Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Donner — Sami Songs

Sámi songs and joiks from Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (Helsinki, 1876), translated from the Sámi, each printed with its Sámi text.

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Texts

07 — Reindeer JoikA four-line reindeer joik from Härjedalen, sung in Stockholm by a young Sámi of the Ovik fell and given here in Donner and Laiti's reading of it in the North Sámi of Utsjoki: a young reindeer sets off, paws in a miry place in the young birch woods, and lies down to rest on the summit of the fell. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.08 — Joik over Little ChildrenA five-line Sámi song sung over little children, heard in Arjeplog and Lycksele Lappmark and given here in Donner and Laiti's reading of it in the North Sámi of Utsjoki: the singer calls on the ant, a comrade, to pull the child to the lake with a rein of hair. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.09 — Bear JoikA three-line Sámi bear joik heard in Arjeplog and Lycksele Lappmark: the singer calls the bear to get up, for the leaf is as big as a little mouse's ear. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.10 — The Bride SongA short Sámi courting song from Sorsele in Swedish Lapland: a young man wades round forest and fell and through two waters, tells the girl he is the only son of Maria, and speaks of a brooch that will move on when she refuses. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.12 — On the MountainsA four-line South Sámi song in the softer dialect of Härjedalen, which the Sámi poet Lars Fjellner wrote down in his youth: from where shall the wind become this gentle wind, the sweet south wind or the north wind of the fells? From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.13 — The He-Bear Is to Wake His CubsA six-line Sámi song from Klumma, north of Sorsele in Swedish Lapland, named for the he-bear who is to wake his cubs: a cry over the children's sleep, a collar, a horse, an iron cord and a dog. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.14 — The Mosquito's JoikA four-line South Sámi joik from Härjedalen, given by the Sámi poet Lars Fjellner: the Hopper asks the mosquito what it works at, come summer; the mosquito joiks, and the Hopper leaps. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.15 — The Squirrel's JoikA two-line Sámi joik from Sorsele in Swedish Lapland, named for the squirrel, that cries woe to every girl in living and to every boy in dying. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.16 — The WolfA three-line North Sámi joik for the wolf from Utsjoki: it calls the wolf by name, sets nine valleys beside a tail held between the legs, and calls him a rascal, with joik syllables between. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.17 — Song of SorrowA South Sámi song from Vilhelmina in which the singer mourns a reindeer cow that can no longer be milked or run after, and asks whether the household must now live on the milk of a long-tailed reindeer cow. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.18 — A Sámi's LifeA four-line South Sámi song from Vilhelmina in which a poor, wandering Sámi sings of roaming the hard roads of the earth until the singer's time comes to an end. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.19 — Wedde-Karin's SongA South Sámi love song from Vilhelmina: a heavy-hearted lover whose beloved was taken away longs for heaven, likens the grief to that of a bird whose mate is shot, and blames false friends for the end of their love. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.20 — The Bear SongA short and partly obscure South Sámi bear song from Vilhelmina in Swedish Lapland: the singer thanks God, who has given us this holy proud one, and calls for the rings of the girls of the wooing to be bound. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.21 — The Wooing SongA South Sámi wooing song in dialogue from Vilhelmina in Swedish Lapland, mixed with Swedish words: a lad offers a girl the beginning of their love and his betrothal gifts while they think it over, and she answers that if it is not ordained, he takes them back with the same hands. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.22 — The Devil's TouhkiTwo versions of one short Sámi song from Sorsele in Swedish Lapland: a voice cries out over a man's bark-pounding stick and bids it move through the smoke-hole, and then the devil's touhki, a little fish-driving stick and a pouch burst hissing through the bag of a seine. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.23 — Two TimesA six-line Sámi song of question and answer from Sorsele in Swedish Lapland: how many times does the Sunday ringing happen at your place, and how many times does the priest's work babble there? From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.24 — The Hunting PlaceA North Sámi song from M. A. Castrén's manuscripts: the singer warns strangers off the land and its hunting place, turns from a god who looks past the people though they gather antlers and bones for him and smear him with fat, and goes far away with them to seek a good god and win a hunting place. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.25 — The Halibut JoikAn eight-line North Sámi joik for the halibut from Utsjoki, written down by J. Fellman: the halibut swims along the sea bottom, a precious fish, big and strong, and once it has taken the hook even a strong man can hardly haul it into the boat. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.26 — Joik of the SalmonA North Sámi joik of the salmon from Utsjoki, written down by J. Fellman: the fish swims up the river to its very end, turns black and stops eating, then goes back down to the sea, where it grows bright and fat again. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.27 — The Wolf's JoikA North Sámi joik from Utsjoki on the wolf crying when he has eaten his fill, and on the others that follow his tracks or hunt in their own way, the fox, the arctic fox, the falcon, a night bird, the eagle and the wolverine, each with its own cry. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.28 — My Little Heart Is HotA seven-line North Sámi love song from Utsjoki, written down by J. Fellman: a traveller goes forward while his thoughts go back, asking where his bride has stayed behind, and his little heart has come far, hot. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.29 — The Joik of Poor KaskiasA long North Sámi joik from J. Fellman's manuscript: the noaidi Torajas carries off the plenty of land and water, God brings it back, the singer is struck dead, swallowed by a pike and laid in a coffin yet lives on, and a noaidi's son flies away from his father for good. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.30 — The Thief and the NoaidiA North Sámi verse dialogue in which a thief, who says he has taken only what the earth grows, is warned by a noaidi, printed by Donner in excerpts from J. Fellman's manuscript. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.31 — The Noaidi's DrumA short rhymed North Sámi song from Utsjoki, written down by the schoolteacher A. Helander from a folk tale: the old men draw the wild reindeer to them by magic, then shoot the big ones and the fat barren does, boil the fat and make sausages. From Otto Donner's Lappalaisia lauluja (1876), translated from the Sámi.