Sami and the Northern Indigenous Peoples Landscape, Language, and its Connection to Religion

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Haplogroup N1c (Y-DNA)

“Haplogroup N1c is found chiefly in north-eastern Europe, particularly in Finland (61%), Lapland (53%), Estonia (34%), Latvia (38%), Lithuania (42%) and northern Russia (30%), and to a lower extent also in central Russia (15%), Belarus (10%), eastern Ukraine (9%), Sweden (7%), Poland (4%) and Turkey (4%). N1c is also prominent among the Uralic-speaking ethnicities of the Volga-Ural region, including the Udmurts (67%), Komi (51%), Mari (50%), and Mordvins (20%), but also among their Turkic neighbors like the Chuvashs (28%), Volga Tatars (21%) and Bashkirs (17%), as well as the Nogais (9%) of southern Russia.” ref

“N1c represents the western extent of haplogroup N, which is found all over the Far East (China, Korea, Japan), Mongolia, and Siberia, especially among Uralic speakers of northern Siberia. Haplogroup N1 reaches a maximum frequency of approximately 95% in the Nenets (40% N1c and 57% N1b) and Nganassans (all N1b), two Uralic tribes of central-northern Siberia, and 90% among the Yakuts (all N1c), a Turkic people who live mainly in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic in central-eastern Siberia.” ref

“Haplogroup N is a descendant of East Asian macro-haplogroup NO. It is believed to have originated in Indochina or southern China approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.” ref

“Haplogroup N1* and N1c were both found at high frequency (26 out of 70 samples, or 37%) in Neolithic and Bronze Age remains (4500-700 BCE or 6,522-2,722 years ago) from the West Liao River valley in Northeast China (Manchuria) by Yinqiu Cui et al. (2013). Among the Neolithic samples, haplogroup N1 made up two thirds of the samples from the Hongshan culture (4700-2900 BCE or 6,722-4,922 years ago) and all the samples from the Xiaoheyan culture (3000-2200 BCE or 5,022-4,222 years ago), hinting that N1 people played a major role in the diffusion of the Neolithic lifestyle around Northeast China, and probably also to Mongolia and Siberia.” ref

“Ye Zhang et al. 2016 found 100% of Y-DNA N out of 17 samples from the Xueshan culture (Jiangjialiang site) dating from 3600–2900 BCE, and among those 41% belonged to N1c1-Tat. It is therefore extremely likely that the N1c1 subclade found in Europe today has its roots in the Chinese Neolithic. It would have progressively spread across Siberia until north-eastern Europe, possibly reaching the Volga-Ural region around 5500 to 4500 BCE 7,522-6,522 years ago) with the Kama culture (5300-3300 BCE 7,322-5,322 years ago), and the eastern Baltic with the Comb Ceramic culture (4200-2000 BCE 6,222-4,5022 years ago), the presumed ancestral culture of Proto-Finnic and pre-Baltic people. There is little evidence of agriculture or domesticated animals in Siberia during the Neolithic, but pottery was widely used. In that regard it was the opposite development from the Near East, which first developed agriculture then only pottery from circa 5500 BCE, perhaps through contact with East Asians via Siberia or Central Asia.” ref

N1c (L729)

N1c1 (M46/Page70/Tat)

N1c1a (M178): found in Siberia (Khakass-Daurs)

N1c1a1 (L708): found in Siberia (Anayins)

N1c1a1a (P298): found in Siberia (Yakuts)

N1c1a1a1 (L392, L1026): Finno-Ugric branch; found throughout north-east Europe

N1c1a1a1a (CTS2929/VL29): Baltic-Finnic branch

N1c1a1a1a1 (L550): West Finnic branch; found around the Baltic Sea and in places settled by the Vikings

N1c1a1a1a1a (L1025)

N1c1a1a1a1a1 (M2783): found especially in Balto-Slavic countries, with a peak in Lithuania and Latvia
N1c1a1a1a1a2 (Y4706): found mostly in Finland and Scandinavia

N1c1a1a1a2 (CTS9976): East Finnic branch; found among the Chudes (Karelia, Estonia)
N1c1a1a1a2a (L1022)

N1c1a1a1a2a1 (Z1936): Finno-Permic branch; found in the Volga-Ural region and among the Karelians and Savonians

N1c1a1a1a2a1a (Z1925): found in Finland, Lapland, Scandinavia, the Volga-Ural and the Altai

N1c1a1a1a2a1a1 (Z1933)

N1c1a1a1a2a1a1a (Z1927): found among the Karelians
N1c1a1a1a2a1a1b (CTS8565): found among the Savonians

N1c1a1a2b (L1034): Ugric branch; found in and around Hungary and in Central Asia (Kazakhstan) N1c2 (L666): found in Russia
N1c2a (M128)
N1c2b (P43): found in the Volga-Ural region
N1c2b1 (P63)
N1c2b2 (L665) ref

