a tale from Langfjord in Alta, from J. A. Friis, Lappiske Sprogprøver (1856)

The jetanas of North Sámi tales is a giant. Told at Laggo-vuodna (Langfjord) in Alta and printed by Jens Andreas Friis in 1856, in Sámi only, this tale tells how a boy who saved a giant's son was paid with a scabby horse, a scabby box and a scabby pipe, and how the box won him a king's daughter and a town.

Translation

There was once a boy walking on the hillside, out hunting with a gun. Then he sees a cat chasing a giant's son, and the cat is trying to kill the giant's son. Then the giant's son cried out: "Boy, shoot the cat!" And the cat cried back: "Boy, shoot the giant's son!" When the giant's son cried again: "Boy, shoot the cat!" the boy shot the cat dead.

But the giant's son was so utterly spent that he fainted. Meanwhile the boy set about skinning the cat, and when he had finished skinning it, the giant's son came round, took the cat's hide from the boy, sniffed at it and said: "A troll, sure enough!" Then he put the hide into one pocket and the boy into the other pocket.

Then he set off for the giants' realm, and he told the boy what to do: "Father will pay you a reward for saving my life. He will bring you a gold horse and a scabby horse. You may take whichever you choose, but you must not take the one that is fine: take the scabby horse, that one is good for you. Then he will bring you two more things, a gold box and a scabby box; you must take the scabby box. And then he will bring you two things more, a gold pipe and a scabby pipe; you must take the scabby pipe. I am telling you this now, for when you come there into Father's realm, Father will pay you the reward with these."

When the two of them came there, the father took the hide, sniffed at it and said: "A troll it is indeed!" And he paid the reward: of the three things he let him take whichever he chose. The boy took the scabby horse and the scabby box and the scabby pipe, and he set off and went with them to the king's town.

Now the king had no servant boy to haul wood, and the boy offered himself to the king as a wood-hauler. When he had got the place, the king ordered him up the hillside to haul wood. The king had one daughter, and she came to watch when the boy was to set off up the hillside. The boy saw that the king's daughter was watching him; he took his box and opened it. The box asked: "What do you wish for?" The boy said to it: "I wish the axe to be a horse!"

The king's daughter laughed at this, but the boy did not like it; he took his box and opened it. The box asked: "What do you wish for?" The boy said: "I wish the king's daughter with child!" And so it came to be. When the boy came down again, the axe was no longer a horse.

When the king noticed that the girl was with child, he grew angry, and he did not know whom he should suspect. Then the child was born. Then he gathered his lords together for the child's sake: he took the child and carried it before the lords' noses; whichever one the child smiles at, he is the child's father. But it did not smile at a single lord. So the king did not know whom he should name as the child's father. At last he tried carrying it before the scabhead's nose, and the child smiled at him.

But the king grew exceedingly angry with his daughter, that she should have to live with this scabhead. So the king made a barrel that had three heads; he set one in the middle, and he put his daughter in the one end and gave her livers there for food, and he put the boy in the other end of the barrel, and then he set it on the sea to drift. And the two of them drifted for a long time.

Then the boy began to eat, and the girl hears that the boy is indeed eating, but she did not know what the boy was eating; she only knew that her father had given the boy no food at all. Then the girl grew hungry; she could not eat that greasy food. So the girl asked the boy for food. The boy said: "How could he give you any, even if there were some, when that board the king put there is between us two? Surely your father gave you food; why don't you eat it? But if you mean to call him your husband, then the two of them shall get that board out of the way, and you shall live just as he does."

So the girl promised, and the boy took the box and opened it. The box asked: "What do you wish for?" The boy answered: "I wish for food!" Then he opened the box again. The box asked: "What do you wish for?" The boy answered: "I wish for a town bigger than the king's town, and all its goods, and servants!" Then the boy prepared a wedding, and the king came with all his lords to the wedding to eat and drink.

