a song from the manuscript of J. Fellman, formerly pastor at Utsjoki and Inari, from Otto Donner, Lappalaisia lauluja (1876)
A joik in North Sámi of 161 verses, one of the longest songs in Otto Donner's book of Sámi songs. Donner printed it whole from a manuscript sent to him by J. Fellman, formerly pastor at Utsjoki and Inari in the far north of Finland. The singer laments that Torajas, a noaidi (a Sámi seer and sorcerer), has carried off the fish and game of water and land, gives thanks to the guardian of the land and to God, who brings them back, and tells how the evil man struck him dead, threw him into a river where a pike swallowed him, and laid him in a coffin, and how he lives still; then the song turns to a noaidi's son who flies off in a bird's shape and will not come home to his father, and the plenty is sent away again.
Translation
Torajas, the great noaidi,
Torajas, that renowned noaidi,
Who carried the plenty off from our land,
And sent hunger to us, into our mouths,
So that we have no food,
Nor any plenty at all,
And carried off all our plenty,
And sent kitteli into the land,
And kitteli all our plenty.
And we get no fish in the waters,
Nor wild reindeer in the forests,
Nor any plenty at all;
Empty are the fells,
Empty are the forests,
Empty are the waters.
The evil man sent
Hunger into our mouths,
And then he was such an evil man,
Who sent all the plenty
Away from our land.
Has that man not been born,
Born yet upon the earth,
Who will bring back again
The plenty to our land? —
Yes, he does bring it:
God brings the plenty back again,
Both in the waters and on the land.
Thanks be to the guardian of the land,
Thanks to the one who makes the land bear fruit,
And to the guardian be thanks
Many thousand times,
For God has shown mercy,
So that he brought the plenty back again.
Honour and fair thanks be
To you, fair God,
Who to the water and the land
Brought the plenty back again.
Though the evil man
Did carry off the plenty,
So fair God
Carried it back again.
To good God be thanks
Many thousand times,
Who carried my plenty.
The evil man did that,
From both the waters and the land,
He who carried the plenty away.
Torajas, that wicked, evil man,
Who carried the plenty from our land
And brought hunger to us,
Torajas, that renowned man,
Then he sent hunger to us.
Then he struck me dead,
He thought that I was dead.
Only, I did not die even then,
But I live on even then,
I did not die,
I am alive even then,
From God I live on still.
From God is my life,
From God I live,
Though that evil man thought
That I had died;
And he took me and threw me into the water,
Flung me into the river.
A pike took me again,
And the pike swallowed me,
Then I was under the liver:
The pike took me into its keeping,
And put me under its liver,
There I lived the year round.
But then at last (again) he set,
That evil man, his nets in the water,
And he took me up,
And then I came to live in a house (to dwell in a cabin),
And lived three years in the house.
And then I went on a pleasure journey (to hunt wild reindeer),
I got wild beasts there.
When I came from the pleasure journey to the hut,
That evil man struck me dead.
And then he made me a coffin,
And put me inside the coffin,
There I stayed from then on,
In the coffin three years.
And at last (after that) he set out
To carry me to the churchyard,
And they all came,
The priest too was there (had come).
Then I said: Do not send me away,
I am not dead yet,
Though death has been expected for me.
Then all the people spoke,
And the priest too said:
Why has a living person
Been put inside a coffin?
I said: I am not dead,
Though I have been taken for dead.
The evil man rejoiced
That I was dead,
But though he thought
That I had died,
Yet I have not died,
But I am living still, even now,
Still, even now, still, even now.
Ah, if my son would come here,
I cannot bear to be here!
Then the son came at once,
And flew like a capercaillie.
Others would have come
And cooked the son as a capercaillie,
But the son said:
If I had been cooked as a valsarina (?),
I would not have died.
And the husband grew very angry,
And the son went as another person.
The husband said:
My son, why do you come
To me in this shape?
The son said:
If you are angry,
If I have made you angry,
Then I will set out
To fly on my way again.
The son set out to fly on his way,
Then the husband, in the shape of a čoađki,
Flew after the son,
And fetched his son back,
And then the two alighted on the ground.
Father:
Do not come before me in a bird's likeness.
Son:
I did not know this, my father,
That you would have cooked me.
And when the two talked there (talked of this),
The two grew angry with each other,
And a quarrel arose.
And when the two fought with each other,
The son sat down on the branch of a tree.