Nganasan people

“The Nganasans (/əŋˈɡænəsæn/; Nganasan: ӈәнә”са(нә”) ŋənəhsa(nəh), ня(“) ńæh) are a Uralic people of the Samoyedic branch native to the Taymyr Peninsula in northern Siberia. In the Russian Federation, they are recognized as one of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North. They reside primarily in the settlements of Ust-Avam, Volochanka, and Novaya in the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, with smaller populations residing in the towns of Dudinka and Norilsk as well. The Nganasans are thought to be the direct descendants of proto-Uralic peoples. However, there is some evidence that they absorbed another local Siberian population. The Nganasans were traditionally a semi-nomadic people whose main form of subsistence was wild reindeer hunting, in contrast to the Nenets, who herded reindeer. The Nganasans are the northernmost ethnic group of the Eurasian continent and the Russian Federation, historically inhabiting the tundra of the Taymyr Peninsula. The areas they inhabited stretched over an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers, from the Golchikha River in the west to the Khatanga Bay in the east, and from Lake Taymyr in the north to the Dudypta River in the south. The hunting areas of the Nganasan often coincided with those of the Dolgans and Enets to their east and west respectively. In the winter, they resided in the south of the peninsula at the edge of the Arctic tree line, and during the summer they followed wild reindeer up to 400 miles to the north, sometimes even reaching as far as the Byrranga Mountains.” ref

Origins

“The homeland of the proto-Uralic peoples, including the Samoyeds, is suggested to be somewhere near the Ob and Yenisey river drainage areas of Central Siberia and or near Lake Baikal. The Nganasan are considered by most ethnographers who study them to have arisen as an ethnic group when Samoyedic peoples migrated to the Taymyr Peninsula from the south, encountering Paleo-Siberian peoples living there who they then assimilated into their culture. One group of Samoyedic people intermarried with Paleo-Siberian peoples living between the Taz and Yenisei rivers, forming a group that the Soviet ethnographer B.O. Dolgikh refers to as the Samoyed-Ravens. Another group intermarried with the Paleo-Siberian inhabitants of the Pyasina River and formed another group which he called the Samoyed-Eagles. Subsequently, a group of Tungusic people migrated to the region near Lake Pyasino and the Avam River, where they were absorbed into Samoyed culture, forming a new group called the Tidiris. There was another group of Tungusic peoples called the Tavgs who lived along the basins of the Khatanga and Anabar rivers and came into contact with the aforementioned Samoyedic peoples, absorbing their language and creating their own Tavg Savoyedic dialect. It is known that the ancestors of the Nganasan previously inhabited territory further south from a book in the city Mangazeya that lists yasak (fur tribute) payments by the Nganasan which were made in sable, an animal that does not inhabit the tundra where the Nganasan now live. A genetic study in 2019 published in the European Journal for Human Genetics Nature, found that the Nganasans represent the source population for the proto-Uralic people the best and that Nganasan-like ancestry is found in every modern Uralic speakers.” ref

Religion

“The traditional religion of the Nganasans is animistic and shamanistic. Their religion is a particularly well-preserved example of Siberian Shamanism, which remained relatively free of foreign influence due to the Nganasans’ geographic isolation until recent history. Because of their isolation, shamanism was a living phenomenon in the lives of the Nganasans, even into the beginning of the 20th century. The last notable Nganasan shaman’s seances were recorded on film by anthropologists in the 1970s.”

Genetics

“The characteristic genetic marker of the Nganasans and other Uralic peoples is haplogroup N1c-Tat (Y-DNA). Samoyedic peoples mainly have more N1b-P43 than N1c. Haplogroup N originated in the northern part of China in 20,000–25,000 years and then spread to north Eurasia, through Siberia to Northern Europe. Subgroup N1c1 is frequently seen in non-Samoyedic peoples, N1c2 in Samoyedic peoples. In addition, haplogroup Z (mtDNA), found with low frequency in Saami, Finns, and Siberians, is related to the migration of people speaking Uralic languages. In 2019, a study based on genetics, archaeology, and linguistics found that Uralic speakers arrived in the Baltic region from the East, specifically from Siberia, at the beginning of the Iron Age some 2,500 years ago. In a genetic study in 2019 published in the European Journal for Human Genetics Nature, it was found that the Nganasans represent the source population for the proto-Uralic people the best and that Nganasan-like ancestry is found in every modern Uralic speakers. We find that Nganasan-related ancestry is significantly present in all of our ancient samples except for Levänluhta_B, and in many modern, mainly Uralic-speaking populations. The 3500-year-old ancient individuals from Bolshoy represent the highest proportion of Siberian Nganasan-related ancestry seen in this region so far and possibly evidence its earliest presence in the western end of the trans-Siberian expanse. — Lamnidis et al., Ancient Fennoscandian genomes reveal the origin and spread of Siberian ancestry in Europe, Nature” ref

Saami and Berbers—An Unexpected Mitochondrial DNA Link

Abstract

“The sequencing of entire human mitochondrial DNAs belonging to haplogroup U reveals that this clade arose shortly after the “out of Africa” exit and rapidly radiated into numerous regionally distinct subclades. Intriguingly, the Saami of Scandinavia and the Berbers of North Africa were found to share an extremely young branch, aged merely ∼9,000 years. This unexpected finding not only confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum but also reveals a direct maternal link between those European hunter-gatherer populations and the Berbers.” ref

“Siejdde” Offerings to Spirits offering stone, sieidi

Northern Sami Etymology From Proto-Samic *siejtē Borrowed from Northern Sami sieidi.

Noun sieidi (plural sieidis)

Among the Sami people, a special site where thanks and offerings are given to the spirits. ref

Old Norse seiðr, from Proto-Germanic *saidaz.