And the boy put his box on the table and went up the hillside himself for a stroll. But when he came down again, the box had vanished. A troll-wife had come out of the sea, from the deep onto the shore, and had taken it, and the wedding folk never noticed until that great town lay in the depths of the sea. Then the boy grew sorrowful over how he was to fare now.

Then he remembered that he still had one means left; he groped for his pipe and blew. When the boy blew the first time, the giant stirred and rose up on his elbow. Then the boy blew a second time, and the giant heard it and said: "What can it be that has befallen the boy now?" Then the boy blew the third time, and the giant sprang to his feet and said: "Surely the boy is in trouble!"

At once he sent off a dog and a cat, and he commanded the cat: "Tell the boy that where the dog begins to circle, there the boy must understand that the town lies on the bottom, and he must send the cat down there to the bottom for the box." When the cat and the dog came to the boy, the cat got up on the dog's back, and the boy on the cat's back, and the dog set off swimming out over the sea; and when it began to circle, the boy sent the cat down there to the bottom.

When the cat came down there to the bottom, it watched for its chance to steal the box. Then it got to see where the box was, and it spied it on the table. At once the cat dashed over and seized the box, and the troll-wives never noticed it when the cat took the box crosswise in its mouth and went. When they noticed, they gave chase, but they could not catch it, for it had already gone far.

The boy waited, for the cat was gone a long time, and he noticed nothing of it until it came. Then he took the box from the cat's mouth, and got up himself on the cat's back, and the cat again on the dog's back, and the dog set off swimming for the shore.

Then the boy opened his box. The box asked: "What do you wish for?" The boy answered: "I wish the town onto the shore, as whole as it has been." And it came to the shore, and after that the two of them lived well; and the king came to them and marvelled that his daughter had come to be in so great a town, for he knew where he had put her that time: he had never thought that it would turn out so.

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. 79–81, from the tales Friis grouped under Alatægjo (Alta), told at Laggo-vuodna (Langfjord). Friis printed it in Sámi only. The text was transcribed from the page images of the New York Public Library copy; Friis's own list of misprints has no corrections for these pages. 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): skuttaruššat is to go shooting or hunting; ruotatet is to chase at a gallop; galmastuvvat is given with Friis's own query as to swoon or to become utterly spent and powerless, and jamalget is to faint, so the giant's son is "so utterly spent that he fainted"; ællat is to come to life; hausestet is to take a quick sniff; Truolla is a troll, and be is "after all, indeed"; ruöbbe is scurf, and rubbuš is one who has scurf on his head, so the gifts are scabby and the king calls the boy a scabhead; a bocce is a drinking-tube of bone, the pipe the boy later blows; ævtos(t) valdet is to take by one's own choice; mana vuöstai is with child; a farpal is a barrel and bâđa are the heads of a barrel; vuojvas is liver and vuojdas is salve or grease, two words the English keeps apart; kodno is a wife or woman, so a truol-kodno is a troll-wife and truol-konok troll-wives; čiegŋalas is the deep; fallit čuoʒʒot is to spring to one's feet; doarras is crosswise. Two words are read from context alone: gakkas, which no dictionary gives, is read as gukkas, "far", which Friis's glossary has, and so the cat "had already gone far"; and danën, in bæsai danën, is read as "got the place". Saggarak is "exceedingly" (glossary Sagga, "meget, særdeles", with the strengthening ending -rak). In his answer to the princess the boy speaks of himself as "he" (son, su, songe), and of the two of them as "the two of them" (soi), and the English keeps it.

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: Bardne, gutte varjal Jetanas-bardne hægga

North Sámi text as printed by Friis (1856), pp. 79–81, in his orthography; Friis's list of misprints has no corrections for these pages; line-end hyphens are joined. Friis's single paragraph is divided here at the same places as the English.