And then he said from there:
Have you, my father, been angry with me?
Since you have been so very angry with me,
I will come to you no more.
I will come to you no more.
Father:
What will fill your place,
My son, when you go?
Son:
Let whoever wants to fill it,
I will come no more,
Not ever,
Not under the sky
Will I come to you again.
Then that famous noaidi son,
When he flew, he went away,
Then the father was left behind.
Then the husband grew angry with the other husband,
Then the evil man
Sent all the plenty over there,
And we get no fish in the waters,
Nor birds in the woods,
Nor plenty afterwards.
Colophon
Translated from the North Sámi of Otto Donner, Lappalaisia lauluja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1876), no. 29, Kaskias raukki juoigam. Donner printed the song whole from a manuscript that J. Fellman, formerly pastor at Utsjoki and Inari, sent him shortly before Fellman's death. Donner printed a Finnish translation after each song; it was not consulted. The text used is the Project Gutenberg transcription of Donner's book, with the Sámi lines proofed against the Sámi of his German edition, Lieder der Lappen, 1876. Donner's three long stanzas are divided at the same places in the English and in the Sámi. Donner's own alternatives, printed in parentheses within the Sámi, are given in parentheses in the English where they change the sense; where they are only another form of the word or a word of the same meaning, the English gives one rendering. His question mark after valsarina is his own and is kept.
Words were checked in J. A. Friis's Ordbog over det lappiske Sprog (1887), in the Sámi–Norwegian glossary of his Lappiske Sprogprøver (1856), and in the library's North Sámi word list. Raukki in the title is Friis's ravkke, a poor wretch, and juoigam is a joik, from juoiggat, to sing, to joik. Noaidde is a sorcerer, the noaidi. Vallje is abundance, a rich store of food (Overflod, Rigdom paa Næringsmidler), rendered "the plenty" throughout. Nævrre is bad, wretched, evil, and in the 1856 glossary also "the Evil One", so nạuris olmai is "the evil man"; baha is wicked. Haldde is the guardian spirit that dwells in a lake, a river, a fall or a rock, so ǟdnam haldai is "to the guardian of the land"; šaddadet is to bring forth, to bear fruit, so ǟdnam šaddadädjai is "to the one who makes the land bear fruit". Jobe is "yes, of course" (under son). Gålle, "surely, indeed", is taken to be kelli ("did carry off"). Časket is to strike, and on the Swedish side also to throw, so česki is "struck" in one place and "threw" in another; balkestet is to fling. Havgga is the pike; ribre and vuoivas, which Donner gives as alternatives, both mean the liver; suogjalus is protection. Usto is desire, pleasure, so ustu-käidnu is read as a pleasure journey; Donner's alternative calls it a hunt for wild reindeer. Vaise is a wild beast, as is fuoddo, Donner's alternative. Arkko is an iron-bound chest, here the coffin. Boadnja is a husband, so poádńa is "the husband", the son's father. Čukča is the capercaillie; vuoššat is to cook; sæivvot is to come down out of flight and settle, of birds; vaššot is to grow angry, to bear hatred; riddo is a quarrel. Bæggalm is famous, and Donner gives it as the alternative to kullasa; the words said of Torajas in the second line (kullum) and again later (kulukas, with Donner's alternative kullum) are read with it as "renowned", from gullat, to hear, beside Friis's gullovaš, famous.
Some readings rest on the form of the word or on context. Pūttī and pūtti, in the thanks to God and again of Torajas, are read as "brought", a past form of buktet, to bring (Friis gives buvti), and not of boattet, to come, which this song writes pōđi, pōtti and pōttim; neither dictionary prints the form pūtti. Cāppa, printed so without the hook, is read as čāppa, "fair", the word of the next line. Kärdtai, as printed, is read as another form of kārti, "times" (Friis's gærde); both stand in "many thousand times". Toaaivutuvvum, printed with a double a, is read as the toaivutuvvum that comes a few lines later, from doaivvot, to expect, to think. Tedjim is read as "I said", Donner's spelling of Friis's dagjim, and not as "I knew". Illuši, printed with š, is read from context as "rejoiced" (Friis's illodet, to rejoice); as printed it is closer to illušet, to set, of the sun, which does not fit. Viesušit is read as "to live in a house" and viesūsist as "in the house", from viesso, a house, beside Donner's alternative assat vistīst, to dwell in a cabin; viessu, which Donner glosses with älli, is "living". The son's last answer is printed Täudus kutti sītta (ikkinässi): kutti is "who", and sītta is read as "wants" (sittat), because Donner's alternative ikkinässi is Friis's ikkenessi, "-soever", so that kutti sītta and kutti ikkinässi both say "whoever". Donner's alternative ǟlam tetitken ("I live …") is not repeated in the English; tetitken, as printed, is in neither dictionary and is left unread. Left in Sámi: kitteli, twice in the first stanza; čoađki, the shape in which the husband flies; and valsarina, which Donner himself queries. Torajas, the noaidi, and Kaskias in the title are kept as names; neither dictionary gives them.
