sami history

 A little about Sami history

Snorre tells in Heimskringla about the meeting between King Harald Hårfagre and the Sami girl Snøfrid which took place at Dovre. The Sami king Svåse came to King Harald on Christmas Eve and asked him to follow gamma. There the king met Svåse's daughter, Snøfrid. The king was so blinded by love that he wanted her on the spot. The king married Snøfrid and they had several sons. When Snøfrid died, King Harald sat and mourned over her for three years. The story goes that he came to himself only when a wise counsellor advised him that they should change the bedclothes as Snøfrid lay in. It was done, and worms and toads overturned, and the king understood that he had been tricked by the sorcery of the Sami.

The Sami in Norway

Who were the first people to populate Norway? This question has been one controversial topic. It is known that the first humans came to the country as soon as the ice retreated back after the first ice age. But it is difficult to prove immigration that happened after it first immigration. This applies to both Sami and Norwegians. Kalle Sognnes, an archaeologist at NTNU, therefore, believes that it would rather be more correct to ask questions about when these two groups began to crystallize as two different ethnic groups, with different languages. When This happened is also controversial and uncertain.

The Sami in Norse sagas

What is considered to be the oldest written source about the Sami is from the year 98 AD. there the Roman historian Tacitus writes about a people he calls Fenni. The Sami are also mentioned in some Norse sagas. There are also examples of the Sami being placed in inner parts of Southern and Eastern Norway. In Soga about Harald Hårfagre in Heimskringla, for example, Harald meets

Hairy daughter of the Sami king Svåse, Snøfrid, in Dovre. The king married Snøfrid and they had several sons. One of their sons, Sigurd Rise, is said to be the ancestor of King Harald hårfagre. In another story, it is King Halvdan from Hadeland who sends for one same as then can not be so far away. In the Norse sources, the Sami are presented as small, good at skiing, quick to the bone and good at bow.

The Christianization of the Sami.

Christian IV was made aware by the bishop of Trondheim that it still existed pagans in Norway. The bishop knew that there were Sami in the whole region, and therefore wanted one traveling patch priest who could reach all of these. The king was positive to the proposal and July 1, 1634 a letter was issued stating that a patch priest was to be appointed. He was to be paid with income from some farms in Skogn. This led to about 20 farmers paying a fee for almost 200 years

the Christianization of the Sami.

The Christianization of the Southern Sami has taken place over a long period of time. The first churches in Sami areas were built as early as the 12th century, but missionary work in Norway was not intensified until the priest Thomas von Westen became head of the Mission College in Copenhagen in 1714. He got in assignment to conduct missionary work among the Sami in the areas north of Trondheim. From the West believed that the Sami should hear the gospel in their own language, and he eventually got the nickname

"The Apostle of the Finns."

«The Advancement Theory»

With the lack of written evidence of the Sami situation in Sør for Tydal before the 18th century, was the advance theory presented. The advance theory was that the Sami did not exist south of Børgefjell before the Middle Ages and that they came to the Røros area only at the beginning of the 18th century. The theory of advancement has been central to the South Sami history debate throughout the last half of 20th century, and it has been debated for and against this theory. More archaeological research on, among other things, graves has provided greater insight into the Southern Sami haunts. A major Sami find from, among others, Vivallen in Sweden, about 50 km east of Røros, may indicate Sami settlement there 800-1200 AD. These findings have also helped to set several question marks surrounding the advance theory. The great difference between the Sami dialects may also indicate that the Sami have lived separated over a longer period of time. Also other documents from the 16th and 17th centuries, accounts and court documents, sagas, laws and other written source material from the Middle Ages, older maps and place names may indicate that the Sami have been present throughout that time