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

The rauka is the ghost of one who has drowned, in the Sámi belief of Arjeplog. This legend was told in Pite Sámi by Sámi of Arjeplog parish and taken down by Ignácz Halász at Saltdalen in Norway in 1891. Children whose parents have gone off to trade play in a river at evening; a man comes wading toward them, and the eldest, watching from a hill, sees that he has no head before he turns back and vanishes under a rock. The story ends at the place where it is said to have happened.

Translation

Once upon a time some children were alone. The parents had gone to the trading place, and when they were alone then, they played, and went wading in the big river. It was the evening sun, besides; the sun was going down.

When they were then throwing stones into the river and wading there, the eldest sees that a man is coming along the other side of the river. Then the children ran up onto dry land and ran to the hut. When that eldest one had given food at home, he went outside to see where that man would get to.

When he was looking out then from the crown of a high hill, he sees that the man is coming and walking along the other side of the river, to the very spot where he comes opposite. Then the one who was looking thinks thus: "What man is that? How is he thinking of coming across, then? He is certainly not calling for a boat, and we certainly have no boat with which we should fetch him across." Then he sees that the man begins to wade that big river, and wades right to the middle.

Then he stopped there, and was kunek, without blood. Then he sees further that that man has no head at all: from the shoulders, that is where he began. He had a red waistcoat on, and kīʼikije buttons on that waistcoat. Then the one who was looking grew frightened, and thinks: "Now I shall see what kind of godly person this is."

While he was thinking so, the man turned back again and waded right to the land, and when he came to the shore, he walked along the bushes by the water, terribly far, as far as a person's eye could see him; and there was a big overhanging rock, under which he went in, and he vanished there. That wading man was surely a rauka.

When the parents came, and they told what they had seen, their father says: "Why do you still go wading? The rauka will surely pull at you!" And when they got to hear what it was, they never saw anything again.

A man had once, in old times, perished there in the river, and when people found him, they laid those bones of his under that overhanging rock. When the children had thus skiďďujėn, and knew nothing at all, he drew himself up as a rauka, so that they should see that they must not be alone in that place. And that happened in old times at the place which is called Laihteren.

