to their ideas>fr?-t© the belief in certain uniseé^ëtó^nts both «and
and evil, as th^aufchors of reward or|punishment to :Mankind.
The; fundamental, parts of this. Superstitious belief are the same
arpong bot h races, and even the names of some of the principal
gods are nearly the samej^bukthe Lappes had much leSs
variety in their theology , than the Finns, i For the Finnish Ji%
malat and Parkel,rtilie Lappes.haye Jubmel, who is one beings
and Parkel, a mischievous imp or devil, of whom stories are
told not unlike the vulgar, fables related of the devil among the
ignorant in most countries of Europe** Their myth%lhgyi con*
sists in fabulous accounts of the warfare of Jubmel and Par«
kei. J ubmel is the:authorof life, Parkel of death. “ A .certain
Laplander, related to-the missionary Hogström, that Parkiil
once~made an iron chain, with which he-bonndt Jubmel, and'
buried him under a great , hill, but th eda^èp, ésCajpedyund enthralled—
his adversary. The Lappes believe ,'that there, isi a-
third supernatural being, of mixed, nature. Parkei; made him
on a rock without J umbel’s knowledge, but the latter disu
covered him and bred him up. Being'thus. soniof Parkel, and
foster-son of J ubmel, he partakes of the nature- of b,@tl|Hi* ;Hi&
chief business is to kill evil spirits:’this he .does.with his, bow*,
which is the rainbow. The name given; to this third! divinity
by the Lappes is TiprjnieSjf meaning'thunder.fi
The Lappas . worship rudg.; images.; made of the .stocks
trees, and particularly large upright stones erected upopshillsy
on little islands near lakes or waterfalls, or other plaNaes held
sacred. They give no account of the erection of these stpnes,
but say that they wereTplaced there by God at the creation
This is perhaps a modern idea.J These upright stones are
termed Seifeh.§
It is said that these images of wood arid‘stone were cut occasionally
into a rude likeness of the human form, but this was
not general. It was usual to ' Consecrate them by anointing * §
* See Högström,• Historische Beschreibung. |
+ Scheffer’s Hist, of Lapland, ch; x. g..93., Engl. edition O07O4,...,-
J Scheffer’s Hist, of Lapland. This account is confirmed by the treatise on the
Lapponie superstitions, cited above.
§ Seite, pi. Seiteh. “ Lapide&ifive imagines lapideaa aut lignese quas cultu reii-
gioso prosequuti sunt olim Lappones.” (Hire, Lex. Lajjpbmcum.)
them,'and-laWs-‘^6re*'known to have, beeii' made in Sweden
against the?pfsSÉ^^ óf anointing stones. , It has been thought
that the Lappes Worship the sun and lire. HOgfetfom says that
he could findfrio proof of any such practice; and he observes
that the sun has-so: little influence*'in Lapland that it is not
lik'ely* to-be .the ®bj>eet of worship.
The Laplanders appear to have had some ^^sterire notion of
a future state; they imagined the dead"to’léave behind them
manes - Or ghosts, ’which haunted particular» place#,- »and of
which they ’Wfe'td^afraid,* and they-Uperformed sacrifices'in
’ honour of them.
It has bëen; denial', as we have remarked!, by some that the
Finnièérformêd sacrifices tc the ■ god's, bufiAve are assured by
SaimrieT Rhèen riri#'Other writers cited by Scheffer, that the
Lap|)es'certainlyiperf0?m^d such saéiificës^at^s&ted'times,’ and
that t4fëyöffered/reirideers;andi oft other occasions*, cats, dogs,
Iambs; and hens.f The worship of the gods whs' performed
by the SitógiÖgbfhyiriii'sarid aloud bèatirig'öf' their enchanted
Jnd' magical dnMsiJ;V
With the èefèbrated work of Knud Leem upon theLappésf
a sort of ^official report was published, sent by missionaries from
Drontheiin, employed rin the mission to the Lappes, ori thC
ancient1 sriperitition. It is a very inèagre document, deficient
in important information, and chiefly filled’ with an a'ccount of
the riiagic of the Laplanders.£ :
BrÖTión V l ||l o / the Physical and Moral Characters o f the
Finns and Lappes.
Travellers, as I have observed, have been struck by the.
- different aspects, of the Finns and L a p p ^ a n d they have accounted
for the phenomenqn in different ways. Some cut the
knot by refusing to admit, evidence, of their, consanguinity,
thouoh such evidence has been found sufficient to satisfy unprejudiced
persons. Others suppose the difference to have
arisen from long separation, one tribe having entered Scandi-
• Scheffer, . ' . t Scheffer,
$ De Finnorum Lapponumque Norvegicotum Jteligione Pagana tractatus- singularis,
E. J. Jèssèüs. Appended to Kn. Leem’s èblïimeiïtaiio de LapponibusFinmar-
chitc.: Copenhagen, 1767-