a tale from western Tana, from J. A. Friis, Lappiske Sprogprøver (1856)

Stallo is the monstrous, ghostly giant of the Sámi tales. Told in western Tana and printed by Jens Andreas Friis in 1856, in Sámi only, this tale is set on the Varanger coast: the bailiff of Vadsø, beaten at a jumping wager by a Sámi named Andras Bæjve, makes himself into a Stallo to pay him back, and Andras Bæjve runs from him, leads him into a lake and shoots him.

Translation

Long ago, in the old days, there was a certain bailiff in Vadsø who was fearfully nimble. But there was a certain Sámi who was nimble as well, and that Sámi's name was Andras Bæjve. The bailiff knew of this Andras Bæjve, that he was nimble at jumping; and once, when Andras Bæjve came to Vadsø, the bailiff challenged him to jump over an eight-oared boat lying keel up, which had just been tarred and turned over on the shore. Then the two of them wagered goods on it, on these terms: whichever of them could jump over it so high that his hems did not touch, he would win.

Andras Bæjve jumped first, and so his hems did not touch. Then the bailiff jumped, and his hems touched the keel of the boat. Then Andras Bæjve spat and said: "You didn't jump where the Sámi jumped; you've fouled your hems!" The bailiff grew angry and began to threaten him: "You'll have use for your legs yet, one day!" With that the two of them parted, for the time being.

But the next spring Andras Bæjve travelled to the headland west of Vardø island. There was a fjord there, and the name of that fjord was Persfjord. Now the bailiff knew where Andras Bæjve used to travel with his reindeer, and he made himself into a Stallo, took his son and his dog with him, and set off rowing to Persfjord.

When the bailiff came to Persfjord, Andras Bæjve was walking there near the sea. Then the bailiff changed himself into a piece of a ship; and when Andras Bæjve saw that piece of a ship drifting in toward the shore, he climbed down to the foreshore, came up to the piece of a ship, and began to look it over. While he was looking it over, such a fright came over him, and Andras Bæjve ran off on his way. As he ran, Stallo whistled; and then Andras Bæjve understood that the bailiff had turned Stallo, for now he remembered how the bailiff had threatened him: "You'll have use for your legs yet, one day!"

Then Andras Bæjve wished himself the legs of a wild reindeer bull. He got them, and ran with them a good while. But when he stopped again, Stallo whistled there ahead, where Andras Bæjve was running to. Then Andras Bæjve wished himself the legs of a wild reindeer cow's dun calf. (A dun calf is one that has not yet got its new coat, and that is when it is at its fastest.) He got them, and ran with them a good while.

When he stopped again, Stallo was heard whistling behind him. Then Andras Bæjve ran on again, to a place where he knew of a lake of the kind that has a narrows in the middle. (A narrows is a tight strait between two wide lakes, where the water lies still.) In the middle of that lake's narrows there was a big stone, which could not be seen for the water; but Andras Bæjve knew where it was. He ran there, and when he came to the narrows he jumped first onto the stone, and from the stone to the other side, onto the shore.

Then he ran on still farther, to the second of the two lakes, and there he began to shout, so that Stallo would hear where he was. And Stallo heard where he was, and made his way there toward the voice. When he came to the other side of the lake, opposite Andras Bæjve, Andras Bæjve said: "Jump across here now, where I have jumped!" Stallo said: "I can't reach here with a jump!" Then Andras Bæjve spat and said: "Shame on you! You don't jump where every rotten Sámi jumps!" Then Stallo grew angry and jumped, and he fell right in the middle of the lake.

Then Stallo cried out: "And so you have tricked me!" Then Andras Bæjve was to shoot Stallo in the breast. (Long ago, in the old days, the Sámi used only bows, and the head of the arrow was a loon's bill.) When Andras Bæjve shot, Stallo jumped up so high that the arrow went between his legs. Then Andras Bæjve aimed at the middle of his forehead; but when he shot, Stallo again jumped up so high that the arrow went between his legs once more. Then Andras Bæjve aimed at the crown of his head, and shot at that. Then Stallo jumped up so high that the arrow struck him right in the privates.