Noun *siejtē altar stone, sieidi

Descendants

Western Samic:

Pite Sami: säjjde

Lule Sami: siejdde

Northern Sami: sieidi

Eastern Samic:

Inari Sami: sieiˈdi

Ter Sami: siejjde

→ Finnish: seita ref

“In Old Norse, seiðr (sometimes anglicized as seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr, seith, or seid) was a type of magic practiced in Norse society during the Late Scandinavian Iron Age. The practice of seiðr is believed to be a form of magic relating to both the telling and shaping of the future. Connected with Norse religion, its origins are largely unknown, although it became gradually eroded following the Christianization of Scandinavia. Accounts of seiðr later made it into sagas and other literary sources, while further evidence has been unearthed by archaeologists. Various scholars have debated the nature of seiðr, some arguing that it was shamanic in context, involving visionary journeys by its practitioners. Seiðr practitioners were of both sexes, although it appears that practicing it was considered to be a feminine trait, with sorceresses being variously known as vǫlur, seiðkonur, and vísendakona. There were also accounts of male practitioners, known as seiðmenn, but in practicing magic they brought a social taboo, known as ergi, on to themselves, and were sometimes persecuted as a result. In many cases, these magical practitioners would have had assistants to aid them in their rituals.” ref

“In pre-Christian Norse mythology, seiðr was associated with both the god Oðinn, a deity who was simultaneously responsible for war, poetry, and sorcery, and the goddess Freyja, a member of the Vanir who was believed to have taught the practice to the Æsir. In the 20th century, adherents of various modern Pagan new religious movements adopted forms of magico-religious practice that include seiðr. The practices of these contemporary seiðr-workers have since been investigated by various academic researchers operating in the field of pagan studies.” ref

Witch (word)

“Seiðr is believed to come from Proto-Germanic *saiðaz, cognate with Lithuanian saitas, “sign, soothsaying” and Proto-Celtic *soito- “sorcery” (giving Welsh hud, Breton hud “magic”), all derived from Proto-Indo-European *soi-to- “string, rope”, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *seH2i- “to bind”. Related words in Old High German (see German Saite, used both in string instruments and in bows) and Old English refer to “cord, string,” or “snare, cord, halter” and there is a line in verse 15 of the skaldic poem Ragnarsdrápa that uses seiðr in that sense. However, it is not clear how this derivation relates to the practice of seiðr. It has been suggested that the use of a cord in attraction may be related to seiðr, where the attraction is one element of the practice of seiðr magic described in Norse literature and with witchcraft in Scandinavian folklore. However, if seiðr involved “spinning charms”, that would explain the distaff, a tool used in spinning flax or sometimes wool, that appears to be associated with seiðr practice. In any case, the string relates to the “threads of fate”, that the Nornir spin, measure, and cut. Old English terms cognate with seiðr are siden and sidsa, both of which are attested only in contexts that suggest that they were used by elves (ælfe); these seem likely to have meant something similar to seiðr. Among the Old English words for practitioners of magic are wicca (m.) or wicce (f.), the etymons of Modern English “witch“.” ref

“In the Viking Age, the practice of seiðr by men had connotations of unmanliness or effeminacy, known as ergi, as its manipulative aspects ran counter to the masculine ideal of forthright, open behavior.[6] Freyja and perhaps some of the other goddesses of Norse mythology were seiðr practitioners, as was Oðinn, a fact for which he is taunted by Loki in the Lokasenna.” ref

Sagas

Erik the Red

“In the 13th century Saga of Erik the Red, there was a seiðkona or vǫlva in Greenland named Thorbjǫrg (“Protected by Thor”). She wore a blue cloak and a headpiece of black lamb trimmed with white ermine, carried the symbolic distaff (seiðstafr), which was buried with her, and would sit on a high platform. As related in the Saga: Now, when she came in the evening, accompanied by the man who had been sent to meet her, she was dressed in such wise that she had a blue mantle over her, with strings for the neck, and it was inlaid with gems quite down to the skirt. On her neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a black hood of lambskin, lined with ermine. A staff she had in her hand, with a knob thereon; it was ornamented with brass, and inlaid with gems round about the knob. Around her she wore a girdle of soft hair (or belt of touch wood), and therein was a large skin-bag, in which she kept the talismans needful to her in her wisdom. She wore hairy calf-skin shoes on her feet, with long and strong-looking thongs to them, and great knobs of latten at the ends. On her hands, she had gloves of ermine-skin, and they were white and hairy within.” ref

Other sagas

“As described by Snorri Sturluson in his Ynglinga saga, seiðr includes both divination and manipulative magic. It seems likely that the type of divination of seiðr-practitioners was generally distinct, by dint of an altogether more metaphysical nature, from the day-to-day auguries performed by the seers (menn framsýnir, menn forspáir). However, in the Icelandic saga Vatnsdæla saga, a Spákona’s cloak is black but she also carries a distaff, which allegedly had the power of causing forgetfulness in one who is tapped three times on the left cheek by it.” ref

Practices

Price noted that, because of its connection with ergi, seiðr was undoubtedly located on ‘one of society’s moral and psychological borders’. Seiðr involved the incantation of spells (galdrar, sing. galdr). Practitioners may have been religious leaders of the Viking community and usually required the help of other practitioners to invoke their deities, gods or spirits. As they are described in a number of other Scandinavian sagas, Saga of Erik the Red in particular, the practitioners connected with the spiritual realm through chanting and prayer. Viking texts suggest that the seiðr ritual was used in times of inherent crisis, as a tool for seeing into the future, and for cursing and hexing one’s enemies. With that said, it could have been used for great good or destructive evil, as well as for daily guidance. One author, Neil Price, argues that it was very likely that some parts of the practice involved sexual acts. Scholars have highlighted that the staffs have phallic epithets in various Icelandic sagas.” ref

