A Bear Ceremony Song from Tremjugan
This is a song of the Khanty bear feast — the most sacred ceremony of the Ob-Ugric peoples. When a bear is killed, its spirit must be awakened and honoured before the community feasts. The singer addresses the bear directly: snow falls through the roof-hole, bells jingle, meat is offered, a painted dress is placed on the bear's shoulders, and the bear watches the wrestlers and dancers who perform for it. The bear is not merely hunted — it is a guest from the forest, a divine visitor returning home.
Collected by the Finnish ethnographer K. F. Karjalainen at the village of Tremjugan on the Tromagan River, a tributary of the Ob, in Eastern Khanty territory, on 10 December 1899. Published in Csepregi, Márta, ed., K. F. Karjalainen's Eastern Khanty Text Collection (1899–1901), Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seuran Toimituksia 279, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 2024. The Eastern Khanty language belongs to the Ugric branch of the Uralic family; the Tremjugan dialect was spoken along the Tromagan River in what is now the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. This is the first English verse translation from the Khanty source, translated directly from Karjalainen's 1899 phonematic transcription.
Through the roof-hole
of my roof-holed house,
your great father — God —
lets fall on you
wide-eyed swirling snow,
fresh snow upon your eyes.
Your right-hand ear,
broad as a snow-scraper,
your ear like a log —
your left-hand ear,
broad as a snow-scraper,
your ear like a log —
open yourself upward.
A sound like the mosquito's hum,
a sound like the horsefly's drone —
from the holy iron
a jingling,
from the bright iron
a jingling is heard.
Your human sons
have built for you
at the face-wall of the raftered house,
the prayer-wall of the prayer-house,
on the face-side —
a plank house was raised for you.
From the bottom of a leather quiver
belonging to the son of man:
a fork-tipped arrow,
a sharp-tipped arrow.
With a hairy-handled,
crusty-handled
great spear
belonging to the son of man —
your sleep was made.
Now the son of man,
on this day of sun,
in this beautiful world,
wakes you.
From the birch-bark bowl
before your head —
with your finger-tip,
with your thumb-tip —
you take a piece.
Into your heart it goes,
into your inward body —
the meat feels sweet.
Terns of the bog-lake,
terns of the forest-lake —
into your noisy house
you have entered.
Hand-having being,
foot-having being,
a pleasant merriment —
you are watching.
From the prayer-wall
of the prayer-house,
the painted dress
fine as thread,
sewn by the goddess-mother —
upon your wood-carrying shoulders,
upon your strong shoulder-tops,
the painted dress
fine as thread
is placed upon you.
Your woven belt
patterned with fish of the water
is fastened around you.
Out onto the smooth snowy ground
trodden by your men of the town,
onto that surface —
you step outside.
Two men, two women,
stepping shoulder to shoulder,
their wood-carrying shoulder-tops
clash together.
Like a knot of snow,
like a knot of ice,
at the last —
they tumble.
Playful one,
beast of the swamp,
playful one,
beast of the forest —
because you are what you are,
the colourful cloak
of the man in the colourful cloak
you dampen,
the colourful shoe
of the man in the colourful shoe
you dampen.
Terns of the swamp-lake —
into the noisy house
you enter again.
Hand-having being,
foot-having being,
a pleasant merriment —
you are watching.
Colophon
Translated from Eastern Khanty (Tremjugan dialect) phonematic transcription by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026.
Source: K. F. Karjalainen's field notes, village of Tremjugan, Tromagan River, 10 December 1899. Published in Csepregi, Márta, ed., K. F. Karjalainen's Eastern Khanty Text Collection (1899–1901), Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seuran Toimituksia 279, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 2024. DOI: sus.22
Translation method: Independent verse translation from the Khanty phonematic source text. K. F. Karjalainen's original Finnish glosses (1899, public domain) served as the primary interpretive bridge. Csepregi's 2024 scholarly apparatus (notes, commentary) was consulted for cultural context and for resolving words specific to the bear-ceremony register. The English verse was composed independently; Csepregi's English rendering was consulted after drafting for verification only.
A Good Works Translation. NTAC + Claude.
