a Pite Sámi legend from Arjeplog, from Ignácz Halász, Svéd-lapp nyelv V (1893)

The kitniha (singular kinē) are the underground people of Sámi belief, who live unseen beside human households. This legend was told in Pite Sámi by Sámi of Arjeplog parish and taken down by Ignácz Halász at Saltdalen in Norway in 1891. A farm wife twice deals kindly with a kitniha woman who uses her kitchen, and is rewarded with a ram that founds a great flock of sheep.

Translation

Once, in a certain place, the kitniha were living, and people were living there too, close by. Then one early morning, when the mistress of the house came into the kitchen, she saw that a big milk-pot was boiling over on the fire. So she saw to that milk-pot, and laid a cloth over her eyes and lay down.

A little while after that, she saw a woman come in, in grey clothes and with long hair, who went straight to the milk-pot and said: "It is good of you that you saw to my milk. You see, we have no kitchen, so we have to cook in this house of yours."

And another time, when that same mistress came early to make the fire, she saw, as she went into the kitchen, that a woman was there washing a child, and had laid the child's clothes on the table. The real woman did not go near her, nor touch her child's clothes, but went out and stayed a while in the living-room. Only then did she go into the kitchen and begin to make the fire.

The next day came, and the mistress had dozed off; then she saw that same woman come whom she had seen before in the kitchen, and that kitniha said to the mistress: "I give you a big, wondrous ram as a reward, because you did not touch my child's clothes. I have led that wondrous ram into that byre of yours and tied it beside the door." Then the woman vanished and went her way, and the mistress, too, woke up.

But after that she did not dare go to the byre; she had to get her husband to come along, and go to the byre together with him. And when the two of them went in, they found that big ram tied beside the door, which the kitniha had given the mistress as a gift; and that ram was enormously big and bore a great deal of wool, and she got a big flock of sheep from that ram. From then on they never again saw the kitniha in the kitchen, but one could hear how heavy and loud they were, close by there and outside at the farm.

Colophon

Translated from the Pite Sámi of Ignácz Halász, Svéd-lapp nyelv V: Népköltési gyűjtemény a Pite-lappmark arjepluogi egyházkerületéből (Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893), no. 28, pp. 37–38, in the section of kine legends. Halász took these texts down in 1891 at Saltdalen from Sámi of Arjeplog parish, and printed a Hungarian translation after each, which was not consulted: it was masked out of the page images before translation.

