Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Halász — Pite Sami Tales and Sayings
Pite Sámi tales, legends, songs and proverbs from Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (Budapest, 1893), taken down from Sámi of Arjeplog in 1891, translated from the Sámi, each printed with its Sámi text.
✦ ─── ⟐ ─── ✦
Texts
001 — The Tale of the Holy MoonA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how the moon at midnight flayed and roasted an old man and the children who had shouted at it, and why the autumn moon is called the Holy Moon. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.002 — Now I Shall Tell How People Are Seen in the MoonA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of a man and a woman who set out to tar over the bright moon so that they could steal in the dark, and were carried up into the moon with their tar-bucket, where people still see them. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.003 — Of the Life of People in the Old DaysA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of the golden age, when milk ran in the rivers, porridge and berries grew on the trees, fungus served for fat and cheese, and people wrapped themselves in great green leaves. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.004 — The Creation of the WolfA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how the Evil One made the wolf but could not give it life, how God gave it life, and how a pine-top thrown after the running wolf became its long tail. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.005 — The Creation of the HorseA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how the Evil One made the horse with long teeth to eat people but could not give it life, and how God gave it life and said that it should obey and serve people. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.006 — The Creation of the SnakeA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how the Evil One made the snake to sting people, how, when the Lord gave it life, it was commanded to be a medicine, and how people prepared a snake as medicine. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.007 — The Creation of the PikeA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how the Evil One made the pike to eat people out on the lake, and how, when the Lord gave it life, it was commanded to be food for people instead. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.008 — The Animals' Fat-DrinkingA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of the animals' fat-feast on Fat Tuesday, which the fox and the Arctic fox missed, so that they are lean to this day while the other animals are fat. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.009 — The Tale of the WoodpeckerA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of the Redeemer who chopped wood for a stingy woman's bread, the loaves that grew however small she made them, and how she became the woodpecker, which has to peck at the trees for its food. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.010 — The Tale of Ahcič-hätnē and Nʼǟvič-hätnēA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a wicked woman cheats a gentle one out of her son in a berry-picking wager, and the grown boy finds his true mother and takes his revenge. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.011 — Now I Shall Tell How the Reindeer Became So WildA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of why reindeer must be herded night and day: the devil once spat into the reindeer's leg. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.012 — Now I Shall Tell How the Wolf Eats the ReindeerA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: the reindeer does not rest at night like the other animals, and so it must roam about everywhere, and the wolf eats it wherever it finds it. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.013 — How Is It That Shiftless People Have No Reindeer HerdsA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of why shiftless people have no reindeer herds: two tethered reindeer talk over their masters, and the one with a poor master runs away. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.014 — People Tamed Herding Servants for ThemselvesA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how people tried the wolf, the fox and the wolverine as herding servants and let each go, until the dog proved tame and obedient. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.015 — A Little Tale About the Animals and the DogA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: the animals send the dog to the people for fire, and while it is away they take to eating their meat raw, so the dog goes back to the people and becomes their helper with the reindeer. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.016 — A Tale About DogsA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a starving dog and a well-fed dog talk over their masters, and the saying that goes with it is that a wicked and stingy man cannot make a dog stay with him. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.017 — About the Redeemer and the AnimalsA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: the Redeemer, walking the earth, asks the reindeer, the horse and the bear to carry him across a bog, and their answers fix their ways for ever. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.018 — The Burning of the BearA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a bear that has done harm to the reindeer calves is caught and dragged to the fire, and eight men cannot move it until a ninth comes. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.019 — Why It Is Said That the Bear Is of Farmer StockA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of why the bear is said to be of farmer stock: a bear's son wins his parent's skin from the men who shot it by lashing their cooking pot with a rowan switch until the pot turns to blood and a whole bear is seen; and so the bear is still called taǯǯa, the settled farmer. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.020 — A Story About Big NilsA Pite Sámi account from Arjeplog of Big Nils, a wandering Sámi said to be a noaidi, who let shop-hands blacken his face for pay, tried to heal a sick man by beating a bearskin with rowan switches and praying to the bear, was cheated of his fee, and ended in a Swedish house of correction. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.021 — A Story About a Man Who Prayed to the FatherA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of a man who prayed to the Father, the god of the heathen times: a stranger breaks his clay pipe in three and throws the pieces three ways, a thunderstorm scatters a sick herd three ways, and the herd is saved. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.022 — The KitnihaA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog in three sentences: the kitniha live beneath the earth like other people, keep herds of reindeer and cattle, and want to hold on to people who come into their lands. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.023 — A Tale of How the Kitniha Came to BeA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog of how the kitniha, the underground people, came to be: a mother ashamed of her many children hides four of them in the cellar when the Redeemer visits and denies them to him, and the hidden children vanish into the earth. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.024 — A Tale of a Sámi Lad and a Kitniha GirlA Pite Sámi tale from Arjeplog: when the kitniha, the underground people, raid a family's milk-store by night, the younger son lies in wait, wounds a kitniha girl with his knife and keeps her through three nights of her people's fury; she is baptised Stina, marries him, and her people's herds follow her. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.025 — A Tale of the Kitniha Man Who Was Betrothed to a Human GirlA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a kitniha man, seen only by the girl betrothed to him, sits each evening in the byre doorway; when she bears his child he asks her father for her and shows him the red kitniha house beside the byre, until the priest drives house and kitniha away. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.026 — The Kitniha Want to KeepA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a young herdswoman hears a kitniha yoiking under the earth that they will keep something of the young master's, and soon after a barren reindeer cow falls into a crevasse and is heard grunting beneath the ground. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.027 — A Tale of a Timber-Hewer and a Kitniha WomanA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a kitniha woman comes to a timber-hewer at midday in the shape of his wife and brings him food, but he reads before he eats, sees her tail, strikes the log with his axe, and she vanishes, her food turned to horse droppings. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.028 — Of the Kitniha Woman and the Mistress of the HouseA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a farm wife saves the milk of the kitniha, the underground people who cook at her fire, and leaves their child's clothes untouched, and a kitniha woman rewards her with a wondrous ram that gives her a great flock of sheep. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.029 — Of the Man Who Swore and the KitnihaA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a man who builds a hut alone overhears two of the kitniha, the hidden underground people, complain that their new neighbour is a swearer; afterwards he can never sleep there, no grass grows on the spot, and his children glimpse the kitniha's herd. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.030 — Of the Man Who Was Visited by a Kitniha WomanA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a beautiful kitniha woman keeps appearing to a married man and offers herself as his wife; his wife drives her off with water and twigs, the priest cannot banish her, and only when the man moves his cottage away, and it burns, is he free of her. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.031 — The EhpérA short Pite Sámi account from Arjeplog of the ehpér, the ghost of a child hidden away unbaptized in the forest, which wanders until its bones are found and its mother is brought to light. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.032 — Of the Ehpér That Strove to Reach Its MotherA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: years after a girl hid a child, she and her husband drive past the place, the ehpér comes wailing for its mother, and the husband drives it off with rowan twigs until they are safe across a river. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.033 — Of the Ehpér That Killed Its ParentsA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: an ehpér comes to the huts where its parents and its aunt live, and when its parents dare not answer its greeting it breaks their backs, then goes to its aunt, who bathes it, baptizes it and gives it a name. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.034 — Of the Priest and the EhpérA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: travellers camp on purpose where an ehpér haunts to test a wicked priest, the ghost overpowers him and clamps his teeth shut, and an old man among them drives it off. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.035 — The RaukaA short Pite Sámi account from Arjeplog of the rauka, the ghost of one who has died in sea, river or lake, which goes about in human shape when no one knows of the death, so that the dead may be found. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.036 — Of the Children and the RaukaA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: children left alone go wading in a big river at sunset, a headless man in a red waistcoat wades toward them and vanishes under an overhanging rock where a drowned man's bones lie, and their father warns them of the rauka. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.037 — Of the Rauka That Sets People's Ships LooseA short Pite Sámi account from Arjeplog of the rauka that sets people's ships loose and lets them into a hole in the sea: it shouts to the people to set off, and lets the ship go free only if they look up. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.038 — Of the Rauka That Sijī People's Iron LēččusA short Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: iron things are heard clanging at evening and crying out that a man bade them on, until someone smears them with human dung and the rauka, smelling it, goes back into the sea for good. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.039 — Of the Rauka That Made Mischief in People's BoatsA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a rauka makes mischief in the fishermen's boats, a man lies hidden in a boat and beats it off with an oar, and the rauka vows to take him, and after two winters it does. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.041 — The Communion Children and the DeadA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: the communion children and farmhands at the priest's shoot at a target by the church, and that evening two of them watch an endless crowd of the dead come out of the church, whom the shooting had kept from their rest. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.042 — Of the Priest Who Wandered in the Shape of a Dog after His DeathA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a wicked priest walks after his death as a black dog, and the God-fearing sexton takes the eye-cover with him, sings and plays in the church until the dog falls from the stairs, and lays the body back in its coffin so that peace returns. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.043 — Of the Girl and the Dead SuitorA Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog: a girl who weeps night and day for her suitor, who has died in the war, is fetched by him one moonlit evening, rides with him to the churchyard, and escapes when he digs into the earth and vanishes. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.049 — Of the Noaidi and the ThiefA Pite Sámi noaidi legend from Arjeplog: a noaidi leaves his goods in the open in a town yard, and the thief who takes his wine bottle in the night must stand there holding it until the noaidi comes in the morning, gives him a drink and lets him go. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.075 — The Wolf and the FoxA Pite Sámi animal fable from Arjeplog: a wolf comes back hungry to the half reindeer he left behind, finds that the fox has eaten it, and lets the fox talk him into biting a horse. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.076 — The Stallu's BrideA Pite Sámi tale from Arjeplog: a man who dares not refuse a stallu his daughter dresses a log in her clothes and flees with his household, and the stallu who embraces his bride finds only wood. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.Proverbs — Pite Sámi Proverbs and SayingsForty-one Pite Sámi proverbs and sayings from Arjeplog, from the blind leading the blind and the bear's skin sold before the bear is shot to riches, hunger, old age and the tongue, some with a short Sámi note on when they are said. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.Song 13 — The Joik of SulitjelmaA Pite Sámi joik from Arjeplog: a young girl joiks of mountains shining with silver and stones she carried in her pocket and called silver, dreams of riches, gifts and a bridal crown, and is left weeping when no suitor stays. From Ignácz Halász's Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893), translated from the Pite Sámi.