a song from the manuscript of J. Fellman, pastor at Utsjoki and Inari, from Otto Donner, Lappalaisia lauluja (1876)

A dialogue in North Sámi verse between a thief and a noaidi, the seer of the old Sámi religion; the speakers are named Suola, "thief", and Noaiddi, "noaidi". Otto Donner had it from the manuscript of a longer poem that J. Fellman, once pastor at Utsjoki and Inari, sent him shortly before his death, and he printed only excerpts of it; everything Donner printed is given here. The thief says he has taken nothing but what the earth grows; the noaidi warns him and claims power over him; the thief answers that the noaidi will come to nothing.

Translation

Suola.
My God is walking about now.
I have taken the earth's growing things:
Grasses, berries I have gathered,
Trees, stones I have used;
I have not taken the dwellers' goods,
Only the earth's growing things have I taken.
A person came walking to me,
Said that I was a thief.

Noaiddi.
You do not know the earth's way;
Do you not know that I exist?
Look at the growing things and take heed,
Watch for the marks on the trees,
Look at the grasses, too, in another way.

Suola.
Who are you then, man,
Are you, man, a human being?
As if you were God —
Was it you who made the grass,
Was it you who made the trees as well?

Are you not the earth's ash?
As a creature you wander, just as I do;
The grasses are not yours,
The trees, the stones are not ours either,
Be master of your own.

Good, too, is what is good;
I too know as well that you exist, you too,
Black noaidi, on the earth.
Stay, you too, in your place,
Keep your grasses, the ones you can grow.

Noaiddi.
Thief and noaidi, the two contend,
At the last the two go journeying,
Rivers and lakes the two travel about,
Trees and stones the two of them cover.
By the old ones it has been joiked,
The noaidi's trade (the sorcery), to strangers.

Time comes, time goes,
Noaidis are tormentors,
They keep guard over the unbaptized realms,
With foul dealings they grow weary,
For a while they stay silent;
He gives voice too, in the time of sounding.
Be, be, you too, nearer your own.

Off there he goes, from there he comes,
The noaidi cannot do anything (anything at all),
He is laughed at in the state of captivity,
The fingers stay straight, unclasped. —

Be, be master, you,
Thief, you have come to be lord
Over those berries, stones, grasses;
Keep, keep yourself away;
Where you come from, there (to that place) you go.
I am, I am above you,
I go, I go, I take, I put,
I fling and täučastam you away.

Suola.
Then you will come to nothing, noaidi-worker.

Colophon

Translated from the North Sámi of Otto Donner, Lappalaisia lauluja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1876), no. 30. Donner had the poem from a manuscript that J. Fellman, formerly pastor at Utsjoki and Inari, sent him shortly before his death; the whole poem is longer, and Donner printed excerpts only. Everything Donner printed is translated here, and nothing is added. 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 prints no title; the English title is made from the speakers' names, Suola (the thief) and Noaiddi (the noaidi), which stand in Sámi above their speeches, as Donner prints them; his longer speeches are divided into shorter units at the same places in the English and the Sámi. Words in parentheses are alternatives that Donner prints within the Sámi lines, and they are translated in parentheses.

Words were checked in the Sámi–Norwegian glossary that J. A. Friis printed at the back of his Lappiske Sprogprøver (1856), and in his Ordbog over det lappiske Sprog (1887). Ibmilam is ibmel, God, with the ending -am, "my", as in Friis's bardnam, "my son" (s.v. luobatet). Vāʒašǟmin is from vazašet, to walk slowly, to stroll, rendered "walking about"; vāʒi is from vazzet, to walk. Šattuit is šaddo, growth, crop (ædnam šaddo, "the earth's produce"). Orruōmīt is read as orro, one who stays settled in a place, a dweller, and oabme, a thing, goods, property: "the dwellers' goods". That compound is not in Friis; the word may instead be the plural of orrom, a stay, a dwelling (Friis has orrom-sagje, a dwelling-place), and the line would then say "I have not taken dwellings". Lǟgi is lakke, way, manner, the word whose illative lakkai, "in a way", ends the noaidi's first speech. Vuätti is vuottet, to spy out, to see the tracks of animals; vạltti vāra is vara valddet, to take heed. Kudna is gudna, ash. Tiurrin is the essive of divrre, an animal, a creature, and jođak is from jottet, to travel, wander, go. Isit läge ominat, "be master of your own", rests on ised, master, owner, and oabme, one's own things, which Friis illustrates with the saying dakkus ised omines, maid datus, "let the owner do with his own what he will". Šaddatäčak is from šaddadet, to bring forth, bear fruit.