The words that decide the reading were checked in K. B. Wiklund's Lule-lappisches Wörterbuch (1890), in Lindahl and Öhrling's Lexicon Lapponicum (1780), in Halász's South Sámi dictionary (Svéd-lapp nyelv IV, 1891) and in Joshua Wilbur's A Grammar of Pite Saami (2014). The beings are Wiklund's katnihe-, nominative kanej, "unterirdischer Mensch, Wicht, Ungeheuer" (Wiklund s.v. katnihe-); Halász prints the singular kinē and the plural kitnėha, kitnihīt, with his i for Wiklund's a, and the English keeps the name as kitniha for both numbers. Khuidna is "woman" (Wiklund s.v. kuiʻna-, from Norse kvinna); ēmēt is the mistress of the house (Wiklund s.v. emete-, "Hausmutter"); vēsa’tēmen and vēssumen are "living" (Wiklund s.v. vesaiəte-, "wohnen", and vesu-, "leben; wohnen"); kûran is "close by" and uksa-kûrrai, uksa-kûran "beside the door" (Wiklund s.v. kuəra-: inessive kuəran "bei, neben", illative kuərai); ārraṭen, ārrat is "early" (Wiklund s.v. ara-); pohhtasēmēn is "boiling over" (Wiklund s.v. poɔtase-, "überkochen"); krūhta is a pot (Wiklund s.v. ruiʻɔta-, "Topf", from Swedish gryta); līnē is a cloth (Wiklund s.v. liʻne-, "Tuch, Halstuch"); čilmī is "eyes" (Wiklund s.v. čalᵉme-, "Auge"); villėṭ vûlus is "lay down" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WELLETET, "recubare, lägga sig ner", with the example Welleti ådnamen nala, "he lay down on the ground"; compare Wiklund s.v. slagusada-, Lule vœlut, "liegt"); čilmī nalā is "on the eyes", the genitive plural before a postposition (Wilbur Table 5.1, §5.2.2); unna pottoċ is "a little while" (Wiklund s.v. une-, attributive una, "klein", and podo-, "Weile, Zeit", with a diminutive ending); čuivės is "grey" (Wiklund s.v. ču(ə)iʻve-, "grau (von Renntieren)"); nœʼlăḳā is "straight" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. NJUOLG, njuolga, "rectus, directus"); pûrak is "good" (Wiklund s.v. puore-, "gut", and the predicative puorak in an example s.v. ver'ɔte-); malēstėt is "to cook" (Wiklund s.v. maleste-, "kochen, eine Mahlzeit zubereiten"); virhtėp̣, virhtī are "we must", "had to" (Wiklund s.v. ver'ɔtıje-, "müssen"); ēčā pālēn is "another time" (Halász IV s.v. jeača, "ein anderer"); passamen is "washing" (Wiklund s.v. pasa-, "waschen"); piwṭē is a table (Wiklund s.v. pevʼte-, "Tisch"); lāḳīṭe is "go near" (Wiklund s.v. lakate- and laɔkane-, "nähern", "sich nähern"); tûhta is "touch" (Wiklund s.v. tuəɔtate-, "berühren, anrühren"); ulhkus is "out" and olŏḳūlėn "outside" (Wiklund s.v. olᵒku-: illative olᵏkus "hinaus", inessive olᵒkulın "draussen"); uruṭi is "stayed" (Wiklund s.v. oru-, "sein, wohnen, bleiben"); čakña is "went in" (Wiklund s.v. čąŋga-, "eintreten, hineingehen"); šaddā is "came, happened" (Wiklund s.v. šada-, "werden; geschehen"); ōðēstam is "dozed" (Wiklund s.v. ote-, "schlafen", with the short-action suffix -st-, Wilbur §10.2.2); palhkan is "as a reward" (Wiklund s.v. palᵃka-, "Lohn, Belohnung"); krävvis is "wondrous" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KRAWAS, "mirus, underlig"); vīrhca, vērhca, väʼrĕhca is the ram (Wiklund s.v. verʻɔca-, "Hammel", North Sámi viercca, Norse veðr: the English says "ram", since the beast sires a flock); läʼiṭėm is "led" (Wiklund s.v. laiʻtije-, "leiten, führen"); čatnam, čanāhtum are "tied" (Wiklund s.v. čatna-, "binden"); kātui is "vanished" (Wiklund s.v. kaɔtu-, "verschwinden"); kēinups is "her way" (Halász IV s.v. käinä, "Weg"); kohcaj is "woke up" (Wiklund s.v. koɔcaje-, "erwachen"); tûsta is "dared" (Wiklund s.v. tuəsta-, "wagen"); oǯǯut, oččui are "to get", "got" (Wiklund s.v. oǯu-, "bekommen"); kaudnap̣an is "found" (Wiklund s.v. kauɗna-, "finden"); skännkan is "as a gift" (Wiklund s.v. skæŋka-, "Geschenk"); alvūs is "enormously" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ALWOS, adverbially "valde"); kûtti is "bore" (Wiklund s.v. kuəde-, "tragen"); ētna is "much" (Wiklund s.v. etne- = ætna-); ulluit is "wool" (Wiklund s.v. ullu-); saʼuca ēlūp̣ is "a flock of sheep" (Wiklund s.v. sauᵃca-, "Schaf", and ælu-, "Herde"); kulāṭi is from "hear" (Wiklund s.v. kula-); hēima is the farm (Wiklund s.v. hæiʻma-, "Hof, Heim", said of farmers' homes); mubbē is "the next, the second" (Halász IV s.v. nuppie, "der andere; der zweite"); hollā is "said" (Wilbur's hållåt, "say", §8.5.2); ača tolōw tahkat is "to make the fire", ača being the auxiliary "so that, in order to" with the infinitive (Halász IV s.v. ača-). Monno is "I" (Wilbur Table 6.1, first person singular månnå), and the verbs beside it, vattāp̣ "I give" and lep̣ "I have", carry the first-person singular ending, Pite -v, which Halász writes here -p̣. The same -p̣ on tāp̣, mäʼlᵉhkē-kruhtōp̣, līnēp̣, vīrhcap̣, vērhcap̣ and ēlūp̣ is the plain accusative singular, Pite -v (Wilbur Table 5.1; tāp̣ is the demonstrative dáv, Table 6.3), which Halász elsewhere writes -w or -u; it is not a possessive, which ends in -s (kēinups). So the English has "that milk-pot" and "a cloth".