Then Stallo only just made it to the shore, dying, and said to Andras Bæjve: "Now you must bury me decently, so that the birds do not eat my body. And when you have buried me, you may go there to Persfjord, to my boat, and take my goods there, and you may kill my dog; but my son you must not kill." (He had to kill the dog, because if it licks Stallo's blood, Stallo lives again; that is why Stallo always keeps his dog with him.)

Then Andras Bæjve killed that Stallo dead and buried him, and went himself to Persfjord. When he got there, he took all the bailiff's goods there, and killed the dog. Then he took the oars out of the boat and pushed the boat out to sea, together with the son, and it went drifting away.

Andras Bæjve ran back home again, and when he came home he cried out: "Oho, I'm nearly worn out now!" and then he fell asleep. Now he had a brother; and when Andras Bæjve had fallen asleep, the brother went outside, took a stick, and struck the tent right opposite his brother's head. Then Andras Bæjve sprang up sitting and cried out: "Oho, I knew it all along!" For he thought Stallo had come again. Then the brother called from outside: "I knew it too!" Then Andras Bæjve answered: "Well, since you knew it, you shall have half of the goods I won today."

Colophon

Translated from the North Sámi of Lappiske Sprogprøver: en Samling af lappiske Eventyr, Ordsprog og Gaader, edited by J. A. Friis (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen, 1856), pp. 44–46, from the group headed Dænodak, which Friis's glossary gives as western Tana. Friis printed it in Sámi only. The text was transcribed from the page images of the New York Public Library copy, and Friis's own correction for p. 45 was applied (njiejai, "climbed down", for njejai); three slips his list does not mention, dom for dam, Bejvin for Bæjvin, and hirmos beside hirbmos, are kept as printed. After the first time, Friis prints the hero's name as A. Bæjve; the English writes it out. Words were checked in the Sámi–Norwegian glossary that Friis printed at the back of the same book, and in his larger Ordbog over det lappiske Sprog (1887): a sunde is a bailiff (Norwegian Foged); Čacce-sullu is Vadsø and Varga-sullu Vardø, and Bjecca-vuodna is Persfjord; vælek is strong and quick at running or work, here "nimble"; a karva is an eight-oared boat, gomo is turned upside down, bikkadet is to tar, and gjelas is a boat's keel; histalet is to wager, and Friis glosses it in the text with vætalet, which means the same, so the English says it once; ælo (ællo) is a herd, or goods and means, here "goods"; hælbme is the bottom edge or border of a coat; bâjkataddat is to soil or besmear (from bâjkat, a coarse word for "to defecate"), here "fouled"; čolgadet is to spit, and nittet to threaten; njargga is a headland; jottet is used of moving with the reindeer herds; a skipa-stukka is a piece of a ship, and fjerva is the foreshore; njurgit is to whistle once; godde-rievdo is a big wild reindeer bull and aldo a reindeer cow; a muovja miesse is a reindeer calf whose coat is dark or blackish yellow, here a "dun calf"; a boađka is a sound or narrows, and nuörre a strait; vigai, "made his way", is from viggat, to strive toward; olat is from ollet, to reach; guoc' is guocca, "rotten", shortened; bættet is to deceive or betray; raddai is "to the breast" (rådde); njuola-gæčče is the end of the arrow, and gakkur-njudne a loon's bill (gakkur, the loon or diver; njudne, nose or beak); dollit is to aim, galo the forehead, and oajve-čokki the crown of the head; vuölle-vajmok, literally "lower hearts", Friis glosses as the testicles, and the English says "privates"; goasta is from goastat, to make headway, read as "only just made it"; ragjat is to lay aside or to bury; njoallot is to lick, and ale is "always" (1887, Ale, adv., "altid"); hojgadet is to push a boat out; mæsta is "nearly"; a goatte is a tent or turf hut; arvedet is to understand. Stallon mannam, literally "gone as a Stallo", is rendered "had turned Stallo". The verb oaǯǯot with an infinitive, Friis's Norwegian faa, is rendered "may" in Stallo's last words and "had to" in the teller's remark about the dog. Three readings rest on context: bači das, "shot at that"; nubbe dam guöfte javre duökkai, "to the second of the two lakes"; and de šaddai nu hirbmos, "such a fright came over him".