Mythology

Oðinn and Seiðr

“The 7th-century Tängelgårda stone shows Oðinn leading a troop of warriors all bearing rings. Valknut symbols are drawn beneath his horse, which is depicted with four legs. British archaeologist Neil Price noted that “the realm of sorcery” was present in Oðinn’s many aspects. In Lokasenna, according to the Poetic Edda, Loki accuses Oðinn of practicing seiðr, condemning it as an unmanly art (ergi). A justification for this may be found in the Ynglinga saga, where Snorri opines that following the practice of seiðr rendered the practitioner weak and helpless. One possible example of seiðr in Norse mythology is the prophetic vision given to Oðinn in the Vǫluspá by the Völva after whom the poem is named. Her vision is not connected explicitly with seiðr; however, the word occurs in the poem in relation to a character called Heiðr (who is traditionally associated with Freyja but may be identical with the Völva). The interrelationship between the vǫlva in this account and the Norns, the fates of Norse lore, is strong and striking. Another noted mythological practitioner of seiðr was Gróa, who attempted to assist Thor, and who in the Svipdagsmál in a poem entitled Grógaldr “Gróa’s spell” is summoned from beyond the grave.” ref

Freyja and Seiðr

“Like Oðinn, the Norse goddess Freyja is also associated with ‘seiðr’ in the surviving literature. In the Ynglinga saga (c.1225), written by Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson, it is stated that seiðr had originally been a practice among the Vanir, but that Freyja, who was herself a member of the Vanir, had introduced it to the Æsir when she joined them. Freyja is identified in Ynglinga saga as an adept of the mysteries of seiðr, and it is said that it was she who taught it to Oðinn: “Njǫrðr’s daughter was Freyja. She presided over the sacrifice. It was she who first acquainted the Æsir with seiðr, which was customary among the Vanir.” ref

Origins

“Since the publication of Jacob Grimm‘s socio-linguistical Deutsches Wörterbuch (p. 638) in 1835, scholarship draws a Balto-Finnic link to seiðr, citing the depiction of its practitioners as such in the sagas and elsewhere, and linking seiðr to the practices of the noaidi, the patrilineal shamans of the Sami people. However, Indo-European origins are also possible. Note that the Finnish word seita and the Sami variants of the term sieidde refer to a human-shaped tree or a large and strangely-shaped stone or rock and do not necessarily reference magical power. There is a good case, however, that these words do derive ultimately from seiðr.” ref

Seiðr and gender roles in Norse society

“Strength and courage are traditionally manly qualities that were highly valued in Old Norse societies. This is exemplified in the attitudes surrounding seiðr and its place as a feminine craft. A woman practicing seiðr would sometimes be called völva, meaning seeress. She would also sometimes be described as spá-kona or seið-kona, meaning prophecy-woman and magic-woman, respectively. Because seiðr was viewed as a feminine practice, any man who engaged in it (seiðmaðr) was associated with a concept called ergi, the designation of a man in Norse society who was unmanly, feminine, and possibly homosexual. Sometimes, female practitioners of the craft would take on young male apprentices, and those who became mothers would teach the practice to their sons. Though not seen as a respectable thing, it wasn’t rare for men to be involved in seiðr magic.” ref

Contemporary Paganism

Contemporary Paganism, also referred to as Neo-Paganism, is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of new religious movements, particularly those influenced by the various pagan beliefs of premodern Europe. Several of these contemporary pagan religions draw specifically on the original medieval religious beliefs and practices of Anglo-Saxon England as sources of inspiration, adopting such Anglo-Saxon deities as their own. Seiðr is interpreted differently by different groups and practitioners but usually taken to indicate altered consciousness or even total loss of physical control. Diana L. Paxson and her group Hrafnar have attempted reconstructions of seiðr (particularly the oracular form) from historical material. Author Jan Fries regards seiðr as a form of “shamanic trembling”, which he relates to “seething”, used as a shamanic technique, the idea being his own and developed through experimentation. According to Blain, seiðr is an intrinsic part of spiritual practice connecting practitioners to the wider cosmology in British Germanic Neopaganism.” ref

seiðr

From Proto-Germanic *saidaz (“magic, charm”), from Proto-Indo-European *soytós.

Descendants

· Icelandic: seiður

· → Norwegian Nynorsk: seid

· → Norwegian Bokmål: seid

· → Danish: sejd

Noun seiðr

1. shamanism

2. magic, especially that influences the mind, such as charm, delusion, and hallucination.

3. witchcraft, sorcery ref

Liminality, rock art, and the Sami sacred landscape

“The paper suggests that knowledge of this sacred landscape was not restricted to an elite or to shamans, but was widely shared. For the Sami, religious rituals and associated images (e.g. rock art) involved all levels within a social hierarchy that linked the individual adult or child, the family, the band or sijdda, and the association of family groups or vuobme. This is discussed in the article with reference to Proto-Uralic cosmology in general and the Sami world-view in particular. The concepts of anomaly and liminality enable us to interpret the Badjelánnda rock art site in Laponia, northern Sweden, as not only a place of resource procurement (asbestos, soapstone) but also a sacred site.” ref

SAMI GODS, GODDESSESS AND MYTHICAL ENTITIES

“Here is a list of Sámi gods, goddesses, and other mythical entities. So much has been forgotten about the Sami world view and beliefs and words over the years and most of the written material from the pre-Christian beliefs were written by priests, with very limited understanding of shamanism. Typically the writers would consider all SAMI spiritual beliefs to simply be devil worship. One can’t claim that this information is 100% accurate and far from all-inclusive. There were also local variations since Sápmi is a big area with few people and the communications were not the best back in the days. But this still gives a good basic overview of the pre-Christian Sámi belief system.” ref

The words in different Sami languages are marked with:

NS – North Sámi language/dialect.