Read from context, or not settled by the dictionaries, and named here: abĭja and äbĭjė ("she saw to that milk-pot", "you saw to my milk") are not entered in these forms in the dictionaries consulted; their probable root is Lindahl–Öhrling's ABBESET, "exundare, flöda öfver, rinna öfver", said of a vessel running over, and the English "saw to" keeps the sense open between lifting the pot off the fire, rescuing and tending it. Whose eyes the cloth covered is not marked in the Sámi; the English says "her eyes", and the form of villėṭ (an infinitive in shape) is not decided. Käč, printed twice in the kitniha woman's words, is read as a particle, "you see", and rendered once. Čiuhčun is read as the Norwegian loanword kjøkken, "kitchen"; fäʼus as Swedish fähus, "byre"; stûntu as Swedish stund, "a while"; stōpu as a Scandinavian word for the main room of a house (compare Wiklund s.v. toɔpe-, "Stube"); hūs is "house". Räkta khuidna, "the real woman", is the human mistress as against the kitniha woman (compare Wiklund s.v. raktase-, nominative reɔhtes, "recht, richtig"). Olᵒbmau mañēn oǯǯut, "get her husband to come along", is read from oǯu- "bekommen" and mañēn "after, behind". Kulāṭi has the ending of a third-person singular past, so its subject is left open as "one could hear". In the last clause, lọ̄ssi is taken from the adjective "heavy" (Wiklund s.v. lose-, attributive losis, "schwer") and tutni from "din; to chatter loudly" (Wiklund s.v. tutna-, "Geschwätz, Getöse; laut schwatzen"), so "how heavy and loud they were" is a reading, not a settled translation; olŏḳūlėn hēima, "outside at the farm", is likewise read word by word. Halász's bracketed variant (vœʼlăḳā) beside vūlhki, "went", is kept in the Source Text; the English gives the word once. Pite Sámi is close to Lule and South Sámi; where no dictionary of those languages decides a word, the reading is named here.

No English translation of this text is known to us.

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Source Text: Supcas kinē-khuinan ja hūsā ēmēṭen pirra

The Pite Sámi text as printed by Halász (1893), no. 28, transcribed from the page images in his phonetic spelling. Line-end hyphens are joined; Halász's first and third paragraphs are divided here at the same places as the English.

tē somēs sajēn lījėn kitnėha vēsa’tēmen. tē almača lījėn āi vēssumen tasne kûran. tē aktan ārraṭen, ko hūsā ēmēt pōhtā čiuhčunī, te vɵidnā son, āhte stûrra mäʼlᵉhkē-krūhta lēi pohhtasēmēn tolōn. tē abĭja son tāp̣ mäʼlᵉhkē-kruhtōp̣ ja pēďďa līnēp̣ čilmī nalā ja villėṭ vûlus.

tē unna pottoċ tāhte mañgēlt, tē vɵidnā son, āhte khuidna pōhtā sisā čuivės kārvui ja kuhkēs vûptai ja vaʒʒā nœʼlăḳā mäʼlĕhkē-krūhtō kukū ja jahhtā: «pûrak lē ton, ku äbĭjė tau mū milhkiw; ī lē käč mijān ċiuhċun, tē virhtėp̣ käč mija malēstėt tān tū hūsan.»

ja ēčā pālēn, ku tāt sammā ēmēt ārrat pōhtā, ača tolōw tahkat, tē vɵidnā son, ku tē čakña čiuhčunī, āhte akta khuidna lē mānau passamen tasne ja pēďďam mānā karvuit piwṭēn nalā. iččī tut räkta khuidna lāḳīṭe sū jala tûhta sū mānā karvuit, āinat vūlhki (vœʼlăḳā) ulhkus ja uruṭi stûntu stōp̣un. tē eskan vaʒʒa son čiuhčunī ja tolōu tahkaḳōti.

mubbē päʼivē šaddā ja tut ēmēt le ōðēstam, tē vɵidnā son, āhte tut sāmmā khuidna pōhtā, mau lī ouṭola vɵidnam čiuhčunėsnē, ja hollā tat kinē tān ēmēṭī: «vattāp̣ monno tuńī stûrra krävvis vīrhcap̣ palhkan, ku iċči tûhta mū māna karvuit. läʼiṭėm lep̣ monno tāp̣ krävvis vīrhcap̣ tann tū fäʼusai ja čatnam uksa-kûrrai.» tē khuidna kātui ja vūlhkī kēinups ja ēmēt āi kohcaj.

vala ī tiste tûsta vaʒʒit fäʼụsai, aināt virhtī olᵒbmau mañēn oǯǯut ja taina aktan vaʒʒit fäʼụsai. ja ku sōi čākñap̣an, tē kaudnap̣an sōi tāp̣ stûrra vērhcap̣ čanāhtum uksa-kûran, mau lī kinē vaddam ēmēṭī skännkan ja tat väʼrĕhca lī alvūs stûrēs ja kûtti ētna ulluit ja oččui stûrra saʼuca ēlūp̣ tate vīrhca nālēst. tē iččin tiste vuinē mañēp pālēn kitnihīt čiuhčunin, aināt kulāṭi, kuh lọ̄ssi ja tutni taidne kûran ja olŏḳūlėn hēima.

Source Colophon

Ignácz Halász, Svéd-lapp nyelv V: Népköltési gyűjtemény a Pite-lappmark arjepluogi egyházkerületéből (Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893), no. 28, pp. 37–38. Public domain. Transcribed from the page images of the scan of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (REAL-EOD 4154). Halász's spelling is kept letter for letter, with his length marks, dots above and below, breves, circumflexes, raised vowels, ð, ǯ, ʒ, œ, ɵ, the two forms of c with a mark above (č, ċ), the raised stroke of the checked syllable (written here ʼ), and his bracketed variant. His Hungarian translation and his notes are not reproduced.

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