Andrew Lang printed an English retelling of this tale as "Andras Baive" in The Orange Fairy Book (1906), from the German of Lappländische Märchen; the English here is translated from Friis's Sámi.

No complete English translation of Friis's collection 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: Čacce-sullu sunde, gutte lagedi ječas Stallon

North Sámi text as printed by Friis (1856), pp. 44–46, in his orthography, with Friis's correction for p. 45 applied; line-end hyphens are joined. Friis's single paragraph is divided here at the same places as the English.

Doule boares ajgest læi muttom sunde Čacce-sullust, gutte læi hirmos vælek. Mutto de læi muttom Sabmelaš, mi læi majda vælek, ja dam Sabmelaǯa namma læi Andras Bæjve. Dat sunde diđi dam A. Bæjve, dat læ vælek njujkit, ja go A. Bæjve okti bođi Čacce-sullui, de hasti sunde su njujkit gomo karva bagjel, mi læi æska bikkaduvvum ja gaddai gomotuvvum. De dak histaleiga (vætaleiga) ælo, nu atte guabba njujkiš nu loftasist bagjel, atte i helmid guoska, de vuojta dat.

De njujki vuost A. Bæjve, de nuvt i guoskam helmides. De njujki sunde, de guske hælmek karva gjelasi. De A. Bæjve de čolgadi ja dajai: „Ikge njujkim don daggo, goggo Sabmelaš njujki, don bâjkataddik helmidad!“ Sunde suttai ja nittegođi: „Galle vel okti anak julgidad!“ De ærranaddaiga vuost dast.

Mutto nubbe giđđa, de jođi A. Bæjve njargi, væsta-bællai Varga-sullu. Dobbe læi vuodna, ja dam vuona namma læi Bjecca-vuodna. De sunde diđi dam A. Bæjve, gosa dat lavve jottet boccui gujm, ja de son rakadi ječas Stallon, valdi barnes ja bædnages mieldes ja vulgi sukkat dokko Bjecca-vudni.

Dego sunde bođi B. vudni, de vaʒʒa dat A. Bæjve dobbe lâkkâ mæra. De sunde muti ječas skipa-stukkan, ja go A. Bæjve ojni dam skipa-stukka dobbe rievdamen gaddai, de njiejai dokko fjervai ja bođi dom skipa-stukka lusa ja gæčadišgođi dam. Dego dat læi gæčadæmen dam, de šaddai nu hirbmos ja viekkali A. Bæjve matkasis. Dego son viekkali, de Stallo njurgi; de A. Bæjve arvedi, atte de læ sunde Stallon mannam, go dal mujtai, go sunde nitti su: „Galle vel okti anak julgidad!“

De A. Bæjve savai äldsis godde-rievdo julgid. De oaǯoi daid ja viegai dai gujm burdo. Mutto go fast čuoǯasti, de Stallo njurgi dobbe ouda-bæld, gosa A. Bæjve læi viekkamen. De A. Bæjve savali äldsis godde-aldo muovja miese julgid. (Muovja miesse læ daggar, mi i vela læk oǯǯom ođđa guolgaid, ja dalle dat læ barokämus). De oaǯoi daid ja viegai dai gujm burdo.

