Sacred Stones in Sami Folk Tales
One in a series on the rich storytelling tradition of the Sami. For the next post in the series, click here — Giants
Just Knud Qvigstad tells three stories about the seida, the sacred stones of the Sami. The glossary in his book Contes de Laponie defines the seida as objects in which spirits and gods can manifest themselves, especially blocks of stone. These stories imply that the seida, or sacred stones, could read a person’s thoughts and remember.
Story One
A wealthy mountain Sami named Klemet encountered a seida one day. He noticed a pile of reindeer horns near it, evidence of previous offerings to the seida. He thought he would provide a gift to the seida. Two female reindeer appeared nearby, so he killed them, but did not give them to the seida.
The following year, on the same day, he passed by the same seida. He noticed a pile of what looked like wicker bags nearby. The pile was actually reindeer antlers. His entire herd of fifty reindeer had perished because he had not kept his promise to the seida the year before.
Story Two
Another story describes an old man using a seida as a lucky charm. He spreads fish fat on a stone and drops it into the lake to improve his yield of fish, but it doesn’t work. The young man fishing with him tells him his god is pitiable. The moral of this story is that the seida cannot be manipulated.
Story Three
A reindeer herder asks a seida for help hiding his flock of reindeer from people on a nearby ridge in exchange for bringing a leaf of tobacco and brandy.
Photo by Karen Nyenhuis. Antique lead reindeer stamped “GERMANY” and Sami doll from a family collection.
Source: J.K. Qvigstad, Contes de Laponie, adaptation en français par Jacques Privat, Editions Esprit Ouvert, 2008, pp. 63-67.