In the noaidi's long speech, rosatǟba is read from rássa (also roasso), hard struggle, strife, and rássat, to struggle, wrestle: "the two contend". Koučatǟba is read from gokčat (weak stem govč-), to cover, hide; what it means for the two to cover trees and stones the Sámi does not say. Juigujuvvum is the passive of juoiggat, to joik, to sing of; fidnu is fidno, business, occupation, trade, and its alternative noiduđak is read as a noun from noaiddot, to bewitch: "the sorcery". Abmasīta is from amas, abmas, a stranger. Kivssīđạdjik is from givsedet, to afflict, torment. Kāstatis is read as gasta, baptism, with the ending meaning "without" (Friis has gastakættes, unbaptized); kāttastallik is from gattit, to guard, keep watch over. Fastis is fástes, foul, loathsome. Mǟnuiđǟsikuin is read as mædno (also mæno), ways, conduct, dealings, with the plural ending -ikuin, "with"; Friis illustrates the word with olmuš, gæst baha mænok læk, a person with bad ways. The middle of the word is in neither dictionary, so this is a reading. Vaibatạddik is from vaibbat, to grow tired (the causative vaibbadet, to tire someone out, would give "they wear others out"). Javutaga is javotaga, silently. Jiednađalla is jiednadallat, to keep giving voice, and jenađam is from jienadet, to sound, to speak once. Puvti is from buktet, to manage, be able. Póagustuvvu is read as the passive of boagostet, to laugh, laugh at: "he is laughed at" (if it belongs instead with boagan, a belt, the line would say "he is belted"). Faṅgavuođa is fanggavuotta, captivity, and tilist is from dille, state, condition. Roakkutkätta is from roakkot, hooked together, of hands clasped or folded, with the ending meaning "without": "unclasped". Herran pǟssam is hærra, lord, with bæssat, to get to, come to. Suppim is from suppit, to throw, fling. In the thief's last line nogak tuššin is nokkat, to come to an end, with dušše, nothing, and pạrggi is bargge, a worker.

Some readings rest on context. Ain, which Friis gives as "still, further", is read as "only", from the contrast with the line before. Moaiti in Moaiti fidnu, so printed, is read as noaiti, the noaidi's. Aikilạssi is read as aigge, time, and lasse, addition: "for a while". Jiednađalla is singular, unlike the plural verbs before it; the Sámi does not say who gives voice, and the English says "he". In lagapustat, from lagabust, nearer, the ending -at, "your", is rendered "your own". Toppipoatta is printed as one word and is read as two, toppi poatta, "from there comes"; who goes off and comes back in Tokku manna toppipoatta the Sámi does not say, and the English says "he". The verb täučastam, in the noaidi's last line, was found in neither dictionary and is left in Sámi.

This poem was put into English by John Weinstock as "The Thief and the Shaman" (Nordlit 15, 2004), from J. Fellman's Anteckningar (1906); the present translation was made from the Sámi as Donner printed it, without reference to that translation. The Norwegian singer Moddi recorded a song with English words adapted from it, "The Shaman and the Thief", on his album Unsongs (2016).

© 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: (untitled; Suola ja Noaiddi)

The Sámi text as printed by Donner (1876), no. 30, from the Project Gutenberg transcription, proofed against his German edition. Donner prints no title; the speakers' names stand above their speeches as he prints them, and his longer speeches are divided here at the same places as the English.

Suola.
Ibmilam lǟ tāl vāʒašǟmin.
Mon läm valldam ǟdnam šattuit
Rǟsīt, mūrjīt, čoággam läm,
Muorait keđkīt adnam läm;
Im läk valldam orruōmīt,
Ǟdnam šattuit ain läm valldam.
Olmus vāʒi mu lusa,
Cēlki mu suolan lǟmin.

Noaiddi.
Ik ton touta ǟdnam lǟgi,
Ikkos tieđi mu lǟmin.
Kǟča šattuit ja vạltti vāra,
Vuätti muorain mǟrkait,
Rǟsīt maita kǟča nubpi lākkai.

Suola.
Kīppes läk ton olmai,
Lǟkko don olmai olmuš?
Tego läk ton Ibmil,
Toṅko läk rǟsi takkam,
Toṅko läk maita muorait takkam?

Ikkos läk ton ǟdnam kudna.
Tiurrin jođak nutko moṅge
Rǟsīk ại läk tu,
Muorak, käđkik maita ại läk mīn,
Isit läge ominat.

Puärri lä maita mī puärri lä,
Moṅge tieđam maita lǟmin tuge,
Čạppis noaiti, ǟdnam alt.
Oru toṅge sajistat
Ani rǟsītat, mait ton šaddatäčak.

Noaiddi.
Suola, noaiddi rosatǟba,
Maṅgimusta mātkuštǟba,
Jogait, jäurrīt jottalǟba,
Muorait, keđkīt koučatǟba.
Poárrasīn lǟ juigujuvvum
Moaiti fidnu (noiduđak) abmasīta.

Aiggi poatta, ạiggi manna,
Noaitik läk kivssīđạdjik,
Kāstatis rīkait kāttastallik,
Fastis mǟnuiđǟsikuin vaibatạddik,
Aikilạssi orruk javutaga;
Jiednađalla maita jenađam ạiki.
Läge, läge toṅke lagapustat.

Tokku manna toppipoatta
Ī noaiddi puvti maidin (maidigen) takkat
Póagustuvvu faṅgavuođa tilist
Suormak orruk ńualgga roakkutkätta. —

Läge, läge isit ton,
Suola, läk ton herran pǟssam
Tai mūrjī, kēđkī, rǟsī ala;
Ani, ani jiečat ēriti;
Kost ton poadak, toppi (tokku) manak.
Läm, läm mon tū pạdjeli
Manam, manam, vāltam, pijam,
Suppim ja täučastam tu ēriti.

Suola.
Te ton nogak tuššin, noaiddi pạrggi.

Source Colophon

Otto Donner, Lappalaisia lauluja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1876), no. 30, excerpts from a manuscript poem sent to Donner by J. Fellman. Public domain. Text from the Project Gutenberg transcription of Donner's book (PG #73262, 2024), proofed against the Sámi lines of his German edition, Lieder der Lappen (1876), in the scan held by the Internet Archive (liederderlappen00unkngoog); where the transcription had misread a letter or a diacritic, the scan's reading is given. Donner prints no title for this song. The Gutenberg file's Cyrillic ӡ is normalised to ʒ, Donner's letter for dz. Parentheses inside a line are alternatives that Donner prints within the Sámi.

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