De lëi muttom bardne vaʒʒemën luökkast, bissoin skuttaruššamen. De oajdna kato Jetanas-bardne ruottatæmën, ja dat katto vigga Jetanas-bardne goddët. De čuorvoi Jetanas-bardne: „Bardne, bače kato!“ Ja fastan čuorvoi katto: „Bardne, bače Jetanas-bardne!“ Go Jetanas-bardne fast čuorvoi: „Bardne, bače kato!“ de bardne bači kato jamas.

Mutto Jetanas-bardne lëi nu galbmastuvvam, atte jamalgi. De riemai dam bodda bardne njuovvat kato, ja go lëi gærgam njuovvamëst, de Jetanas-bardne ællai, valdi kato nake bardnest, hausesti dam ja dajai: „Truolla be læge!“ De coggai nake lommi ja bardne nubbe lommi.

De vulgi Jetanas-riki, ja de nævoi bardne: „Ačče maksa balka dudnji dam oudast, go mu hægga varjalik. Dudnji bukta golle-hæsta ja ruöbbe-hæsta. Don galgak ævtos(t) valdët, mutto ik galga valdët dam, mi čabbag læ, valde dam ruöbbe-hæsta, dat læ buörre dudnji. De bukta dudnji guökte tinka vel, golle-dosa ja ruöbbe-dosa; don galgak valdët dam ruöbbe-dosa. Ja de vela bukta dudnji guökte tinka, golle-bocce ja ruöbbe-bocce; don galgak valdët dam ruöbbe-bocce. Mon dal nævom du, go don dokko boađak ače riki, ačče dudnji maksa balka dai gujm.“

Go dal bođiga dokko, de ačče valdi dam nake, hausesti ja celki: „Truolla jo læge!“ Ja de mavsi balka, dam golma tinkast addi ævtos valdët. De bardne valdi ruöbbe-hæsta ja ruöbbe-dosa ja ruöbbe-bocce, ja de vulgi ja manai dai gujm gonagas-gavpugi.

De i læm gonagasast rænga muoraid gæsetallat, ja de dat bardne falai ječas gonagassi muora-gæsetallën. Dego dal dat bæsai danën, de gonagas goččo luökkai muoraid gæsehallat. De gonagasast læi okta niejda, ja dat bođi gæččak(t), go bardne luökkai galga vuölgët. Bardne ojni dam, atte gonagas-niejda gæčča su, valdi dosas ja lækkoi dam. Dosa gačai: „Maid don siđak?“ Bardne celki dam: „Akšo siđam hæstan!“

De gonagas-niejda boagosti dam, mutto bardne i adnam buörrën dam, valdi dosas ja rabasti dam. Dosa gačai: „Maid siđak?“ Bardne celki: „Gonagas-niejda mana vuöstai siđam!“ De nuft šaddai. Dego bardne vuölas bođi, de i šat læm akšo hæstan æmbo.

Go dal gonagas fuomaši, atte niejda læ mana vuöstai, de suttai, ige diettam, gæn bagjeli galgai gaddët. De šaddai manna. De čoggi hærraides čoakkai dam mana ditti, valdi dam mana ja de guddi hærraid njune oudi; gæsa manna mogjusta, de dat læ mana ačče; mutto i mogjustamge i ovtage hærrai. De gonagas i diettam, gæn galgai mannai aččen bigjat. Gæččali maŋŋemusta rubbuš njune oudi guöddët; de manna dasa mogjusti.

Mutto gonagas suttai saggarak niejdasis, go galgai deina rubbučin ællët. De gonagas rakadi farpal, mast golbma bâđa legje, ovta gasko bijai, ja de bijai niejdas nubbe gjæččai, ja dasa addi borramuššan vuojvasid, ja bardne bijai nubbe gjæččai farpali, ja de bijai merri rievdat. De rievdaiga gukka.