No English translation of this song is known to us.
© 2026 Tianmu Anglican Church. This English translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: you may share and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit to the Good Works Library, tianmu.org. The source text keeps its own terms. For other uses, see Rights and Reuse.
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Source Text: Kaskias raukki juoigam
The Sámi text as printed by Donner (1876), no. 29, from the Project Gutenberg transcription, proofed against his German edition.
Torajas stuorra noaiddi,
Torajas tat kullum noaiddi,
Kutti toalvui valľji mīn ǟdnamist,
Ja sǟtti midjidī nǟlki ńalbmai,
Atti (etti) mīst ī läk piebmu,
Īge mikkigen valľjīt,
Ja toalvui puok mīn valľji,
Ja sǟtti kitteli ǟdnamī,
Ja kitteli mīn valľji puok.
Ǟpke oáǯǯu kūlīt čǟcīn,
Ǟpke kottīt vuvṭīn,
Ǟpke maidigen valľjīt;
Kuörūs lǟ tuoddarak,
Kuörūs lǟ vuövtīk,
Kuörūs lǟ čạcīk.
Nạuris olmai sǟtti
Mīja (mīn) ńalbmai nälki,
Ja te läi tagkar nạuris olmai,
Kutti sǟtti puok valľji
Mīja (mīn) ǟdnamist ēriti.
Īgo läk tat olmai šaddam,
Šaddam vela ǟdnami,
Kutti pukta fast ruöktut
Valľji mīn (mīja) ǟdnami? —
Jope tat pukta
Ibmil fast valľji ruöktut pukta,
Sikki čǟcīn etti ǟdnamīn.
Kītti läkkus ǟdnam haldai,
Kīttu ǟdnam šaddadädjai,
Ja haldai kīttu läkkus
Ǟdnag tufat kārti,
Ko Ibmil lä ārmu takkam,
Atti (etti) pūttī fast valľji ruöktut.
Kudni ja cāppa kīttu läkkus
Tudńi, čāppa Ibmil,
Ki čācai ja ädnamī
Puktik valľji fast ruöktut.
Väikki näuris olmai
Toalvui kelli valľji,
Nu čāppa Ibmil
Toalvui fast ruöktut.
Šiega Ibmili läkkus kīttu
Ǟdnag tufat kärdtai,
Kutti mu valľji toalvui.
Näuris olmai tam tagai,
Sikki čǟcist etti ǟdnamist,
Ki valľji toalvui ēriti.
Torajas tat pahas näuris olmai,
Kutti valľji mīn ǟdnamist toalvui
Ja nälki midjidi pūtti,
Torajas tat kulukas (kullum) olmai,
Te sǟtti midjidi nälki,
Te česki mu jabman (jamas),
Toaivui mu jabmam lämin.
Fal imbe mon telligen jabmam,
Muttu mon viesum telligen (ǟlam tetitken).
Im mon jābmam,
Mon viesost läm telligen,
Ibmilist mon velagen viesutam.
Ibmilist lǟ mu ällim,
Ibmilist mon viesutam,
Väikki toaivui tat näuris olmai,
Etti mon jābmam lädjim;
Ja mu vǟlti ja česki čācai,
Pälkisti mu jokī.
Haugga fast mu vǟlti,
Ja haugga mu ńielai,
Tälli mon lädjim ribri vuält (vuoivas):
Haugga vǟlti suodjalussas,
Ja pijai mu ribris vuällai,
Tanni mon viessum jagi pirra.
Muttu te pijai sitta (fast)
Tat näuris olmai firmīđis čǟccai,
Ja son vǟlti mu pajas,
Ja te pēssim viesušit (assat vistīst),
Ja ellim kolbma jagi viesūsist.
