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

This legend of the dead was told in Pite Sámi by Sámi of Arjeplog parish and taken down by Ignácz Halász at Saltdalen in Norway in 1891. A young man dies in a war, and the girl he was betrothed to weeps for him night and day, until one evening he comes to fetch her, for her tears give him no rest; she rides with him by moonlight to the churchyard, and when he digs into the earth and vanishes she runs for shelter to a house where people are keeping watch over a man lately dead.

Translation

At one time, when there was war, a young lad died too, one who had been betrothed to a certain young girl. And when he died there in the war, that girl began to mourn terribly, when she heard that her suitor had died. And the girl wept night and day, oďďot (or: very much).

And while she was mourning so, that same girl saw one evening that her suitor, who had died, was coming. When he came to her, the dead man said to the girl: "I get no peace at all from you to sleep; your tears burn me; so now you shall follow me."

Then the girl did indeed set off after him. There was moonlight, too, that evening, and the rider said thus to the girl: "Are you afraid of me?" The girl answered: "I am not afraid, as long as I see you." Then her rider said again: "The moon shines, and the dead man rides as well." Then again he asked: "Are you afraid of me?" Then the girl said: "I am not afraid, my friend, as long as I see you."

Then the two of them rode on so to the churchyard, and when they had come there, he stopped his horse; and that horse was a white horse. Then the dead man began to dig into the earth, and when the woman saw that her companion was now vanishing into the earth, the woman was terribly afraid, and she began to run from there, and so she ran through the town.

Then she noticed that over there a little light was showing in a certain house, and she ran there and knocked on the door and called out, so that they would let her in. Then those people opened the door, and then the woman told them that she had fled from a dead man.

And those people, too, had been keeping watch over a certain man who had died only lately; and when they heard that she was fleeing from a dead man, those people threw that dead man, whom they were watching over, face down as well.

And when a little while had passed, they heard a man come before the door and call out thus: "You dead man, open the door to me!" Then the other dead man, too, found his tongue and said: "I cannot get up; people have laid me face down; I am not able to get up."

Then the one who was outside said: "If only I could get in now, then she would have to follow me; I get no peace at all from her in the grave; her tears burn me and take my peace from me." Then he said again: "If I had caught you then, you would have got to rest beside me."

Then that grieving woman was so very much afraid that from then on she never wept again, and never at all remembered again that suitor of hers who had died in the war.

