Tales by the firelight

Sami legends brought to life

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Having translated a book of Norse folk tales from Danish to English, Barbara Sjoholm hopes to make the timeless stories accessible to modern American readers.

“By the Fire” is a chronicle of Sami legends originally written in the early 20th Century by Danish author Emilie Demant Hatt. Hatt recorded the material in the Sami languages and wrote it in Danish, Sjoholm said. The 80-page book was published in 1922.

The Sami, (pronounced “saw-me”) sometimes called Lapplanders, are the oldest culture in large areas of Northern Norway and in Sweden, Finland and Russia, with a language that is distinct from Norwegian and other host-country languages.

Sjoholm said it took her about six months to translate the book into English.

“I did quite a bit of research on the folk tellers themselves in Sweden to find out more about them.”

Although the stories are old, they remain enthralling today, Sjoholm said.

“I think it is really wonderful and eerie. I think people really respond to folk tales. Most of us have read fairy tales, or had them read to us as children. And so we instinctively go to that short punchy, eerie feeling of the folk tale.”

Some folk tales are funny, while others strange, Sjoholm said.

“They are about murdered ghosts and talking animals and giants and trolls. They are delightful. I think you get shivers, too.”

Considering the origin of the people who came up with the stories reveals their somewhat dark nature, Sjoholm said.

“Northern Scandinavia is really dark in the winter — six to eight months of darkness. The Sami, as nomadic reindeer herders were out in really rough weather. Snowstorms, blizzards what have you.”

It was around fires to escape the bitter cold where the Sami spun their tales.

“The reason she gave it the title, ‘By the Fire,’ was because they were huddled in their tents telling these stories,” Sjoholm said.

This is the second book by Hatt that Sjoholm has translated into English. The first was Hatt’s memoir, “With the Lapps in the High Mountains,” which chronicled the winters she spent with the Lapps in Sweden in the early 1900s.

Sjoholm is fluent in both Danish and Swedish, which aided her endeavors to translate both books.

“The written language between Norwegian and Danish is not very different,” she said. “The spoken language is quite different. Danish is really guttural.”

Bringing the tales to life

Sjoholm is slated to read excerpts from the book during a meeting of the Daughters of Norway, Thea Foss Lodge #45, at 1 p.m. April 14 at the Fred Lewis Scout Cabin, 3075 Discovery Road in Port Townsend. The event is open to the public.

Sjoholm has been a member of the group, which celebrates its Scandinavian heritage, for the past four years.

“The Daughters of Norway is very open to all Scandinavians or people with even only a little Nordic blood,” Sjoholm said.

Additionally, Sjohom will give readings of the book in Seattle and Bellingham as well as throughout the midwest.

Bringing these old tales to life in English for an audience is quite moving for Sjoholm, she said.

“There are actually quite a few Sami Americans in the United States. They were part of the mass immigration in the late 19th century and early 20th Century.”

There is now a burgeoning movement among Sami Americans who want to connect with their cultural past, Sjoholm said.

“Not only is (the book) a contribution to world literature, but it is a part of the heritage of people who I am family with and whom I respect.”

Connecting with the past

In Port Townsend, the craving to learn more about their past is strong among the Nordic races, with the local Daughters of Norway consisting of 90 members. It is the third-largest lodge in the nation, said Sonja Schoenleber, group secretary.

“Many Scandinavians who came to this country tried to become Americanized,” she said. “Some carried on Scandinavian customs and some didn’t.

The Daughters of Norway have the primary purpose of uniting a sisterhood of women who wish to preserve their Norwegian heritage by highlighting the history, culture and language of Norway and other Scandanavian countries, Schoenleber said.

There is a large group of descendants of Scandinavians in Jefferson County, Schoenleber said, likely because the area is similar in many respects to the Nordic countries.

“Many came in the 1800s when food was scarce, jobs were few, farms were handed down to the oldest child and the others had to find places to live elsewhere.”

Norwegians tended to cluster in midwestern states such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, the Dakotas, and then further west into Washington and Oregon, Schoenleber said.

“They mostly settled into farming and many of the young women who came over from Norway became nannies.”

Now, generations out, it is fun to rediscover their culture, Schoenleber said.

“We have a wonderful cultural program at each business meeting. We sing songs, plan activities, do work projects, have fund-raisers. It’s really a great group of wonderful women.”

For more information call 360-379-2612.