SS – South Sámi language/dialect.

LS – Lule Sámi language/dialect.

GS – Gildin Sámi language/dialect.

Arja (ns): Female gázzi (Spirit) -entity. The name means energy, determination. ref

Beaivi (ns) / Biejvve (ls) / Biejjie (ss): Sun. Sun worship is important in the Sami belief system. ref

Barbmoáhkku (ns): Ensures that all migratory birds return well from warmer land, Barbmu. Getting help from Guorga, the brain. ref

Rananiejte (ss): “Spring girl”, «the reindeer calf girl” or “the green girl”. Provides, among other things, for good reindeer grazing. ref

Bieggaolmmái (ns): “The windman» determines the wind direction. He was among other things important during wild reindeer hunting. ref

Boazuáhkku (ns): Goddess of the reindeer and gives hunting luck. Possibly identical to Juksahkku. ref

Čahceolmmái (ns) / Tsjaetsieolmaj (ss): The waterman keeper of the lakes and fishes. ref

Čahcerávga / guovdi (ns): Living in the river or the sea. Used to scare the children, as part of the child-rearing. ref

Čahkalakkat (ns): Chakal: Live by springs. They are small and naked. In the head, they have healing power and the belly is full of silver money. You can get the medicine and the silver money by fooling them and killing them. ref

Gieddegeasgalgu (ns): wise, female being who lives on the outskirts of the residence and whom one can turn to when you have it extra difficult. Known from North Sami areas. In recent times, the gieddegeasgalgu has been given the negative meaning “chatter crone». ref

Gufihtar (ns): These goblin like entities live in gufihtarčohkka, “gufihtarhills». The gufitar lure people in, and they must not eat or drink anything while they are inside the hill, because then you never come out again. ref

Guolleipmil (ns): “The fish god”. Many sacrificial stones by lakes, sea, and rivers are called Guolleipmil. ref

Hálddit (ns): Protects animals and plants. Sometimes represented by sacrificial stones/ sieidi. ref

Ipmel / Ibmil / Jubmel / Jupmele (gs): Some shamans believed that Raedieaehtjie and Raediegiedtie were the same, namely Ipmel / Ibmil. He is considered the highest god. During the Christian mission, the missionaries adopted the name Ipmel / Ibmil, and it became the Sami name of the Christian God. ref

Serge-edni (gs): Raedieaehtjie or Ipmel’s wife. The one who creates the human spirit and leads it to Matharáhkku when children are created. ref

Radius kieddi (gs) / Raediegiedtie (ss): Raedieaehtjies son. Radius-acce / -tattje (gs) / Raedieaehtjie (ss): The highest god, the primordial father, the highest. ref

Jábmiidáhkku (ns) / Jábbmeahkku (ls) / Jaemiehaahka (ss): The goddess of death who rules in the kingdom of death Jábmiidáibmu. ref

Jábmiid- (ns): The deceased who lives underground. ref

Leabeolbmai (ns) / Liejbalmaj (ls) / Liejpalmaj (ss): «The alder wood man». The god of hunting and caretaker of the wild animals. Receives offerings before bear hunting to protect hunters. Alder wood is considered sacred. The red color from the bark was used to paint the drums, and the juice was sprayed on returned bear hunters. ref

Mailmenraedie: Máilbmi (ns) + raedie (ss) = The god of the world. ref

Maadteraahkas (ss) / Mahtaráhkku (ns / ls): «Mother earth, Gaia» or “great-grandmother”. Mother of the three goddesses Sáráhkku, Juksáhkku and Uksáhkku. Has a part in the creation of children.

Naaidegazzi / saivugázzi (ns), noaidegadze / saivogadze (gs): Spirit allie. They can look like little people dressed in colorful Sami clothes. They can be ancestors. They can choose people they teach to become shamans and follow them for the rest of their lives, including on soul journeys. Gazzi can also be inherited or accompany as a dowry. ref

Noidae / saivoloddi, noaideguolli / saivoguolli and noaide heritage / saivosuvari (ns): The shamans can have spirit allies in the form of animals. These can be birds (noidae / saivoloddi), fish (n oaideguolli / saivoguolli) or a reindeer bull (noaidesarvvis / saivosuvari). The strongest shamans have reindeer bulls as spirit allies. ref

Saajve / saajveolmai (ss), sáivo / sáivo-olmai (gs): spirits associated with sacred lakes or mountains also known as saajve (sáivo). Anyone who are connected to saajve has spirit allies in the form of animals at his service, see below. ref

Rohttu (ns): The god of sickness and death. Stays in a gloomy dead kingdom, Rohttuaibmu. ref

Ruđot (ns): Female gázzi beings. ref

Stállu (ns): Giant or troll-like figure. Children are scared with Stállu as part of the child-rearing. ref

Joeksaáhka (ss) / Juksáhkku (ns / ls): «The goddess of hunting. Living in boaššu, the sacred part of the lávvu (tipi) behind the fireplace. Has a part in the creation of children. Can transform an unborn child into a boy. ref

Oksaahka (ss) / Uhksáhkku (ns / ls): “The door goddess”. Lives under the doorstep and guards the home against all evil. Watches out for children during their first years of life, especially when they learn to walk. ref

