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

The ehpér is the ghost of a murdered infant in Sámi belief. 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 crowd of people taking a priest from one town to another camp for the night where an ehpér is known to haunt; the priest, a wicked man, can do nothing against it, and it is an old man of the company who drives it off.

Translation

Once, at a certain time, when a great crowd of people was travelling from one town to the other, they were taking the priest (or: driving him) to that other town; and they went on purpose to the place where it was known that an ehpér had been heard in former times. So they went there; it did not occur to them then to be afraid, since they had the priest with them.

It was winter-time, besides, when they were travelling. Evening came on that day, and they were weary from travelling. Then they made fires at that very place where they knew the ehpér was. They had three fires: there were many people, and they do not fit around one fire.

A little while after that, when they had made the fires, the ehpér began to wail and went toward that priest. But that priest was a vile man, one who practised evil. When the ehpér began to wail, the priest did begin to preach, but he could do nothing against the ehpér, and the people, too, ran to the priest. But an old man told those who were beside him that none of them should go there.

When the priest could do nothing against the ehpér, he cursed besides and said: "Now the whore's dung is killing me!" The ehpér had already torn all the priest's innermost clothes, but over the church-cope it had not got any power. Then that old man grew angry, he who had not wanted them to go to him. Then the man stood up and walked a little way, and from there he drove the ehpér off. Then the priest said: "What child is that, who could deal with the whore's dung?"

And then they went to the priest, but the priest could not open his mouth: the ehpér had already locked his teeth. With a silver spoon they had to prise those teeth of his apart. If that old man had not been with them that time, the ehpér would have overcome the priest. But they knew well that the priest could do nothing against the ehpér, because he was an evil-doer. But since they had that old man with them, they were bold. They wanted on purpose to test the priest, whether he could deal with the ehpér.

