by Karen Nyenhuis | Mar 6, 2024 | Folklore of Scandinavia, Just Knud Qvigstad, Sami History, Tales from Sapmi
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. Story One A wealthy mountain...
by Karen Nyenhuis | Feb 23, 2024 | Folklore of Scandinavia, Just Knud Qvigstad, Sami History, Tales from Sapmi
The glossary in Just Qvigstad’s book, Contes de Laponie, indicates that the Halde are invisible spirits. In one tale, “The Young Halde Girl,” the Halde manipulate an unsuspecting young shepherd. A man herding his sheep in the mountains of Kvaenangen sees a house with...
by Karen Nyenhuis | Jan 19, 2024 | Folklore of Scandinavia, Just Knud Qvigstad, Sami History, Tales from Sapmi
Two stories from Just Qvigstad’s Contes de Laponie continue the idea of the Stallo as killers of men. One story, “La jeune fille rusee,” tells of a Stallo who kidnapped a girl and took her to his forest home. Men searched for her for a long time. One man noticed marks...
by Karen Nyenhuis | Jan 11, 2024 | Folklore of Scandinavia, Just Knud Qvigstad, Norse Mythology, Sami History, Tales from Sapmi
I found a helpful glossary in the back of Just Qvigstad’s book. There are so many fantastical spirits and forest creatures in Sami traditions and in the general folklore of Scandinavia that it is difficult to keep them all straight. My definitions are paraphrased...
by Karen Nyenhuis | Jan 8, 2024 | Just Knud Qvigstad, Sami History, Tales from Sapmi
The Stallo I have been translating a French adaptation of Just Qvigstad’s record of stories from Sapmi by Jacques Privat. I refer to the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, and Finland as Sapmi, and the indigineous people of that region as Sami, rather than the...
by Karen Nyenhuis | Dec 23, 2023 | Just Knud Qvigstad, Sami History, Tales from Sapmi
Just Knud Qvigstad, 1853-1957, was my great-grandmother’s brother. Mayor of Tromso, Norway, he was also a linguist. He published over a hundred academic papers on the Sami language and Sami history. I have recently been hunting for his work, but unfortunately I...