Ja tē mennim ustukäidnui (koddipiudui),
Oǯǯum vaišīt tobpen (fuäđđuit).
Tego ustu käinust pōttim koattai,
Te česki tat näuris olmai mu jabman (jamas).
Ja te tagai munji ārkku,
Ja pijai mu ārku sisa,
Tobpi mon orrum tästu,
Ārkusist kolbma jagi.
Ja sitta (tast mangil) vulki
Kirkku ǟdnami mu toalvut,
Ja kaik (puok) sī pōtti,
Pappa maita tasa läi (poattam).
Te tedjim: allit mu vuolkāt,
Im mon läk velä jābmam,
Vaikki jābmim lǟ munji toaaivutuvvum.
Te puok olbmuk celkki,
Ja pappage tajai:
Männi viessu (älli) olbmu
Ārku sisa lä pidjam?
Mon tedjim: im läk jābmam,
Vaikki mon läm toaivutuvvum jäbmin.
Näuris olmai illuši,
Mu jäbmam lǟmin,
Muttu vaikki son toaivui,
Etti mon livčim jäbmam,
Nut im mon läm jäbmam,
Muttu mon ǟlam velä tālgen,
Velä tālgen, velä tālgen.
Aha mu pạrdni teikki poađaši,
Mon im vǟji tǟbpi lät!
Te pạrdni tallan pōđi,
Ja kirtti tegu čukča.
Nubpik livči poattam
Ja vuóššam pārni čukčan,
Muttu pạrdni tajai:
Juös mon livčim vuššum valsarina (?),
Im mon livči jābmam.
Ja poádńa sutai sagka,
Ja pạrdni manai mubpi olmučin.
Poadńa celki:
Pardnam, menni poađak
Taina hǟmīn mu lusa?
Pạrdni tajai:
Juös ton vašuk,
Juös mon läm tu vašastallam (vašastattam),
Te mon vuölkam
Fast kirddīt käidnui.
Pạrdni vūlki kirddīt käidnusis,
Te poádńa čoađki hǟmist
Kirdi (kirdili) pārni maṅṅai,
Ja viečai pạrdnis ruöktut,
Ja te soai seivuiga ǟdnamī.
Ạčči:
Ali póadi lotti kovain mu oudī.
Pạrdni:
Im mon, aččam, tiettam tam,
Etti livčik mu vuoššam.
Ja tegu soai tanne (tām) hālaiga,
Te suttaiga soai kaskanǟska,
Ja šattai rīddu.
Ja go soai toaruiga kaskanǟska,
Pạrdni čokkai(-ni) muorra oáksai,
Ja te tajai tobpin:
Jogo (juögo) ton, aččam, munji läk vaššam?
Tegu ton läk munji nu sagka vaššam,
Te im mon änip poađi tu lusad.
Im poađi änip tu lusad (lusa).
Ạčči:
Mī tu saji täuta,
Pardnam, ko vuölkak?
Pạrdni:
Täudus kutti sītta (ikkinässi),
Im mon änip poađi,
Im koássige,
Im almi vuölt
Mon änip poađi tu lusat.
Te tat kullasa (pǟkkalm) noaiti pạrdni,
Te gu kirti, te vūlki
Te ạčči pǟci ēriti.
Te poádńa suttai nubpi poadńai,
Te näuris olmai
Sǟtti valľjik (vạlľjīt) puok tokku,
Äpke mī oáǯǯu kuäli čǟcīn,
Äpke lottit vūmīn,
Äpke mānnaksan (mangelāgaš) valľji.
Source Colophon
Otto Donner, Lappalaisia lauluja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1876), no. 29, printed whole from J. Fellman's manuscript. Public domain. Text from the Project Gutenberg transcription of Donner's book (PG #73262, 2024), with the Sámi lines proofed against the Sámi of his German edition, Lieder der Lappen (1876; Internet Archive identifier liederderlappen00unkngoog). Donner's verse numbers, printed at every tenth line, are left out. A t with a flat head, which the print uses in some words (as in kūlīt and lotti), is given here as a plain t; the mark joined under the t of vuvṭīn is given as a dot below; and where the Gutenberg text and the German edition differ only between ä, ā and ǟ, the Gutenberg reading is kept. Donner's alternatives in parentheses, his question mark and his speaker names are kept as printed. His three long stanzas are divided here at the same places as the English.
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