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. 34, pp. 46–47, in the section of ehpér 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 ēhpēr (genitive ähhpāren, comitative ähhpārīna) is the "ghost of a murdered child" (Wiklund s.v. ąɔparaha-, "Gespenst von einem ermordeten Kinde"), kept in Sámi in the English as ehpér. Herrā, hērrau, härrā is "the priest": Lindahl–Öhrling's Swedish index gives herra for Präst, "priest" (with prästa, pappa), and in the story he preaches and wears a church-cope. Älᵉbmuk is "people, a crowd" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Almoge, "almog, fuolke"); stāðast … stāððai are "from the town … to the town" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. STAD, "urbs"); toʼlvūmen is "taking, conveying" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TÅLWOT, with TÅLWOTALLET, passive "duci, vehi, föras"), and Halász's own bracketed variant sahhtēmen is "driving" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. SATTET, "equo aut rangifero vehere … It. comitari, ducere, ledsaga, cfr. tålwot; sundeb sattet, vehere Praefectum"). Tīhtė, tīhtin are "it was known", "they knew" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TETET, "scire"); kullum is "heard" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KULLET, "audire, höra"). Iččin … talle skēnē pallat is "it did not occur to them then to be afraid": skēnē is the form of "understand" used after the negative verb (Wilbur p. 252, skene, "understand\conneg"; Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. SKENET, "intelligere, förstå"), and pallat is "to fear" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PALLET, "timere, frukta"). Talĕvē aʼiḳē is "winter-time" (Wiklund s.v. talʽve-, "Winter"); ēhkēṭ is "evening" (Wilbur p. 233, ehket); päʼivai is "that day" (Wiklund s.v. peiʽve-, "Sonne; Tag"); vaʼip̣am is "weary" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WAIPET, "defetisci, tröttna"); tolō, tolŏit are "fire", "fires" (Wiklund s.v. tolo-, "Feuer"), and kolᵒbmo is "three" (Wiklund s.v. kolᵒmo-, "drei"); ētna is "many" (Wiklund s.v. ętne-, "viel"); ċārhka is taken as "fit, have room" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TJAKANET, "capi, rymmas", with the example Epe tanne tjakan, "vi rymmas ej här"), though Halász's form has an r that Lindahl–Öhrling's lacks. Unna stunnto tate rājēst is "a little while after that" (Halász IV s.v. unna, "klein, ein wenig"; s.v. stunta, "eine Weile"; Wiklund s.v. raɖe-, elative "von … an, seit"); vallūḳōhtā is "began to wail" (Wilbur §8.5.4, vállut, "cry"); vastēs is "vile" (Wiklund s.v. vaste-, attr. vastes, "hässlich", "ugly, nasty"), and pahāu "evil" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PAHA, "malus, pravus, ond"); aʼlăkā is "began" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ALGET, "incipere, begynna"); nakāṭe, nakāṭi, nakāṭa, nakū are forms of "be able, manage" (the verb of no. 76, Wiklund s.v. naɔka-), with the ehpér in the comitative, "could not cope with the ehpér"; vińĭkė is "ran" (Wiklund s.v. vaŋᵃka-, "laufen"), and jis before it "too" (Halász IV s.v. jis, "auch, und, wieder, dann"); vûras is "old" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WUORAS, "vetulus, gammal"); sū pālhtan is "beside him" (Wiklund s.v. palta-, inessive palʽtan, "neben, bei"); karrūt is "cursed" (Wiklund s.v. karute-, "fluchen"; Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Svärja, "karrotet"). In the priest's oath, fûrā, fûra is "whore's" (Wiklund s.v. huəra-, "Hure", from Swedish hora; Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. FUORA, "scortum, meretrix, hora"), paʼihka, paihkain is "dung" (Halász IV s.v. paihka, "Dreck (merda)"), and koddā is "kills" (Halász IV s.v. kattih, "töten"). Sisńēmus karvuit are "innermost clothes" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. SISNEB: sisnemus, "intimus, den innersta"; sisnjemus kerde, "indusium"; Swedish index s.v. Drägt, "karwo"); kirȯhkū-kāhpui is "over the church-cope" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KIRKO, "templum, kyrka", with Swedish kappa, "cloak"); fāmūw is "power" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. FAMO, "vires, robur, magt"), and uǯǯum "got" (Halász IV s.v. oạččet, "bekommen"); suhhtā is "grew angry" (Wiklund s.v. suəta-, "überdrüssig, zornig werden"); sitā is "wanted" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. SITET, "velle"), and in āhte kilhkin vœʼlĕḳēt sū luhte, "them to go to him", kilhkin is the third person plural past of the auxiliary of the future, "will, shall", with the infinitive vœʼlĕḳēt, "to go" (Wilbur p. 122, gilgin, "will-3pl.pst", with an infinitive, and Table 8.19, past third person plural -i-n; Halász IV s.v. ḳaḷăḳa-, "werden, sollen, wollen"), its subject the people, unexpressed; ċoǯʒ̣̇ēl … pajās is "stood up", the verb that no. 49 reads from Wiklund s.v. čuɘǯele-, "aufstehen"; vaccēst and väʒʒi are "walked", "went" (Halász IV s.v. waccet, "gehen"); unnānačai is "a little way" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. UNNANATS, unnanatji, "parum, paullum, något litet"); ńālmēu is "mouth" (Wiklund s.v. ŋalᵉme-, "Mund"), rahpat "to open" (Wilbur p. 218, ráhpat); pǟnit are "teeth" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PANE, "dens, tand"); siʼlăp̣ḁ-pistin is "with a silver spoon" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. GÅLLAK, "gållak piste, cochlear auratum, en förgyld sked"; s.v. SILB, silba, "argentum, silfver"); oʼihtēt is "overcome" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Vinna, "oitet"); jalū is "bold" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. JALO, "audax, driftig"); kähhčalet is "to test" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KÅTTJELET, "periclitari, tentare, försöka, fresta"; Swedish index s.v. Pröfva, "kåttjelet"). Jutə is "because" (Halász IV s.v. jukte, "weil, da"; Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Emedan, "jutte, atte").

Read from context, or not settled by the dictionaries, and named here: ēmēs, twice in this text, is not in the dictionaries in this form: the nearest entries are Wiklund's eme, "gewöhnlich; … stets, immer" ("usual; always"), and emest, "von anfang an" ("from the beginning"), which differ from it in the long vowels and the ending. "On purpose" is read from context, as the one sense that fits both places here (tē ēmēs minni toggo, "they went there on purpose", and sihtin sija ēmēs hērrau kähhčalet, "they wanted on purpose to test the priest") and the word's use in no. 31 of this collection; "from the start" would also fit the second place. Vitt, in the opening tē lī vitt sōmēs āikin, is taken as "at" (perhaps Swedish vid, "at", before a time) and folded into "once, at a certain time". Käč, in iččin käč talle skēnē pallat and ētna älᵉbmuk lī käč, is not in the dictionaries; it looks like a particle of emphasis and is left unexpressed in the English (it occurs also in no. 33). Prījkuḳōhtēt, "began to preach", is read as the Swedish dialect preka, "preach" (Lindahl–Öhrling has the standard loan PREDIKOT, "praedicare, predika"). Čuččuhtī pahāu, "practised evil", is read from context; the verb is not in the dictionaries. Amā mau tohko vœʼlĕḳēt, "that none of them should go there", is read from context. Kījhkuṭam, "had torn", is read from context, with Halász IV s.v. kaihki', "zerreissen", as the nearest entry. Hauhkēhtī, "drove off", is read from context, and its sentence does not show by any ending whether ēhpēr is its object or its subject; the English keeps the old man of the sentence before as the one who acts. Tist in vala ī tist härrā nakū ńālmēu rahpat, "from that", is left unexpressed in "the priest could not open his mouth". Owṭēp in owṭēp āiḳēn, "in former times", is read as a comparative (Wilbur §7.4, -p), and luhte in sū luhte, "to him", from context; "him" is the priest, for the text has just told that the people ran to the priest and that the old man told those beside him that none of them should go there. Lässim, "had locked", is read as the Swedish loan låsa, "to lock", and kaggat, "to prise apart", from context. Kale in vala tīhtin sija kale is taken as "well, indeed". Pahātahkaj, "evil-doer", is read as paha, "evil", with a noun of tahkat, "to do" (compare Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PAHA: pahab takket, "malefacere, malum perpetrare"). Mī lī tat mannā, "What child is that", is literal; who is meant (the old man, or the ehpér) is not said. 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 herrā ja ähhpāren pirra