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. 36, pp. 48–49, in the section of rauka 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 rauka (raʼuḳa) is kept in Sámi, as in no. 35 (Wiklund s.v. raukastet, "spuken (von einem ertrunkenen)"). Ēihteḳa, äiteḳa are "the parents" (Halász IV s.v. äiteḳa, "Vater od. Mutter, plur.: Eltern"); ōsēstem saďďai is "to the trading place" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ÅSESTET, "mercari, köpslaga, handla", and ÅSESTEM, "mercatura, handel"). Stọ̄hkė is "played" (Wiklund s.v. stɔɔka-, "spielen"; Halász IV s.v. stoąkediH, "spielen"); kālači, kālačihpit are "waded", "you go wading" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KALET, "aquam ingredi, vado fluvium … transire"; Wiklund s.v. kąle-, "waten; durchwaten"), with the diminutive -č- (Wilbur §10.2.1), and kallēḳōhta, kallā, kǟlī, kallēď are "begins to wade", "wades", "waded", "the one wading" from the same verb; ēnu is "river" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ÁDNO, "amnis, å"; Wilbur p. 97, edno). Ēhkēṭes päʼivē is "the evening sun", and viððōṭēmēn "going down" (Wiklund s.v. vɪtute-, "untergehen (von der Sonne und dem Monde)"). Kēϑkit ċaskači is "were throwing stones" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KEDKE, "lapis, sten", with Kedkit palkestet, "kasta stenar"; Wiklund s.v. časke-, "werfen"; Wilbur p. 150, tjaske, "throw!"). Porrāsumūs is "the eldest", the superlative of pǫres, "old" (Wiklund s.v. pǫrase-). Pēle is "side" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PELE, "latus, sida"); koʼihkē lannṭai is "onto dry land" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Torr, "káike"; Wiklund s.v. lanta-, "Land", from Swedish land); siďī is "home" (Wiklund s.v. sɪʽta-, "Dorf"); pēpmū is "food" (Wilbur p. 86, biebmo), and vittī is "gave", the past of the verb "give" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WADDET, "dare, gifva"), as in no. 4 of this collection. Tēvan nalltne is "on the crown of a hill" (Wiklund s.v. tɪeva-, "Hügel"; Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. NÅLT, "collis minor … en liten rund backe"), and alla "high" (Wiklund s.v. ale-, attr. ala, "hoch"). Tasak ku pûhta pōhta, "to the very spot where he comes opposite", is read from Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TASSAK, "illico, där på stället", and s.v. PUOTTALOK, "idem atque puott", "midt emot", "opposite". Ušut, ušuṭēmēn are "thinks", "thinking" (Wiklund s.v. ušule-, "denken, meinen"); mikker is "what (kind of)" (Wilbur §6.4.3.1, mikkir); čûrvō is "call" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Ropa, "tjuorwot"); vatnasau, vanās are "boat" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WADNAS, "cymba, båt"; Wiklund s.v. vanąš); kuit, kui’t are "certainly" (Wilbur p. 26, gujt, "definitely"); väǯǯat is "to fetch" (Halász IV s.v. weččet, "holen"). Kœuṭēli is "to the middle" (Wiklund s.v. kuɔutele-, illative "in die Mitte"); čᵘoččahtī is "stopped", from the verb "stand" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Stå, "tjodtjot, tjuodtjot"); vaʼrătaha is "without blood", the abessive of varra, "blood" (Halász IV s.v. warra, "Blut"; Wilbur §5.2.8 and Table 5.1, abessive -dak, -daga … -ahta, here on the weak stem vara-). Oʼivē is "head" (Wiklund s.v. oiʽve-, "Kopf"); ọlhkī is "shoulders" (Wiklund s.v. olʽke-, "Schulter"); rājēst "from … on" (Wiklund s.v. raɖe-, elative "von … an, seit"). Rupsis is "red" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. RUOPSES, "ruber, röd"); vässta, vēstḁn is the Swedish väst, "waistcoat"; knahpa are "buttons" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KNAPPA, "globulus, knapp"). Alvahtuwwā is "grew frightened" (Wiklund s.v. alvąɔtuwa-, "erschrecken, intr."); jupmēlės is formed on jupmel, "God" (Wiklund s.v. jupmele-, with jupmelaɪa-, "göttlich"). Jorŏḳai is "turned" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. JÅRGELET, "convertere, omvända"); viste and rɵptūt are "back again" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Igen, "ruoptot, witt … will", and s.v. Igengifva, "ruoptot waddet, wist waddet"); fäʼrăvai is "to the shore" (Wiklund s.v. fɪerᵃva-, "Ufer"); čāhcē-pässtakau is "the bushes by the water" (Wiklund s.v. pęstaḳe-, "Strauch, Busch"; Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PÅSTEK, "frutex, buske", with TJATSE, "aqua"); alvūs kuhkās is "terribly far" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ALWOS, "terribilis, förskräcklig"; Wiklund s.v. kuɔkke-, "lang", used as an adverb); čalᵉbmē is "eye" (Wilbur p. 201, tjalbme); mǟhti is "could" (Halász IV s.v. mātet, "können", past mēhti). Lahpa, lapān is "an overhanging rock" (Wiklund s.v. laɔpa-, "Höhle, überhängende Felsenwand"); čāñai is "went in" (Wiklund s.v. čąŋga-, "eintreten, hineingehen"); kātui is "vanished" (Wiklund s.v. kaɔtu-, "abwesend sein; verschwinden"). Vań is "surely, really" (Wilbur p. 26, vanj, "really"; p. 138, "probably"). Aktak, aktauk after the negative verb is "any, anything" (Wilbur p. 141, aktak, "none, any"). Mannes is "why" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. MANNE, mannes, "quare? hvarföre?"); ańe is "still" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ANJE, "adhuc, ännu"); kēssat is "drag" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KESET, "trahere, draga"); ville is "again, any more" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WELE, "plus, magis, mera", and Swedish index s.v. Igen, "will"). Tolēn is "in old times" (Wiklund s.v. tole-, "tolen adv. in alten Zeiten, einst"); fērram is "perished" (Wiklund s.v. fąṟa-, "umkommen", as in no. 35); tǟktit are "bones" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TAKTE, "os, ben"); pīďďin is "laid" (Halász IV s.v. piejet, "legen, stellen, setzen"); kohčūtuwwā is "is called", a passive in -uww- (Wilbur §10.2.5). Uktō, uktu, uktuk are "alone" (Wiklund s.v. tɪeva-, with aktu tɪevan orut, "allein auf dem Hügel sein"). Ičėn … vɵidnit is "so that they should see", the auxiliary ača-, "in order that", with the infinitive (Halász IV p. 4). In kēssaṭi son raʼuḳan, raʼuḳan is the essive, "as a rauka" (Wilbur Table 5.1, -n for the essive).

