Fairychamber podcast is here! stories from Lapland, the reindeer god and the winter giants. 

​Time to have a real talk about cultural appropriation. What it is and what it isn´t. Sami people are the native people of northern Europe. In 2019 Disney made an agreement with the Sami to portray their culture with respect in the Frozen franchise and they hired Sami consultants to develop the film. I have listed my favourite connections to the Sami and Scandinavian myths in Frozen 2. Join me on to a truly fantastic journey.

Stories about sun deities and Winter Solstice )O( 

I just saw Frozen II (literally an hour ago) and I had to write about the connections to the Sámi culture and Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish myths and folklore.

Let´s start with the Sámi culture (also known as Sami, Sapmi and Saami. As a Finnish speaker I´d refer a Sámi person as "saamelainen" or "saami" and the language as "saame") I have written a lot about Sami mythology here in myblog. I have Sámi ancestry from the Lapland of Finland and Sweden. 

The Sámi´s are native people of Scandinavia. There are about 20 000 people in this world who speak Sámi languages. These days you can find Sámi´s all over the world (and people with Sámi ancestry) but in general most Sámi´s live in the Lapland of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Kuola Peninsula in Russia. This is why, for example in Finland, Lapland is sometimes called as "Saamenmaa" the land of the Sámi. Sámi´s were nomads and reindeer herders and still today many Sámi´s are reindeer herders.  Already in the first Frozen there was Sami influences, because Kristoff´s character was inspired by Saami culture. Kristoff´s outfit is similar to traditional Sami outfits. Different Sámi tribes and regions have their own outfits and designs. The pointy shoes and outfits made of reindeer skin are common (sorry Sven). ​

​ There are several Sámi tribes and Sámi languages. Most common Sámi language is northern Sámi, which is sort of universal Sámi language that Sámi´s who speak different Sámi languages use to communicate with each others.

A joik or yoik also named luohti, vuolle, vuelie, or juoiggus in the Sámi languages, is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people. Joiks do not have any words. They are pure sound that captivate emotion. There are different types of joiks. Joiks for love, friendship, family, reindeer's, winter, northern lights..you name it. I was impressed how many new joiks there was in Frozen II and I loved the sound of the shaman drums. 

In Frozen II we meet the Northuldra tribe and they are based on Sámi people. One of the Northuldra´s mentions that they worship the sun. Sámi´s followed a nature based belief system and since in Lapland winters are dark and long they did worship the sun as the giver of all life. 

You´ll be sad and disappointed to know how much discrimination there is towards the Sámi culture in Finland. There has been some progress recently, especially what it comes to cultural appropriation being questioned. I was sitting on the movie theater and some teen age girls were making fun about Northuldra´s/Sámi´s worshiping the sun since they are from Lapland...

This is the Sámi flag. It has a sun in the middle. Sometimes I am genuinely worried about the lack of education of our own history in this country (several Finno-ugric tribes shared a similar belief system). Sun is also often portrayed in the center of Sámi shaman drums. 

In autumn 2019 Walt Disney Studios made a historical agreement with the Sámi population of Norway, Finland and Sweden so that the Sámi culture in the film was portrayed with respect and they had Sámi experts with the developing the story and the characters. Frozen II is also translated into Northern Sámi (Jikŋon II). 

​The way Ahto-Hallan was described in Frozen it actually reminded me of Finnish and Sámi myths about the land of the dead. I don´t know if that was the intention of the film makers but hear me out;

Ahto-Hallan is in far north, a place where the spirits live, home of magic and that is where Elsa finds the spirits of the people who lived before her.

Somehow this connection makes Frozen feel much darker 

Ahto/Ahti is the name of the sea god/spirit of the sea and god of the depths in Finnish mythology (Ahtola is the place where all the merfolk lives). Ahto-halla is Finnish. It refers to "ahtojää" packed ice. Halla is also Finnish, it means frost/frozen. 