De bardne borragođi, ja de niejda gulla, atte bardne galle borra, mutto i diettam, maid bardne borai; dušše diđi, atte ačče i addam maidege borramušaid bardnai. De šaddai nijdi nælge, i sattam borrat dam borramuš-vuojdas. De anoi niejda bardnest borramuša. Bardne logai: „Moft son satta addët, jus vela lifči, go dat fiello læ munno gaskast, maid gonagas bijai; alma aččad dudnji addi borramušaid, manne don daid ik bora? Mutto jus ajgok su boadnjen goččot, de soi galgaba oaǯǯot dam fiello erit, de don galgak ællët nuftgo songe.“

De niejda loppedi, ja de bardne valdi dosa ja lækasti dam. Dosa gačali: „Maid siđak?“ Bardne vastedi: „Borramušaid siđam!“ De fast lækasti dosa. Dosa gačali: „Maid siđak?“ Bardne vastedi: „Mon siđam gavpuga, stuorab go gonagas gavpuga, ja buok biergasid, balvalegjid!“ De bardne rakadi brulappi, ja de bođi gonagas buok hærraides gujm brulappid borrat ja jukkat.

Ja de bardne bijai dosas bævd' ala ja ješ manai luökkai spaserit. Mutto dego fast vuölas bođi, de lëi dosa jaukam. Truol-kodno lëi boattam avest, čiegŋalasast gaddai ja lëi valdam dam, æige fuomašamge dak brulap-doallek, oudal go dat stuorra gavpug lëi ave čiegŋalasast. De bardne šaddai morraši, moft son dal galga ferrit.

De mujtai, sust læ vela okta rađđe; de roggai bocces ja de bosadi. Go bardne vuostas gærde bosadi, de Jetanas likkai gardnjël ala. De bardne vel bosadi nubbe gærde, de Jetanas gulai dam ja dajai: „Mi son dat dal læ bardnai šaddam?“ De goalmadest bosadi bardne, ja de Jetanas falli čuoǯǯot ja dajai: „Jo vissasi bardnest læ hætte!“

Dallan bijai son bædnag ja kato, ja befalli kattoi: „Cælke bardnai, atte goggo bæna jorragoatta, de galga bardne arvedët, daggo læ gavpug bodnest, ja de galga kato ragjat daggo bodnai dosa ditti.“ Dego katto ja bæna bođiga bardne lusa, de katto manai bædnag čielge ala, ja bardne kato čielge ala, ja de vulgi bæna mæra ala vuogjat, ja go dat jorragođi, de rajai bardne kato daggo bodnai.

Go katto dokko bođi bodnai, de gæčai suöledët, goas oaǯǯo, dosa. De bæsai oajdnët, gost dosa læ, ja fuomaši dam bævd' ald. Dallan ruottasti katto dokko ja doppi dosa, æige fuomašamge dam truol-konok, go katto dosa valdi doarras njalbmai ja manai. Dego fuomašegje, de doarahegje, mutto æi joksamge, go gakkas lëi mannam jo.

De bardne vuorda, go katto jauka gukka, ja i ajcam, oudal go bođi. De valdi dosa kato njalmest, ja de manai ječ kato čielge ala, ja katto fast bædnag čielge ala, ja de vulgi bæna gaddai vuogjat.

De bardne rabai dosas. Dosa gačai: „Maid šiđak?“ Bardne vastedi: „Mon siđam gavpuga gaddai nu ollës go læ læmač. De dat gaddai bođi, ja de eliga dasto burist, ja gonagas bođi sonno lusa ja imašstalai, go su niejda lëi daggar stuorra gavpugi šaddam, go son diđi dam, atte gosa son dälle bijai, i dat dojvum dam, atte galgai nu šaddat.

Source Colophon

J. A. Friis (ed.), Lappiske Sprogprøver (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen, 1856), pp. 79–81; Friis's list of misprints has no corrections for these pages. 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, ë, č, đ, š, ŋ, and both ʒ and ǯ, which he distinguishes.

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