Read from context, or not settled by the dictionaries, and named here: kunek, in ja kunek vaʼrătaha, is in none of the dictionaries and is kept in Sámi in the English. Kīʼikije, describing the buttons, is in none of the dictionaries and is kept in Sámi. Skiďďujėn, a verb in the third person plural past describing what the children had done, is in none of the dictionaries and is kept in Sámi. Kitā, kita (kallā kitā kœuṭēli, kǟlī kita lannṭai) is read as "right to, as far as", as North Sámi gitta. Kēssaṭi, in kēssaṭi son raʼuḳan, "he drew himself up as a rauka", is read as a derivative in -d- of kēssat, "drag, draw" (Wilbur §10.2.1 on the suffix -d); no object is printed, and the same verb, with pajās, "up", stands in no. 37, where people "draw themselves up to look". In the father's words, tē vań raʼuḳa kēssat tiďďī has no finite verb; "will surely pull at you" supplies the "will", and tiďďī, "you", is the second person plural in the illative, "to you, at you" (Wilbur Table 6.1, dijjaj; Halász's ďď answers to Wilbur's jj). Ällam in āhte ällam sija uktuk is read as "must not be", on the stem of the prohibitive (Wilbur Table 8.26, ele, ellen, ellet). Käč (akta olmaj lēi käč tolēn fērram) is a particle not found in the dictionaries, left unexpressed, as in no. 34. Jupmēlės almaċ is rendered literally, "godly person"; whether the boy means a holy being or speaks in irony is not said. Ọlhkī rājēst lī son, "from the shoulders, that is where he began", is literal. Laihteren is kept as printed; it may be a place-name Laihter in the essive. One letter of lann[?]ai did not print; the same word stands whole as lannṭai a few lines earlier, and the English gives "land" both times. 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 mānai ja rauḳan pirra

The Pite Sámi text as printed by Halász (1893), no. 36, transcribed from the page images in his phonetic spelling. Line-end hyphens are joined; Halász's first paragraph is divided here at one place, his second at two and his third at one, as the English. One letter broken in the print is marked [?].

tē sōmēs aikēn mānā lijen uktō. ēihteḳa lījėn vœʼlᵉḳam ōsēstem saďďai ja kū sija lē talle uktu, tē sija stọ̄hkė ja kālači stûrra ēnūp̣. ēhkēṭes päʼivē lī ville tahta, päʼivē lī viððōṭēmēn.

ku sija talle kēϑkit ċaskači ētnui ja kālači tasne, te porrāsumūs vɵidnā, āhte akta olmaj pōhtā tū muppēu pēlēu ēnūst. tē viʼńĭkė mānā pajās koʼihkē lannṭai ja viʼńĭkē kōhtai. kō tat porrāsumūs vittī siďī pēpmū (pēpmuw), vœʼlĕḳā son ulhkus vɵidnēt, kosō tat olmaj šaddā.

kō son talle lē kähhčamen alla tēvan nalltne, tē vɵidnā son, āhte tut olmaj pōhta ja vaʒʒā tū muppēu pēlēp̣ ēnūst, tasak ku pûhta pōhta. tē ušut tuhta, kuhte lē kähhčamen: «mikker olmaj sa lä tahtā? kukte sa lä talle ušuṭēmēn rasta pōhtēt? ī kuit son čûrvō vatnasau ja ī lē kui’t mijān vanās, maina kalhkāp̣ sū väǯǯat rastā.» tē vɵidnā son, āhte olmaj kallēḳōhta tau stûrra ēnūp̣ ja kallā kitā kœuṭēli.

tē son čᵘoččahtī tasā ja kunek vaʼrătaha. tē ville vɵidnā, āhte ī lē tātne olᵒbman aktak oʼivē, ọlhkī rājēst lī son. rupsis vässta lī sūsne jḁ kīʼikije knahpa tatne vēstḁn. tē alvahtuwwā tut kähhčaj ja ušut: «tē ma talle vuiničau, makkar jupmēlės almaċ tat lē.»

ku son talle lē nauhte ušūṭēmēn, tē jorŏḳai viste tut olmaj rɵptūt ja kǟlī kita lann[?]ai ja ku fäʼrăvai pōtī, tē son vaʒʒā tau čāhcē-pässtakau alvūs kuhkās, man kuhkās almaċa čalᵉbmē mǟhti sū vɵidnēt, ja tē lī akta stûrra lahpa, man vullai son čāñai, ja kātui tasa. — tat kallēď olmaj lī vań raʼuḳa.

kō tē äiteḳa pọ̄hti ja supcasti, maiṭe sija vuidnin, jahhtā sijān ahhčē: «mannes ańe kālačihpit? tē vań raʼuḳa kēssat tiďďī.» ja kō uǯǯun kullat, mī lī, tē iččin sija ville vuinē aktauk.

— akta olmaj lēi käč tolēn fērram tatne ēnūn ja ku’ almača käudnin sū, tē pīďďin sija tait sū tǟktit tan lapān vullāi (vᵘollāi). ku vań mānā nawhte skiďďujėn ja iččin aktauk tētē, tē kēssaṭi son raʼuḳan, ičėn vɵidnit, āhte ällam sija uktuk tahtne sajēsne. — ja tat šattai tolēn tatne sajēn, mī kohċūtuwwā Laihteren.

Source Colophon

Ignácz Halász, Svéd-lapp nyelv V: Népköltési gyűjtemény a Pite-lappmark arjepluogi egyházkerületéből (Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893), no. 36, pp. 48–49. 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, ϑ, ď, ǟ, œ, ɵ, ǯ and ʒ, the ring below a in jḁ and vēstḁn, the raised stroke of the checked syllable (written here ʼ), and his two bracketed variants. One letter broken in the print is marked [?]. His Hungarian translation and his notes are not reproduced.

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