In Finnish mythology there is a place called Pohjola (combined from the words pohjoinen- north and pohja-  bottom). Pohjola is the underworld, place where the spirits of the dead live. Pohjola was located in far north in the land of eternal winter. In this old world view, the world was made of three layers. Upper layer (ylinen) was the place where the highest spirits resided, the middle world was the world of the animals and humans, underworld the bottom, was the land of the dead. These worlds were not really seen so much as physical places but different layers of human conscience. 

Sámi myths have lots of elements from Scandinavian and Finnish mythology and vice versa. In some Sámi myths, the land of the dead is called as "Rotaimo" and it can be found from the bottom of a bottomless lake. In Lapland there are lots of lakes that are very deep and have fake bottoms (goes back to Ahto being the spirit of depths). 

In Frozen II Elsa tames a beautiful water horse called The Nokk. The water horse is a common character in Scandinavian folklore equivalent to Scottish Kelpie. In Swedish folklore it is known as bäckahäst/näcken and in Norway as nøkken. 

In the folklore the water horse was usually a large, white and a beautiful horse. It would walk in the shore and lure people to climb on it´s back and then it would drown them. It was possible to tame the majestic horse with tricks but I guess Elsa and the Nokk also have a natural connection since they both have ice magic.

btw this is epic af

​Which brings us to the Finnish water horse myth. What it comes to Finnish mythology there is one horse above all others and he is Iku-Tihku. How would I explain his name, Iku comes from the word ikuinen meaning eternal and tihku means dripping water.

A freaking eternal ice horse that drips water! I rest my case!

Here is the story of Iku-Tihku. Iku-Tihku was made inside a mountain by trolls. He was made of fire and ice and he was the first horse ever created. Because he was partly made of ice he could not visit the human world during the summer and the warm months because he would melt. He could however, visit the human world during the winter time and because  Iku was partly made of ice, he had the ability to travel between the human world and Pohjola, the north/the underworld and deliver messages from humans to the spirit world. 

Not too different to the way Nokk takes Elsa to Ahto-hallan.

​I am starting to see why so many non-Finnish speakers consider Finnish language as some sort form of elvish.

​Trolls saw that Iku-Tihku was a mighty creature so they used him as a model to create the first horses, but they were not made from ice and fire but from iron, and they could travel between all the worlds and seasons.

Trolls are not very common in Finnish folkore but you can find LOT´S of trolls from Swedish, Norse and Sámi myths. They often live in mountains and are connected to stones and minerals and they are more than often giants.

Here are some sleeping stone giants from Frozen II

Here is a picture from my family´s summer cabin from northern Finland. Do you see what I see?

Mother of Elsa and Anna is Iduna and in Frozen II we find out that she was a northuldra. In Norse mythology Iduna is name  of the goddess of health and rejuvenation. Her symbol is the apple and she is connected to autumn season (have you seen the color palette in Frozen II?). I have heard quite a few Americans complaining that Iduna doesn´t look native. (I must say I have hard time understanding the obsession some Americans have with race).

What does a native look like? 

I think the most straight forward explanation is the fact that when the first Frozen movie was made, makers were not planning to do a  sequel and didn´t though of Iduna´s backstory then.

But even if they did, despite of the fact that Scandinavian countries and Sámi´s have a sad and violent history, there has been many mixed marriages between Sámi´s Finns/Swedes/and Norwegians and you can come across  all kinds of looking Sámi´s. There is variety in hair color, skin color and eye color. The the way people look can also vary in different areas. Lapland is a wide place, my friends. Our genetic make up is always a mixture.

Last but not least THE SEITA.

​Seita´s are stone formations and ancient worshiping places. The Sámi´s went to the seita to leave gifts for the gods, make requests and meditate. Stone formations are common all over the world (Stone Henge probably being the most well-known one).

​Why stones?

They are ancient, and the higher they are, the closer they are to the sky and the spirits. 

​If you'd like to participate in constructive online conversations about this essay, please do leave comments and share in your social media networks.

