Welcome to worlds where cunning foxes outsmart bears and humans, where people are turned into wolves, where ogres (stállus) terrorize communities until outwitted, where undead creatures of the sea (rávgas) lure others to their demise. These worlds are illuminated in more than 300 folktales and legends that make up the most extensive compilation of Sámi narratives recorded from Sámi storytellers ever published in English translation: Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds, originally recorded by Just Knud Qvigstad and Isak Saba and translated by Barbara Sjoholm. Sjoholm is joined here in conversation with Lise Lunge-Larsen.

Barbara Sjoholm is an award-winning translator and author of many books, including From Lapland to Sápmi: Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture and The Palace of the Snow Queen: Winter Travels in Lapland and Sápmi. Among her translations are By the Fire: Sámi Folktales and Legends, collected by Emilie Demant Hatt.

Lise Lunge-Larsen is the award-winning author of The Troll with No Heart in His Body and Seven Ways to Trick a Troll. She lives in Duluth, where trolls can still be found if you really look for them.

Praise for the book:
"Beautifully written, the introduction to Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds captivates the reader from the very beginning with poetic descriptions of the Sámi landscape, the historical context and thematic characteristics of the storytelling tradition in Sápmi, and an exploration of the relationship between Just Knud Qvigstad and Isak Saba. This book is a valuable collection of Sámi stories."
—Line Esborg, Head of Norwegian Folklore Archives, University of Oslo

"For decades, these stories have provided contemporary Sámi literature with drama, detail, and inspiration. This collection is a treasure trove for every writer and reader to explore, and it’s a gift to the English language that these folktales are now translated."
—Elin Anna Labba, author of The Home of the Drowned and The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow: The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi

"The deeper you dig into this collection, the more satisfying it gets. Barbara Sjoholm’s introduction is worth its weight in gold."
—Lise Lunge-Larsen

Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds, collected by Just Knud Qvigstad and Isak Saba and translated by Barbara Sjoholm, is available from University of Minnesota Press. Thank you for listening.