrote and published extensively on the Sámi people of Northern Scandinavia, and his substantial collection of Sámi folktales resulted in the publication of Lappiske eventyr og sagn, presented in four volumes from 1927 to 1929.

Isak Saba (1875–1921) was a Sámi teacher, politician, and folklorist who collected and translated folktales from Eastern Finnmark, including material from the Skolt Sámi. Saba's tales were published in Lappiske eventyr og sagn after his death.

Barbara Sjoholm is an award-winning translator. She is author of many books, including From Lapland to Sápmi: Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture and The Palace of the Snow Queen: Winter Travels in Lapland and Sápmi, and she translated By the Fire: Sámi Folktales and Legends, collected by Emilie Demant Hatt, all published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Introduction by Barbara Sjoholm

Translator's Note

The Far World

Journey to the Bread Mountain

Journey to the Silver Mountain

A Poor Lad Seeks Work and Becomes Rich

Soria Moria Castle

The Ship Captain and the Pagan King

The Mouse in the Box

Seven with One Blow

Lavde-Dánel

Ánde Buhara

Spruce Twister and Steel Squeezer

What the Lad Imagines, Happens

The Sister Who Deceived Her Brother

Sisseløna

The Lad and the Fox Free the King's Son

The Girl Who Jumped in the Sea

The Golden Duck

Gunnâfiruš

The Lad Who Fled with the Troll Woman's Daughter and Became the King's Son-in-Law