Dego čuoǯasti fast, de gullui Stallo njurgimen maŋŋa-bæld. De A. Bæjve ajn viekkali dokko, gost son diđi daggar javre, mast læ boađka gasko. (Boađka læ daggar garǯe nuörre guöfte vides javre gaskast, man čacce jask orro). Dam javre boađka guovdo læi stuorra gæđge, mi i ojdnum čace ditti, mutto A. Bæjve diđi, gost dat læ, ja viegai dokko, ja go bođi dam boađka duökkai, de son njujki vuost dam gæđge ala ja dam gæđgest nub' bællai, gaddai.

De son viegai vela nubbe dam guöfte javre duökkai ja riemai dobbe hujkit, vaj Stallo gulla, gost son læ. De Stalloge gulai, gost dat læ, ja vigai dokko dam jena vuösta. Dego joavdai nub' bællai javre, buotta A. Bæjve, de dagja A. Bæjve: „Njujke dal daggo rasta, goggo mon læm njujkim!“ Dagja Stallo: „Im mon olat daggo njujkit!“ De A. Bæjve čolgadi ja dajai: „Voj hæppan, don ik njujke daggo, goggo juökke guoc' Sabmelaš njujke!“ De Stallo suttai ja njujki, æjdo guovdo javre son gaččai.

De bakkodi Stallo: „Ja go don bettik muo!“ De A. Bæjve galgai bačet Stallo raddai. (Doule boares ajgest ädne Sabmelaǯak dušše davgid, ja njuola-gæčče læi gakkur-njudne). Go A. Bæjve bači, de Stallo njujki nu bajas, atte njuola manai julgi gaskal. De A. Bæjve dolli guovdo galo, mutto go bači, de Stallo fast njujki nu bajas, atte njuola manai julgi gaskal oppeti. De A. Bæjve dolli oajve-čokki ja bači das. De Stallo njujki nu bajas, atte æjdo njuola fätti vuölle-vajmoid.

De Stallo æjdo gaddai goasta jabmemen ja dagja A. Bejvin: „Galgak dal muo ragjat čabbaset, amasek loddek borrat mu rubmaš. Ja go don rajak muo, de oaǯok mannat dokko Bjecca-vudni muo vadnas lusa ja valdet must dobbe ælo, ja oaǯok goddet muo bædnag, mutto muo barne ik galga goddet.“ (Oaǯoi goddet bædnag, damditti go dat njoallo Stallo vara, de dat fast ælla; damditti adna Stallo ale bædnages mieldes).

De A. Bæjve goddi dam Stallo jamas ja havdadi, ja ješ manai dokko Bjecca-vudni. Go bođi dokko, de son valdi dobbe buok dam sunde ælo ja goddi dam bædnag. De valdi ajroid erit vadnasest ja hojgadi vadnas appai oktan barnin, ja dat manai dokko rievdat.

A. Bæjve fast viekkali ruoktod, ja go bođi siddasis, de bakkodi: „Oho, mæsta vajbim de!“ ja de nokkai. De sust læi viellja, ja go A. Bæjve læi nokkam, de dat manai olgus, valdi muora ja časki goađe vielljas oajve buotta. De A. Bæjve njujki čokkot ja bakkodi: „Oho, galle mon jo arvedim!“ — gaddi son, atte Stallo fast læi boattam. De bakkodi viellja olgon: „Galle monge arvedim!“ De vastedi A. Bæjve: „Na, go don arvedik, de don oaǯok bæle dam ælost, maid mon odne fidnim.“

Source Colophon

J. A. Friis (ed.), Lappiske Sprogprøver (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen, 1856), pp. 44–46, with Friis's correction for p. 45 from his list of misprints. Public domain. Transcribed from the page images of the New York Public Library copy, digitized by Google (Internet Archive identifier lappiskesprogpr00friigoog); a former owner's handwritten marks in that copy are not part of the text. Friis's letters are kept as printed, including â, ä, ö, č, đ, š, ŋ, and both ʒ and ǯ, which he distinguishes.

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