Saaraahka (ss) / Sáráhkku (ns / ls): Important goddess in southern Sami areas. Lives under the fireplace. Recives sacrifices of all that can be drunk. Important in the creation of children. Helps women in menstruation and when giving births. Children were baptized in the name of Sarahkku. ref

Tiermes (gs) / Dierpmis (ns) / Bajánolmmái (ns) / Aijeke (gs) / Atjek (ls) / Horagálles (gs) / Hovrengaellies (ss) / Thor: Various names for the thunder god. ref

The ProtoUralic world-view

“An equivalent ‘map’ of Proto-Uralic cosmology has been constructed by the Russian scholar Vladimir Napolskikh (1992) using a wide range of ethnographic and historical sources. Proto-Uralic is the term given to the original language and culture of the people speaking the Finno-Permian group of languages, which includes Sami, Finnish, Karelian, and Estonian, and also the Ugric language group, which includes Hungarian and Khanty. Together the two groups form the Finno-Ugrian language family. Scholars have long recognized that the various peoples who speak these languages share various cultural traits, and it was generally assumed that these common traits reﬂected a common origin in a reconstructed language known as Proto-Uralic that existed around the ﬁfth millennium B.C.” ref

‘In fact, Proto-Uralic is more likely to have been a group of mutually intelligible languages whose integrity was maintained by interaction based on similar traditions, trade, and kinship connections, leading to borrowing. A key feature of the Proto-Uralic world-view is the division of the world into three realms: • The Upper World = South = river headwaters = mountains = heavens;• The Middle (Human) World, in which the World River runs, connecting upper and lower worlds, and in which ﬁr trees connect the earth with the heavens;• The Lower World = North = river mouth = cold sea = underneath. The deity who rules the Upper World is described as the Old Woman of the South, mistress of life, protector of birth and motherhood, the sender of souls, mother of gods, and mistress of migratory water-birds. The sun, the moon, and the Milky Way are other key features of the upper world. Migratory water-fowl such as swans, ducks, and geese serve as messengers to the celestial realm; they also symbolize human and animal souls, and they bring the new year in spring.” ref

“The Lower World begins where the World River ﬂows into the icy seas of the north, and is the realm of evil and the land of the dead. It contains an Island of the Dead, which is either under the water or under the earth. Diving birds like loons are regarded as bad spirits or are associated with shamans. Souls can return from the lower world to the middle world via a subterranean river, which emerges in a Lake (or Sea) of the Water of Life, which is where the water-birds and the human souls are revived and renewed (Napolskikh 1992: 11–12). This reconstruction is based on Volga-Finnish, Permian, Ob-Ugrian, Northern Samoyed, and Selkup data, with some input from Sami and Balti-Finnish sources. Not surprisingly, we cannot identify all of this mythical geography in the Sami world-view that we can reconstruct from scattered historical sources, folklore, and a few myths. In Fennoscandia, rivers ﬂow in directions that often do not match the simple north/south = cold/warm = Lower/Upper World dichotomies that we nd in the Finno-Ugrian cultures in Russia.” ref

“The Lule river, for example, originates in the (cold, northern) mountains in the Badjelánnda region and ﬂows southeast to the (warm, southern) Gulf of Bothnia. Instead, according to the Mjandasj myth, it is the River of Blood that separates the Middle World from the supernatural world, and indeed the Upper and Lower Worlds often seem to be conﬂated. Nonetheless, there are many similarities. The Old Woman of the South of the Proto-Uralic cosmology has a direct parallel in Máttaráhkká of the Sami but Jábmeáhkká who guards the Underworld is not a separate deity but rather a different aspect of Máttaráhkká herself.” ref

Translation for ‘witch’ in the free English-Finnish dictionary and many other Finnish translations How to say witch in Finnish.

“What’s the Finnish word for witch? Here’s a list of translations. More Finnish words for witch Finnish paganism was the indigenous pagan religion in Finland, Estonia, and Karelia prior to Christianisation. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities Finnish is not considered to be a particularly easy language to learn for English-speakers. However, don’t be put off! With a little practice, you should soon find yourself able to get. Finnish Easter traditions mix religion and rites of spring. Beware: Miniature witches may ring your doorbell. Finnish Easter traditions mix religious references with customs related to the long-awaited.. Finnish, whose endonym is suomi ([ˈsuo̯mi] (listen) or suomen kieli [ˈsuo̯meŋ ˈkie̯li]) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch spoken by the majority of the population in Finland. Finnish Words aren’t Gendered. If you’ve ever learned French, you’ll likely remember And the Finnish v is actually like an English w but with straight lips (like an English v.” ref

“Proto-Uralic: original language and culture of the people: which includes Sami, Finnish, Karelian and Estonian, and Hungarian and Khanty, forming the Finno-Ugrian language family. Generally, it is assumed these common traits reﬂected a common origin in a reconstructed language known as Proto-Uralic that existed around the 7,000-6,000 years ago.” ref

Mattarahkka: earth goddess mother of the daughters Sarahkka, Juksahkka, and Uksahkka. She received souls sent down for incarnation by the god Radien.