The Poor Man Who Wanted to Christen His Child

Olšlubbo the Strong

The Boy and the Horse Flee the Troll

The Man Who Saved the King's Daughters from the Trolls

The Swineherd

The Lad Who Stole a Troll's Hat, a Bird, and a Horse and Married the Princess

Biehttár Boccomanni

Biehttár Boccomanni Courts the King's Daughter

The King's Daughter and the Robbers

The Fisher Lad and the Mermaid

The Boy Who Was Promised to the Mermaid

The Sea King and the Land King

The Brothers Who Wanted to Find Themselves Sweethearts

The Shape-Shifting Wolf

The Three Princes and the Three Flying Princesses

The King's Son in the Shape of a Troll

The Gilded Castle

Land of Youth

The Wolf with Hairless Paws

The Merchant's Son, the Cat, the Dog, and the King's Daughter

The Two Brothers, the King's Daughters, and Riddereavva

The Clever Mason and the Silver Billy Goat

The Near World

The Dead Lover Who Led a Bride to the Other World

The Birches on the Graves of Two Who Had Loved Each Other

You Threw Me Out Yesterday, and I'm Throwing You Out Today

The Lazy, Dirty Girl

Idjajár Vulles

Treasure Hunters

The Man Who Bought an Itch

The Stupid Wife

The Man Who Married with a Plan to Keep His Wife Childless

The Bear and the Skolt Woman Who Fished

The Werewolf Is Given Dried Jerky

The Black Death

Smallpox Is Overpowered

The Plague

The Magic Iron

The Robbers in Trollvik

The Murder on Varto

Ánddá Vulle Kills His Enemy

The Murderers in Aklavik

Gáppes Ánte

Animals

The Human Soul as a Blowfly

The Man and the Bear

The Bear Shows the Lion a Human Being

The Fox and the Bear

The Fox Frightens the Bear and the Lion

The Fox Frightens the Wild Animals

The Fox and the Goat Kids

The Size of the Eyes Matters Less Than the Amount of Courage

The Fox Is a Portent of Death

The Dog's Wages

The Dog Who Saved Folk from the Plague

How Lice Were Created

The Boy and the Louse

The Frog Mother

Animals Have Ancestral Mothers

How the Wild Reindeer Was Created

Why the Hazel Grouse Is So Small

How the Wolf Was Created

Why the Loon's Feet Are Set So Far Back

The Virgin Mary Travels to Visit Elisabeth

The Salmon and the Coalfish

The Old Salmon Gives Advice to the Young Salmon

How a Spider Saved a Man's Life

Barbmoriket

The Snake

The Guodden

The Giant Bird

Enemies

The Chudes in Notozero

The Pathfinder Goes over Einavadde

The Chudes and the Pathfinder

The Chudes Are Fooled

The Brothers at Tunes

The Chudes Starve or Drown

Vuollát Máhtte and the Russians

The Russians Are Outwitted

The Fork

Bragging Gets Punished

The Chudes Are Defeated by a Loon's Beak

Thunder and the Chudes

The Man and the Russian Chudes

Lávrukaš and the Russian Chudes

Lávrukaš

The Sámi Hide Underground

Two Sisters and the Chudes

The Son of Skogerøya-Ivar

The Russian Chudes

Noaidis and Noaidi Skills

The Boy Who Married His Mother

Two Mountain Sámi in Olden Days

The Kettle Boils Without Fire

Two Wild Reindeer Hunters

The Thieves' Profit

A Jekt Is Joiked Home from Bergen

In the Past, the Skolt Sámi Could Turn Themselves into Animals

Stuorra-Gánda

The Wild Reindeer on Akkoberget

Rikkis Piera

People as Wolves

An Eater-Noaidi

Noaidi Láinit

To Make a Stállu with Noaidi Skills

Hánno Ándarus

Káre Ovllá

Noaidi Kolpa

Jákko Pontius

Jákko Pontius Understands the Language of Birds

Vuollá Jovnna

Noaidi Náhkkul

Noaidi Guhtor

Noaidi Linke-Oallá

Noaidi Johan Kåven

The Battle of the Noaidis

The Noaidis Duel

They Still Practice Noaidi Skills in Karelia

The Man Who Stole a Skolt Noaidi's Money

How Pieraš Ánde Learned Noaidi Skills

An Eater-Noaidi Must Be Buried

The Church and the Devil

The Pastor in the Barrel

The Poor Man and the Stingy and Immoral Pastor

The Hungry Pastor and the Sexton

The Visit to the Other World

The Pastor Raises a Storm Against the Enemy

The Pastor, the Sexton, and the Dead

A Judgment from God

The Holy Riffan

Beaivvi-Vuolát Destroys the Sieidi

The Sacrifice Stone

The Devil in the Guise of Duommás Piera

The Man Who Ferried the Devil over the River

The Devil Flays a Wicked Man

The Lad Who Was the Fire Stoker for the Devil

Two Brothers Go Trading

Kári

Even the Devil Can't Hold Out Against an Unkind Woman

The False Coins and the Day Laborer

The Man Who Had Promised Himself to the Devil

