Wednesday, March 25, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Castrén Collection
Sacred narratives and songs from M.A. Castrén's Nenets fieldwork (1845–1849).
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Texts
Sacred Narratives from CastrénTwo Samoyed (Nenets/Yurak) mythological tales recorded by M. A. Castrén during his 1840s Siberian expeditions and published by Anton Schiefner in 1857. Includes a spirit-journey narrative and an explicit shaman (tadibe) contest. First English translation from the German.Sacred Narratives from Castrén — Volume IIThree Samoyed (Nenets/Yurak) mythological tales recorded by M. A. Castrén during his 1840s Siberian expeditions and published by Anton Schiefner in 1857. Includes a crone-pursuit tale, a sky-maiden and heartless-brothers narrative, and a dark trickster tale. First English translation from the German.Samoyed Fairy Tales from Castrén's FieldworkFive Nenets (Samoyed) fairy tales from M.A. Castrén's 1840s Siberian fieldwork — the earliest collected Nenets oral narratives. Dream prophecy and underworld katabasis, the cannibalistic old woman and flight-magic, competitive shamanism with moon and sun, the swan maiden and the heartless brothers, and a dark trickster cycle. First English translations.Song 2 — The Bright Reindeer-BullNenets heroic epic (sjudbabts') from M. A. Castrén's 1840s Siberian fieldwork — the tale of the Bright Reindeer-Bull, a marriage raid across the tundra, the night-slaughter by the Hissing Iron, and a twenty-year archery war on the sea-ridge. First English translation from the Nenets via Castrén's German.Song 5 — The Boy and the Shaman's DismembermentNenets shaman-motif narrative (tādieibtso) from M. A. Castrén's 1840s Siberian fieldwork — the tale of a lost boy who shapeshifts into a hazel-hen to reach a maiden, and the shaman who dismembers himself piece by piece trying to catch the spirit-thief. First English translation from the Nenets via Castrén's German.Song 14 — The Seven BellendenNenets singable story (lahanakko) from M. A. Castren's 1840s Siberian fieldwork — the tale of the Youngest of the Seven Bellenden (Barkers), who travels to the Dirty Emperor's city to take his daughter as a wife, lifts the great stone, destroys the city, and returns with two brides. First English translation from the German, with Nenets source text.Songs from Castrén's FieldworkFive Nenets (Yurak Samoyedic) folk songs from M. A. Castrén's 1840s Siberian fieldwork, published posthumously by T. Lehtisalo in 1940 (SUST LXXXIII). Four euphoria songs (jābje'ma) and the Shaman Song (sām badabts'). First English translation from the German, with Nenets source text.The Lament of the Shamaness — Song from Castrén's FieldworkA Nenets (Yurak Samoyedic) lament (jārabts') from M. A. Castrén's 1840s Siberian fieldwork, published posthumously by T. Lehtisalo in 1940 (SUST LXXXIII). A female shaman's vendetta song: her half-brothers murder her blind mother, bind her naked and stab her for years — but her wounds heal through shamanic power. She reverses the captivity, binds them in turn, and delivers them to the Russian colonial authorities at Obdorsk. First English translation from the German, with Nenets source text.