Sami Deities and Mythic Figures

“>Relatively little Sami mythology has been translated into English from the nine extant Sami languages so rich in nature imagery. Lutheran pastor Levi Laestadius collected some fragments back in the 1800s, but his accounts are marred by poor storytelling and unconvincing attempts to explain away the stories as superstitious, pre-rational explanations for lost historical or scientific facts. More recently, Elina Helander-Renvall has published a small book of Sami tales (Silde: Sami Mythic Texts and Stories, 2004).” ref

“Although repressed by the missionaries, vestiges of Sami mythology remain intact. Unlike the abstract ideals personified in Greek and Roman myth, Sami myth has remained close to the earth, a reminder that all mythic tales, images, and lore moves in landscapes still magical and alive. Sami stories live on such intimate terms with sun and moon, rain and snow, rock and hill that they invite us to think of mythology as the shining, numinous inside story of the natural world when experienced as sacred.” ref

See also my page on Celtic deities, another on Nordic and Germanic myths and deities, and a Gnostic Glossary. ref

My thanks to my friend and colleague Marilyn Fowler for introducing me to Sami culture. ref

Akkas: goddesses. ref

Akka (also Akko, Rowan, or Raudna, “The Childless One”): crone wife of Horagalles; worshipped near rocks or mountain caves. Reminiscent of the Cailleach of Ireland. In some ways resembles Sif, wife of Thor. ref

Aknidi: daughter of the sun. She lived among humans for a time, teaching embroidering, story-telling, sea songs, button-making, and other skills until people jealous of her beauty and talent crushed her beneath a large rock, whereupon she went back to the sky. Compare Athena/Minerva, White Buffalo Calf Woman, Brigid. ref

Apara: the ghost of a murdered child. ref

Arne: guardian spirit of the arnehawde, pits containing hidden treasures. One could find them by the smoke they emanated. The conditions of whomever buried the treasure had to be fulfilled to retrieve it, with the arne overseeing the entire operation. ref

Attje: gods. ref

Bassa Aske (also Mannu): the moon. ref

Beaivi: feminine name of the sun. ref

Beaivvas: masculine name of the sun. ref

Bieggolmmai: shovel-carrying god of the winds and tempests. Compare Poseidon and Neptune. ref

Boahjenasti: the North Star, around which the pole of the world turns. Ritual acts of sacrifice and other libations of attentive consciousness keep this pillar of the world from falling and plunging everything into senseless unconsciousness. ref

Boasso-ahkka: guardian household spirit of men’s sacred space and activities. ref

Diermmes: a giant hammer-wielding thunder god who controls storms and grasps a rainbow in one hand and a lightning-throwing bow in the other. As with Thor and Jormungand, Diermmes chases Meandas-pyyrre (also called Golle Coarveheargi), a fabulous golden-antlered reindeer with a black head, a white body, burning eyes, and a silver coat. He will eventually reach the reindeer and has already hit it with his first arrow, causing the world to suffer widening deserts, barren oceans, and lack of rain. The second arrow begins to boil the mountains and melt the northern ices (sound familiar?). When Diermmes finally gets close enough to stab Meandas-pyyrre, the sun and moon will go out, and the world will come to an end. ref

Dirran: the trance state used by noaidi during shamanic work. ref

Eanan: the goddess Earth. Compare Gaia, Terra, Turquoise (or Changing) Woman of the Navajo. ref

Gazzi: guardian spirits. Each person is born with one. ref

Geddekis Akko (or Geddekis Galggo): a ruler of wind and weather who granted earnest wishes. ref

Goahti: a Sami home. The home is also a shrine inhabited by household deities and spirits something like the Roman lares. ref

Gufihtar (also Maahiset, Saiwo-olmah, Ulda, Underboniga, Vittra, or Kadnihah): attractive folk who live in the earth. Lucky to be around, but when asked to visit their realm, one should not eat or drink there lest one get stuck underground. Throwing a piece of steel over their reindeer allowed one to keep them. Compare with the Irish People of the Sidhe (fairies). ref

Guopvssahasat: the Northern Lights, who will punish those who fail to appreciate their beauty. ref

Haldi (also Maddu): sprites of places and of animals. Every grove, shore, hill, etc. contained such a genius loci. ref

Horagalles (“Thunder Hero”; also Tiermes, “Hill Man,” or Ukko): a thunder god who bore two hammers. He treated trolls pretty much the way Thor did, flattening them whenever convenient. (In Scandinavian mythology, lightning-wielding gods provided a cosmic balance against what Jung called giantism: anything powerful inflated far beyond normal or healthy limitations.) ref

Iami Aimo: a kind of Valhalla realm within the underworld. ref

Jabma Aimo: the underworld. ref

Jabbmeaaakka: powerful underworld goddess comparable to Persephone, Proserpina, or Hel. ref

Jeetanis: giants. Inflated, but not necessarily hostile. Some outcroppings and hillocks are named after giants. ref

Joiks (yoiks): a capella traditional song chants, usually with few or no lyrics. Noiaidi possessed special songs that allowed them to work powerful magical transformations, singing things into being or changing. ref

Juksahkka (“Bow Woman”): goddess who can make an unborn child male; also an instructor of boys. She lived near the entrance of the home. In some ways reminiscent of Athena/Minerva. ref

Junkars: nature spirits who promote hunting and trapping. ref

Juovlajohttit: the “Christmas Travelers,” spirits in sleds that only some people can see. Looking upon them as they move across the sky can be dangerous to the looker. In some versions, they wore red and were pulled by reindeers, a story that eventually caught the attention of Coca Cola. ref

Kowre: a reindeer deity skinned without use of a metal tool. ref

Leibolmmai (“Alder Man”): the god of the hunt and the forest and its animals. Compare Cernunnos, Pan, and the archetypal Green Man. ref

Manalaiset: the souls of dead people. ref

Mattarahkka: earth goddess mother of the daughters Sarahkka, Juksahkka, and Uksahkka. She received souls sent down for incarnation by the god Radien. ref