In myths of the Saami people in Lapland goddess Sarahkka is part of a group of three goddess; Sarahkka, Juksakka and Uksakka. They are all daughters of Madderahkka, the goddess of the earth. Juksakka is the goddess of hunt and protector of boys, Uksakka is the guardian of doors and entries and protector of childhood. 
Sarahkka is the protector goddess of women and girls and goddess of giving birth and midwifes. Pregnant mothers honoured her by leaving her porridge as sacrifice and when was time to deliver the baby midwives invoked Sarahkka to protect the child and the mother. 
I have Saami ancestry and I greatly enjoy painting characters from the myths of the Saami´s. For this painting I used different techniques to create textures. I also did lots of research on the baby´s cradle. It is called "komsio" and it has traditional Saami weaving. 

You can purchase the original painting here.
Posters, tshirts, notebooks etc can be found here. 

Some of you may already know I have saami ancestry from Finland and from Sweden. For those of you who don´t know the saami´s are the first nation people of Scandinavia and northern peninsula in Russia. 

I have been studying saami folklore and mythology for the past couple of years. It started as a wish to connect more with the culture. We Finns tend to be a quite mixed bag mainly with Finno-Ugric, Baltic, Slavic, Saami and Scandinavian/nordic roots. 

The name of Juksakka means "the bow women". Saami culture had strictly divided gender roles and Juksakka was the protector of boys and men and the goddess of hunt. You can see many of her symbols in this painting. She has the bow and arrows. Colors in her shawl are traditional colors of the saami and can be found from the flag of the saami land. All images in the shaman drum are typical shaman drum motifs. Juksakka and her two sisters Madderakka and Uksakka were often painted to the bottom of the drum and there they are. 

Still today reindeer herding is a big part of saami culture and back in the days herding happened in the mountains and the herders lived in kota (tent). 

Original is painted with watercolors and can be purchased here
Stickers, posters, mugs etc can be found here. 

You can check my video on Saami goddesses or scroll down and read the article )O( 

​Máttaráhkká was the goddess of earth. She was the beginner of all life. Her job was to receive the soul and the spirit of the child from the sky god Radien and give the breath of life to the child in the womb. Women turned to Máttaráhkká during childbirth and if they suffered from menstrual pains.
Máttaráhkká had three daughters. In the shaman drum these three figures are painted to the very bottom of the drum. Saami´s believed that these three goddesses lived in the ground with their mother just below kota or the house.

​Uksákká the third sister looked after the child when they grew up. She protected the child not hurting themselves or getting into accidents. Uksákká guarded all the doors of the kota´s and houses. She was also protector of doors in the animal world. She protected entrances of bear and wolf caves, doors of the birds´s nests and entering holes of the bee hives.

Check my other videos and articles about Saami myths and culture:

​Dark spirits in Saami mythology 
Water spirits in Saami mythology and folklore 
Daughters of the sun, sons of the moon 
​Sun and the moon in Saami mythology and folklore

There are new bags in my store )O( tote bags, beach bags, back-bags and so much more. With my nature-paintings and Saami goddesses (they are so much fun to paint). 

Growing up in north-western Finland I´v seen northern lights several times. Living near the sea dancing lights I saw were mostly green but every time when I went up north to visit my grandparents I saw northern lights in all colors of the rainbow. Still today when I see northern lights during dark October nights I see them as true miracle of nature and I understand how they captivated minds of the people in the past same way as they captivate the imagination of a modern human. There are several myths told about the northern lights and I will share some of them with you.

​In Estonia there is interesting myth told about the birth of the northern lights. According to Estonian myths northern lights were created when humpback whales were playing games and their scales are reflected into the night sky.
Another Estonian folk tale tells us that northern lights are born when spectacular horse drawn carriages are carrying heavenly guests into magnificent celestial wedding.