The Pite Sámi text as printed by Halász (1893), no. 34, transcribed from the page images in his phonetic spelling. Line-end hyphens are joined; Halász's first paragraph is divided here at one place and his second at two, as the English.

tē lī vitt sōmēs āikin, kossə lijjin mannamen stûrra älᵉbmuk aktat stāðast mubbai, hērrau lījėn sija toʼlvūmen (jalā: sahhtēmen) tan muppē stāððai, tē ēmēs minni toggo, kosne tīhtė, āhte ēhpēr lī kullum owṭēp āiḳēn. te talle minni sijā toggo, iččin käč talle skēnē pallat, ku hērrau mañēn itni.

tē lē ville tahta talĕvē aʼiḳē, kosse sija lījėn mannamen. ēhkēṭ šaddā tān päʼivai ja vaʼip̣am lījėn sija mannamest. tē tolŏit tihkin tān saďďai, kosne jurā tīhtin, āhte ēhpēr lī. kolᵒbmo tolō lījėn sijāin. ētna älᵉbmuk lī käč, tē sijā ē ċārhka akta tolō pirra.

unna stunnto tate rājēst, ku lijėn tolōit tahkam, vallūḳōhtā ēhpēr ja mannā tūn herra kuku. vala tat härrā lī vastēs olmaj, kute čuččuhtī pahāu. ku talle ēhpēr vallūḳōhta, aʼlăkā kale härra prījkuḳōhtēt, vala ī nakāṭe ähhpārīna, almača jis vińĭkė tun herrā kukū. vala akta vûras olmaj jahhtā taiṭa, kuhte lījėn sū pālhtan, amā mau tohko vœʼlĕḳēt.

ku härrā talle ī nakāṭe ähhpārīna, tē karrūt son ville talle ja jahhtā: «tē fûrā paʼihka mū koddā!» tē lī jū ēhpēr kījhkuṭam kaʼihka herrā sisńēmus karvuit, vala kirȯhkū-kāhpui ī lam son fāmūw uǯǯ̣um. tē talle suhhtā tut vûras olmaj, kute iččī sitā, āhte kilhkin vœʼlĕḳēt sū luhte. tē ċoǯʒ̣̇ēl tat olmaj pajās ja vaccēst unnānačai ja tē taste ēhpēr hauhkēhtī. tē jahhtā härrā: «mī lī tat mannā, kute nakāṭi fûra paihkain?»

ja tē väʒʒi sijā herrā kukū, vala ī tist härrā nakū ńālmēu rahpat. jū lī ēhpēr sū pǟnit lässim. siʼlăp̣ḁ-pistin sija virhtijen kaggat täit sū pǟnit pajās. jus tat vûras olmaj ī lam tān pālēn mañēn, tē lī ēhpēr hērrau oʼihtēt. vala tīhtin sija kale āhte ī härra nakāṭe ähhpārīna, jutə son lī pahātahkaj. vala ku tū vûras olᵒbmau itnin mañēn, lījėn sija jalū. sihtin sija ēmēs hērrau kähhčalet, jus nakāṭa ähhpārīna.

Source Colophon

Ignácz Halász, Svéd-lapp nyelv V: Népköltési gyűjtemény a Pite-lappmark arjepluogi egyházkerületéből (Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893), no. 34, pp. 46–47. 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, the circumflex of û, raised vowels, ð, ď, ǟ, œ, ə, ʒ and ǯ, the raised stroke of the checked syllable (written here ʼ), and his bracketed variant (jalā: sahhtēmen). His Hungarian translation and his notes are not reproduced.

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