Mader Akko: a goddess who restored eyesight and hearing and could see in the dark. She also guided the lost and was worshipped at an altar of three flat stones. Compare Hekate. ref

Naideh: soothsaying priests (as opposed to noaidi) who carried out ceremonial work and sacrifices. ref

Niekija: lovely daughter of the moon, with a red face and silver hair. When Beaivvas sent his son Peivalke to woo her, Peivalke himself fell for her. When the moon concealed her on an island, she was seen by Nainnas, leader of the Northern Lights, who also fell for her, and she for him. But she remained with her mother the moon, and the lovers look at each other across the night sky. ref

Noaidi: shaman. Noiadi conducted healing rituals, prophecied, forecast the weather, retrieve lost souls (in Sami lore each person has a body soul and a free soul that roams when the body is unconscious), and beat a ritual drum decorated with sacred art. At one time missionaries persecuted them, ridiculed their wisdom, and burned their drums: drums whose heads were adorned with elaborate cosmic maps and symbols. Animals safely guide the noaidi, as does the morning star. ref

Padnakjunne (“Dog-Face”): cannibalistic humanoids with dog snouts. ref

Passe (“sacred” or “sanctuary”): altar or sacred place. The word points to the cooking done for sacrificing in gratitude to a god. ref

Radien Attje (“powerful father”): all-ruling god of the upper sky. From him descend human souls that go to Mattarahkka and then to her daughter Sarahkka for incarnation into earthly life. He usually worked through his son. Compare Zeus. ref

Rana Niejta (“Green Fertile Fields”): springtime daughter of Radien. She made everything bloom. Similar to the German Flora. ref

Ruotta and Japmeahkka: spirits of sickness and death. They like to infest merchants’ goods and sailing ships. ref

Sala Niejta: daughter of the sun who ended the cold and snows every year. ref

Saiwo: the underground realm (but not the underworld of the dead) where the Gufihtar or Saiwo-olmah lived like the Irish Sidhe folk. Lucky if allied or traded with. Their magical animals were passed down through families as inheritances. Saiwo-loddeh were magic birds employed by the noaidi. ref

Saiwo-neidah (also Kadnihah): alluring saiwo maidens in red dresses; their hair is like green linen. Their singing is beautiful to hear. Not as deadly as the Sirens or the Lorelei. ref

Sapmi: the Sami homelands. ref

Sarahkka: a well-respected goddess who molds an unborn baby’s body around a soul. She also helps the mother give birth and sat near the hearth. Drinks were offered to her by women, who also ate a special gruel in her honor. Similar to Artemis/Diana. ref

Sarvvabivdu: a cosmic elk hunt reflected in the constellations Gemini, Castor, and Pollux. See Diermmes. ref

Serpent stone: lucky egg-shaped magic stone said to be possessed by serpent kings. If stolen the wielder could use it for health and wealth but had to avoid all the relentless serpents who came in pursuit. ref

Shakkalag: child-sized spirits who lay in the ground just below the surface. Their bellies are stuffed with silver coins. ref

Siedi (also Storjunkare): sacred sites, whether natural or made by humans, around which clans gathered. Offerings are occasionally still left at them. Some are unusually shaped stones or rocks whose markings and holes are reminiscent of humans, animals, gods, etc. A stone taken from such a place will grow lighter when the bearer guesses what the place wants. ref

Sierg-Edne (or -Siedga: “Willow Mother”): wife of Radien and creator of souls. ref

Siida: village. Colonization by European nation-states worked to break down the original siida system, but in places it continues to function. ref

Silde: a tricksterish spirit who upsets travel plans and scatters reindeer herds. He can bring riches and health, but also death if one fears him. Compare Hermes and Mercury. ref

Sjo ra: sea sprites. ref

Stallu: large, stupid trolls who like to challenge people to fights. When beaten they lie still on the ground waiting for their heads to be cut off and their store of silver taken. They own dogs, sometimes wear red hats, and often steal children, fatten them up, and eat them. Their knives bring misfortune when collected. ref

Stuorra-Jovnna: a figure of Sami folklore who could turn into a wolf. ref

Suologievra: the wolf spirit who traverses the lower, middle, and upper worlds. ref

Tarvopaike: a particular place where one prays to the gods. ref

Tille: animals called into human service through magic. ref

Tjatse Olmai: a sprite tended by sitting on the shores of rapids and voicing what one wants to obtain while offering a silver coin. His voice would reply. His assistant was Nekke. ref

Tonta: a stallu with one eye who sticks close to a particular place it guards. Reminiscent of the Irish Formorians. ref

Trollkaringa: troll women. One of them, Atsitje, was married to the original Stallu. ref

Uksahkka (“Door Wife”): midwife helper of newborns and protector of menstruating women and of children from illnesses and other dangers. In homes, she stood near the door. ref

Ulda: Gufihtar who carry off babies. Mothers would place silver amulets around their children to prevent this. ref

Vadas: a being who wrecked ships with storms. ref

Varalden Olmai (also Radien Kiedde): Radien’s son. ref

Vuorwro (also Heiman): a night-wandering female spirit who eats slumberers in rooms that contain no water. Contrast with the succubus and Lilith. ref

Sami and the Northern Indigenous Peoples Landscape, Language, and its Connection to Religion

Haplogroup N1c (Y-DNA)

Nganasan people

Mythology

Seiðr and gender roles in Norse society

Cardium pottery

Haplogroup N1c (Y-DNA)

The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

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