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Source Text
Eastern Khanty (Tremjugan dialect), phonematic transcription
K. F. Karjalainen, 10 December 1899
ən[ə]ʌ tŏrə̑m ko jəɣənnə
kŏnə̑ŋ kåt kŏnami̮
kŏmə̑t sä̆mpə
čoɣə̑t sä̆m piɣto[.]
jəmsipi
ʎåń[tˊ] săŋki̮p
ʌŏɣₒi̮t pəʌȧ
oni̮ pəʌȧ
pəɣipi
ʎåń[tˊ] săŋki̮p
ʌŏɣₒi̮t pəʌȧ
oni̮ pəʌȧ
nü̆ŋ nomə̑n tăɣₒri̮təʌi.
kä̆jŋi kŏri̮
pä̆ʌəm kŏri̮
tˊətˊ wăɣi̮
ʌorə̑ŋ sü̆j
kȧm wăɣi̮
ʌorə̑ŋ sü̆j setˊ[ə]ʎ[.]
kăntə̑[ɣ] ko păɣannə̑
wȧńəm pä̆ḷək
si̮ɣə̑ʌ kåt
muʌə̑ŋ kåt
muʌə̑ʌȧ
wȧńəm pä̆ḷək
pä̆r[t] kåt wä̆ro.
kăntə̑[ɣ] ko păɣ tăji̮ʌi̮
tiɣₒət pətə
ḷəpɣən pŏsɣə̑n –
kăntə̑[ɣ] ko păɣ tăji̮ʌi̮
sŏkə̑ŋ wä̆jəp
kȧrəŋ [wä̆jəp]
ən[ə]ʌ ăŋₒtə̑p
wŏjȧʌtə̑m uʌmə̑n
kăntə̑[ɣ] ko păɣannə̑
tem siŋ[k] wăʌtaŋ
juɣə̑ʌ tŏrə̑m
tˊut wä̆ritəʌi[.] –
uŋkə̑tpi̮
săɣₒṇani̮
ʌoj tŏji̮
pȧŋ tŏji̮
nü̆ŋn[ə] əj puḷ wəʌi[,]
səmȧnȧ
ńŏɣₒə̑ji̮
ḷăɣi̮ʌa pittȧʌ[.]
ʌår sări̮
tŏk [sări̮]
sü̆jȧŋ kutə̑ŋ
pitmiʌ
kö̆tʌȧ wăʌi̮
kü̆rʌȧ wăʌi̮
juɣə̑ʌ tˊursem
nü̆ŋ ʌeɣəʌətȧ[.]
muʌə̑ŋ kåt
muʌe̮ni̮
kuj tˊăpə̑r nȧj ȧŋki
wä̆rəntəm
suɣə̑m kŏri̮
ḷŏksaŋ tä̆ʌȧ
nü̆ŋ juɣ ä̆ʌʌi
wån tˊəŋkər
suɣə̑m kŏri̮
ḷŏksaŋ tä̆ʌȧ
nomə̑n pănʌi̮.
jəŋ[k] kuʌi̮
ʌăɣₒtaŋ ən[tə]pȧ
nomə̑n əntəksəʌi[.]
wåč kuje̮
pȧnməʌti
juɣʌe̮ tˊăɣə̑r
oɣₒtə̑ja
nü̆ŋnə kemən pitʌi[.]
əjwånat soṭḷi̮
kȧt kuɣə̑n
kȧt niŋkən
juɣ ä̆ʌʌi
wån tˊəŋkər
ńuʌa nəkkəmtəʌiɣən[,]
ʎåń[tˊ] mü̆ŋkȧḷ
jä̆ŋₒ[kₒ] mü̆ŋkȧḷ
juɣə̑ʌ åʌə̑ŋ
ʌin kirəɣtəʌɣən[.]
ńorə̑m wåjə̑ɣ
jăn[t]ŋi̮ ko
wŏn[t] wåjə̑ɣ
jăn[t]ŋi̮ ko
wăʌta pətȧn
kănčaŋ săkə̑p
kuje̮na
kănčaŋ săk
mărȧʌtə̑ʌə̑n[,]
kănčaŋ ńi̮rə̑p
kuje̮na
kănčaŋ ńi̮r
mărȧʌtə̑ʌə̑n.
ʌår sări̮
sü̆jȧŋ kåta
jăkₒə̑n ʌăŋʌi̮
kö̆tʌȧ wăʌi̮
kü̆rʌȧ wăʌi̮
juɣə̑ʌ tˊursem
nü̆ŋ ʌeɣəʌəʌən[.]
Source Colophon
Eastern Khanty (Tremjugan dialect). Phonematic transcription from K. F. Karjalainen's field manuscripts, collected at Tremjugan village, Tromagan River, 10 December 1899. Published in Csepregi, Márta, ed., K. F. Karjalainen's Eastern Khanty Text Collection (1899–1901), Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seuran Toimituksia 279, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 2024.
The Eastern Khanty language belongs to the Ugric branch of the Uralic language family. The Tremjugan dialect is spoken along the Tromagan River, a tributary of the Ob, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Western Siberia. The phonematic transcription preserves features of the original field recording, including vowel-backness distinctions characteristic of the bear-ceremony register.
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