​In the Lapland of Finland northern lights were believed to be created by a magical giant fox called Tulikettu. Foxes were hunted because of their fur and it was believed that great fox hunter was also a great shaman. Tulikettu was like the Phoenix of all foxes and there could only be one fire fox at time. It was believed that the hunter who catch the fire fox would live in great wealth for the rest of their life. Fire fox however was so fast that no one could ever catch it. When it ran in the snowy hills it´s fur and tail brushes would create sparks that would fly into the skies and turn into northern lights. Finnish word for northern lights revontulet literally means fox´s fires.

According to another Saami myth northern lights were spume of water ejected from whales swimming in the arctic sea.
For fishermen in northern Sweden northern lights were a good prophecy. Omen that there was large groups of herrings swimming by.
​
In Norse myths aurora borealis thought as reflections of the shining spears, armors and helmets of the valkyries. The warrior women who rode on horseback leading fallen soldiers to Valhalla. Sometimes northern lights were believed to be the Bifrost Bridge. Magical arc that lead straight into Valhalla the home of the gods and goddesses.
For the Inuits in Greenland northern lights were spirits of still born babies and even children that had been killed after birth.

Native American myths about the Aurora Borealis vary great deal same way as the traditions and cultures of different tribes.
Algonquin´s the natives of Ottawa and Ontario in Canada believe that northern lights were created by their creator spirit Nanahbozho. For them it was a sign that he was always watching over them.
For the Menominee´s native American tribe of the Wisconsin area northern lights were torches used by evil giants when they speared fish at night.
​
Inuit´s living in Point Barrow, the most northern point of Alaska believed strongly that northern lights were evil and suspicious and they could come down from the skies and kill a man. They carried knives with them to protect themselves from them.

Inuits of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea thought that northern lights were created by a walrus spirits who were playing with human skulls.

Makah´s, native american tribe from the Washington state told stories about a tribe of dwarfs who boiled whale blubber. Another myth which connects Aurora to cooking comes from Mandan from north Dakota where people believed that in the northern lights there lived great warriors who cooked their enemies heads in massive pots.

Aurora Borealis are a rare sight in such southern parts of Europe as Greece but for the ancient Greece there was nothing that could have not be explained without the presence of gods and goddesses. In Greek Aurora means sunrise and boreas means the wind. Aurora was the sister to Helios the sun god and Seline the moon goddess. In Greek myth sun and the day are born when Helios and Seline ride in the skies with their celestial wagons. Sometimes Aurora joins the ride but her wagon is made of vivid dancing colors. She is assisted by god of the northern wind Boreas who gives her chariot a nice blow.

It is not very common to see Aurora Borealis in the firmament of Japan or China but when they are seen they are considered to be mystical powerful occasions.

In Japan child conceived under northern lights is believed to receive good looks, intelligence and great fortune.
In China Aurora Borealis are connected to the stories and legends about mighty dragons. Lights in the skies are good and evil dragons testing their powers against one another and breathing fire.
​
Australian Aboriginals do not see northern lights but southern lights, Aurora Australis. For the aboriginals Aurora Australis represents their beloved deities and spirit dancing in the celestial sky.

​Northern Lights are rare phenomena in central and southern Europe. Before people knew the science behind the northern lights people lived in an atmosphere where all supernatural things were frightening and northern lights terrified people. In Italy and France northern lights were thought to predict war, plague and mass deaths.
In north of Scotland where northern lights are more common they are called dancing merry men representing souls of the soldiers who died in a battle.

Some Native American tribes believed that northern lights were trickster spirits who would come down if someone whistled and would kidnap the person. To protect themselves person should clap. This made the lights retreat and people would be safe from them.
​
In Greenland expecting mothers were told not to whistle otherwise child would be born crossed-eyed.
Saami´s in Lapland also had superstitions about whistling. If they would whistle the lights would come down from the skies, chase them and burn their hair. Because of this still today many saami´s test their powers by whistling to the northern lights.

My other articles and vlogs with stories from the north:

​Siberian and Eurasian shamanism
​Sun and the moon in Saami mythology and folklore
​Reindeer in the saami mythology
​How stars got in to the sky 
​Mythmas Northern Lights

Check out my northern lights collection from my Redbubble store.