The Servant Lad, the Devil, and Bishop Mattias Kastrim

The Drunken Cobbler

Stállus

The Boy and the Stállu

Stállu on the Island

The Christmas Stállus

Stállu Is Set on Folk

Válbure-Sárrá and Stállu

Stállu Steals a Girl

Stállu Is Tricked by a Girl

Stállu Looks for a Companion

Stállu Goes Courting

Stállu and Ruobba

Budulávra

Beavvá

Stállu as a Cannibal

A Man Is Killed by Stállu

Stállu and the Mountain Sámi

Stállu and the Troll

Rievssot

Riimmagállis

Beaivvi Ándarus and the Merchant

Stállu and Luhtatáhkku

Old Stállu and His Wife

Stállu and Luhtatáhkku Are Killed

Hidden Folk

How the Neiden Skolt Sámi Became Few and Poor

The Chakkalaggas

Catching a Chakkalagga

Háldis as Neighbors

Háldis Are Generous with Livestock

A Govette Borrows Tobacco

Háldis Warn the Neighbor Woman of Danger in the Barn

Háldis Ask for the Barn to Be Moved

Háldis in Gåsedalen

Háldis in Frakkfjord

Háldi Cow

The Lad and the Háldi Girl

The Man and the Háldi Girl

Čoavva and the Govette Girls

Anna and the Govettes

The Underground People

Marriage to a Háldi Girl

A Háldi Girl as a Bride

Riches Follow the Ulda Bride

Two Sámi Lads Become Herders for a Háldi Man and Marry His Daughters

A Háldi Wants Reindeer Herders

The Lad Who Had Been with the Háldis and a Háldi Girl

A Háldi Lad Is Baptized and Married to a Girl

Marriage with a Háldi Girl

Háldis Give Their Son-in-Law Another Chance

A Háldi Girl Is with a Lad at Night

A Háldi Woman Vanishes

Meeting with the Háldis

Háldis Take a Baby from a Mother's Womb

The Lad Who Remained with the Háldis

Midwife to the Háldis

A Girl in Service to a Háldi Woman

Háldis Show the Way

The Hidden Children of Adam

Uldas Offer Comfort

Two Fishermen Come to a Háldi Farm

The Two Fishermen and the Háldis

Háldis Go Fishing in Finnmark

Three Fishermen

The Man Who Remained with the Sea Háldis

Fishing with the Sea Háldis

Sea Háldis in Bergen

The Sea Háldi and the Fisherman

A Battle Between Háldis and Rávgas

Creatures from the Sea

The Boy on a Fishhook

Stiika-Piera

Huvvá Hanno

Otters and Sea Háldis

A Sea Troll Stops the Boat

A Sea Troll Is Set on a Man

The Diver and the Sea Troll

A Sea Troll Tries to Abduct a Girl

A Sea Troll Halts Fishing on Holy Days

Knife in a Man Rávga

Death's Sailor

The Rávga Wants His Cap Back

A Rávga

The Rávga in the Cowshed

The Rávga Warns of Shipwreck

North Wind and Drizzle

Meeting with a Rávga Boat

A Battle Between Rávgas and the Dead

A Battle with a Rávga

The Rávga Cries Out

A Short Tale About a Rávga

The Rávgas Ask for a Room for the Night

The Rávga Takes Revenge

The Rávgas on Moholmen

Meeting with a Sea Corpse

Omens and Hauntings

Omen of Death

The Porpoise Is a Portent of Death

Reindeer Signal Death

The Man Is Afraid of Stállu Coming

Harbingers of Illness

Warning in the Countryside

The Cuckoo and the Two Women Cutting Angelica

The Halibut Portends a Shipwreck

The Fiery Horse in the Dark

The Ghosts Who Hunted the Woodcutter

The Ghost in the Barn

The Grouse Hunter's Vision

The Otter Hunters Are Scared Off

Those Who Lie in Wait for Furbearers Often See Ghosts

Shouting in the Forest

The Sheriff Is Frightened

Green Flame on the Sea

At Sea You Often Hear a Bit of Everything

An Apparition

The Invisible Often Live in Goahtis in the Wilderness

When Elle-Biera Hánsa Was Frightened

Children See Something Strange

Roiguš

The Wilderness Requires Quiet

A Strange Man Driving a Sled in the Countryside

A Beggar Woman Is Abducted by Ghosts

A Marvelous Reindeer

Meeting with a Revenant

Conversation with a Dead Woman

An Old Woman Walks...

Details
Erscheinungsjahr: 2026
Genre: Importe, Romane & Erzählungen
Rubrik: Belletristik
Medium: Buch
Inhalt: Einband - fest (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781517916749
ISBN-10: 1517916747
Sprache: Englisch
Einband: Gebunden
Autor: Qvigstad, Just Knud
Saba, Isak
Übersetzung: Sjoholm, Barbara
Hersteller: MNG University Presses
University of Minnesota Press
Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, D-36244 Bad Hersfeld, gpsr@libri.de
Abbildungen: 24 b&w illustrations
Maße: 214 x 156 x 45 mm
Von/Mit: Just Knud Qvigstad (u. a.)
Erscheinungsdatum: 31.07.2026
Gewicht: 0,814 kg
Artikel-ID: 135489943