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. 43, pp. 58–59, in the section of the dead. 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). Tōrrū, tōrūn is war (Halász IV s.v. toarā, "Krieg, Schlacht"; Wiklund s.v. toru-, "Streit, Krieg"); kilhlātuwwum is "betrothed", a passive (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. KIHLE, the betrothal gift, with the passive kihlatuet, "trolåfvas"); friďďār is a suitor (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. FRIAR, "procus, friare"); surŭḳaḳōtī, sorŏkamen and surŭḳaj are forms of "mourn" (Wiklund s.v. surᵘku-, "Betrübniss, Trauer; trauern"); alvūs-lāhkai is "terribly" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ALWOS, "terribilis … adverbialiter valde"); čērru is "weeps" (Wilbur §8.5.4, tjerrot, "cry"); iďďa-päʼivē is "night and day" (Wiklund p. 20 s.v. ɪda-, "Nacht", with ɪda pewe, "Nacht und Tag"; Halász IV p. 89 s.v. jijje, jijja, "Nacht"); harᵃbmat is "very much" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Ganska and Högeligen: harbmat); ēhkēṭen is "in the evening" (Wiklund s.v. eɔḳete-, "Abend"); jǟmīhkuċ, jǟmihkuč is the dead man (Wiklund s.v. jąmikuča-, "Leichnam", beside jąmikaha-, "Gespenst"); oððēt is "to sleep" (Wiklund s.v. ote-, "schlafen"); katńal is a tear (Wiklund s.v. katŋale-, "Thräne"); pulltē, pullti are "burn" (Halász IV s.v. poaltet, "brennen, verbrennen (trans.)"); čûvvut is "to follow" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Påfölja: tjuowot), with kalhka forming a future; uihtos is "indeed" (Halász IV s.v. oihte, uihte, "in der Tat, wirklich"); mannū-tēhpē is moonlight (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. MANO: Mano-tepe, "lux lunae, månsken"); vuďďēj is the rider and vuďďā, vuďďēp̣an are forms of "ride, drive" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WUOJET, "vehi equo … åka, köra", with Wuojeje, "qui vehitur"); palā, pallāj, pallaj are forms of "fear" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PALLET, "timere"); vastēt is "answered" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WASTETET, "respondere, svara"); man kuhkēp̣ ko is "as long as" (Halász IV s.v. kuhkiem: man k., "wie lange"); paihtā is "shines" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Lysa: paitet); kahċā is "asks" (Wiklund s.v. kaɔča-, "fragen"); vēnahkam is "my friend" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WANA, with Páte wánekam, "veni amice"; Wiklund s.v. vıenaɔke-, "Freund"); vilĭkis is "white" (Halász IV s.v. velkes, "weiss"); ētnam is the earth (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Jord: ádnam); pallēḳōhtit is "began to dig", with the inchoative -ḳōht- (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. PALET, "fodere, gräfva", with the example Adnameb palet, "terram fodere", the earth being what is dug; the like-sounding PALLET, "timere", the source of pallāj in the same sentence, does not fit "into the earth"); khuidna is a woman (Wiklund p. 47 s.v. kuɪʽna-, "Weib, Frau", a loan from Old Norse kvinna); radna is a companion (Wiklund s.v. radna-, "Kamerad"); kähtu is "vanishes" (Halász IV s.v. kātet, "verschwinden"); vańĭḳaḳōhta, vańĭḳā are "began to run", "ran" (Wiklund s.v. vaŋᵃka-, "laufen") and vēkai "ran" (Wiklund s.v. vɪeɔka-, "laufen"); toppēlt is "from there" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TOBBEN, tobbelt); tûle is "over there, look" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TUOLE, "en, ecce, se där"; Halász IV s.v. tuolie, "sieh da"); čûwkač is a little light (Wiklund s.v. čuɔukase-, čuɔuka-, "Licht"); cabma is "knocks" (Wiklund s.v. čabme-, "schlagen, klopfen"); čoʼrŏvo, čuʼrŏvu are "calls out" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Ropa: tjuorwot); lɵihtēt is "to let" (Wiklund s.v. luɪʼɔte-, "lassen, loslassen"); pāhtarem, pāhtarēmēn are "fled", "fleeing" (Wiklund s.v. paɔtare-, "fliehen, entfliehen"); kocēhtem is "keeping watch over" (Halász IV s.v. kuhčet, "wachen; bewachen"); jura āččak is "only lately" (Wiklund s.v. jur(a), "just, gerade, eben"; Halász IV s.v. ačček, "unlängst, kurz vorher", Lule aččak); čisskin is "threw" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TJASKET, "jacere, kasta"); kobmūt is "turned over, upside down" (Wiklund p. 45 s.v. kopmu, adverb kopmut, "umgestülpt, umgewendet"), read here, of a corpse, as "face down"; owṭoi is "before, in front of" (Wiklund s.v. outo-); kīela is tongue, speech (Halász IV s.v. kiela, "Sprache"); nakā is "can" (Wiklund s.v. naɔka-, "vermögen, im Stande sein"); čoǯǯēlėt is "to get up" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. TJUODTJELET, "surgere, stiga up"); vējē is "am able" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Orka: wejet); ọlŏḳūlen is "outside" (Wiklund s.v. olᵒku-, inessive "draussen"); pēssat is "to get (in)" (Wiklund s.v. pęsa-, "zu etwas gelangen, kommen"); liu, li and luli are the conditional of "to be", "I would", "you would", "she would" (Lindahl–Öhrling, grammar, pp. LIX–LX: Mon lulib orrot, "jag skulle vara", Todn lulih, Sodn luli); vai with the conditional is "that, so that" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. OITET, Wai lulime oitet, "ut vincamus", and s.v. KIERDET), read in the dead man's words as a wish, "if only"; fāhtāṭam is "caught" (Lindahl–Öhrling p. 49 s.v. FATTATET, "prehendere … få fatt", whose example Jus to lulib fattatet is the same "if I had caught you" as here); virĕhtit is "must" (Wilbur §8.5.6, virrtit); krûptan is "in the grave" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Graf: gruopta); vällṭi is "takes" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. WALDET, "capere, sumere"); oǯǯut is "to get" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ÅDTJOT, "accipere, få"); sagga is "very much" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Högeligen: aiwe sagga); kosseḳen, kossek with the negative are "never" (Wiklund s.v. -ḳe: ɪ kose-ḳ, "niemals"); obonės is "at all, wholly" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. ABB, åbbå, "totus, hel"); muihtāje is "remembered" (Lindahl–Öhrling s.v. MUITET, "meminisse").

Read from context, or not settled by the dictionaries, and named here: oďďot, which Halász glosses in Sámi with harᵃbmat, "very much", is found in no dictionary consulted and is kept in Sámi. Jillat in "a little light was showing" is found in no dictionary and is read from context. Hässta, "horse", is the Swedish loan häst, not found under the German or Latin glosses searched. Čᵘoċċahtā, "stopped", is read as a causative of "stand" (Lindahl–Öhrling, Swedish index s.v. Stå: tjuodtjot). Vit in "her rider said again" is read from context. Kahċā, "asks", has a homonym in Wiklund, kaɔča-, "niederfallen"; the question that follows decides the sense. Hūsan, "in a house", is the Scandinavian hus. Halász's bracketed variant (harᵃbmat) is given in the English after the word it explains, as "(or: very much)". 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.

© 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: Nēiṭan ja japma friďďāren pirra

The Pite Sámi text as printed by Halász (1893), no. 43, transcribed from the page images in his phonetic spelling. Line-end hyphens are joined; Halász's paragraphs are divided here at the same places as the English.

aktan āikēn, kossə tōrrū lī ọrrum, tē jǟmī āi akta nûrra parᵉdnē, kute lī kilhlātuwwum sōmēs nûrra nēiṭain. ja kosse son talle jǟmī tatne tōrūn, tē tuht näʼiṭa surŭḳaḳōtī alvūs-lāhkai, ku’ kulāi, āhte tat sū friďďār lī japmam. ja tē čērru tāht näʼiṭa iďďa-päʼivē jah oďďot (jala: harᵃbmat).

tē ku’ son talle lē nau sorŏkamen, tē vɵidnā tāhtak sammā näʼiṭa sōmēs ēhkēṭen, āhte tē pōhtā tat sū friďďār, juhko lī japmam. kō talle pōhta sū lusā, tē jahhtā talle tat jǟmīhkuċ tān näʼiṭai: «ip̣ monno tūste aktauk rāfēp̣ očču oððēt, tū katńalā pulltē mū, tē kalhka ton talle čûvvut mū.»

tē vœʼlĕḳā uihtos tāht näʼiṭa sū mañēn. tē lē ville mannū-tēhpē tan ēhkēṭen, tē jahhtā tut vuďďēj nauhte tun näʼiṭai: «palā-kus ton mūste?» näʼiṭa vastēt: «ip̣ mon palā man kuhkēp̣ ko tuw vuināp̣.» tē jahhtā vit tat sū vuďďēj: «mannū paihtā ja jǟmihkuč jis vuďďā.» tē ville kahċā: «palāh-kus ton mūste?» tē jahhtā näʼiṭa: «ip̣ mon palā, vēnahkam, man kuhkēp̣ kuh tū vuināp̣.»

tē vuďďēp̣an soi nauhte kirĕhkū-kaʼrĕṭai ja ku’ tohko līkan pōhtam, čᵘoċċahtā son hēstaps ja tat hässta lī akta vilĭkis hässta. tē aʼlăḳā talle jǟmihkuč pallēḳōhtit ētnama sisa ja ku’ khuidna vɵidnā, āhte tē talle kähtu tat sū radna ētnama sisā, tē pallāj tahtak khuidna alᵃvūs-lāhkai, tē vańĭḳaḳōhta toppēlt ja nau vēkai son stāða čaða.

tē aʼihca, āhte tûle unna čûwkač jillat sōmēs hūsan ja tē vańĭḳā son tohkō ja cabma uksap̣ ja čoʼrŏvo, ače lɵihtēt sū sisa. tē rihpin tā almaċa uksau ja tē supcast tāht khuidna, āhte tē lē son pāhtarem jǟmihkuċast.

ja tē lījėn tā’ almača āi kocēhtem sōmēs olᵒbmap̣, mī lī jura āččak japmam ja ku kullin, āhte jǟmihkučast lī son pāhtarēmēn, tē čisskin āi tā almaċa tū jǟmihkučau kobmūt, mau sija lījin kocēhtēmēn.

ja kossə unna pottoč lī vassam, tē kulīė sija, āhte tē pōhta almač uksa owṭoi ja čuʼrŏvu nauhte: «ton japma olmaj, rapā muńi uksap̣!» tē oččui āi talle tut mubbē jǟmihkuč kīelap̣ ja jahhtā: «ip̣ mon nakā čoǯǯēlėt, almača lē pēďďam mū kobmūt, iu mon vējē čoǯǯēlėt.»

tē jahhtā tut, kute lī ọlŏḳūlen: «vai liu talle pēssat sisa, tē tā luli virĕhtit mū ċûvvūt; iu mon aktak rāfēp̣ sūste oččū krûptan, sū katńala pullti mū ja rāfēp̣ mūste vällṭi.» tē ville jahhtā: «jus liu talle tū fāhtāṭam, tē li ton talle oǯǯut mū kûran vᵘoiñastet.»

tē pallaj tut surŭḳaj khuidna nau sagga, āhte iččī tist kosseḳen ville čērū ja iččī obonės kossek ville muihtāje tāp̣ friďďārau, ku’te lī tōrūn japmam.

Source Colophon

Ignácz Halász, Svéd-lapp nyelv V: Népköltési gyűjtemény a Pite-lappmark arjepluogi egyházkerületéből (Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893), no. 43, pp. 58–59. 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, ə, ð, ď, ǟ, œ, ɵ, ǯ, both of the marks he sets over c, the caron (č) and the dot (ċ), each as printed, the raised stroke of the checked syllable (written here ʼ) and the curly apostrophe he prints in a few words (written ’), and his bracketed variant (jala: harᵃbmat). His Hungarian translation and his notes are not reproduced.

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