A story from Manndalen about how a woman was brought as a midwife to the underground. The story is taken from Lappish fairy tales and legends, by J. Qvigstad.
There were mountain Sámi people up in Manndalen. They lived at Tsjorro-enga, and there was a half-grown girl there. One day the girl disappeared, and people looked for her, but they didn't find her and didn't understand where she had gone.
It took a long time, then the mountain Lapps returned to the same spot, and the girl's mother was with them. Then a strange woman entered the tent and said: «Good day, relative!». She replied, but she did not recognise the woman. Then the woman said: «Please come with me for a while!». She did not want to, but the other said again: «Come with me, nothing will happen to you, you will soon be home again». Then she went with her. They walked a short distance and came to a large mound. A door opened and they went in. It was a house, and a young woman was in childbirth. There was also a young man and an old master of the house.
The woman who had fetched her said, «Now place your hands on your daughter!» She did so, and the child was born. Only then did she recognise her daughter, who had once been lost. The woman said, «It is your daughter, who had gone astray. We see you, even though you do not see us.» Then she prepared a bed for the young woman and gave her food after the birth. «But we will not give you food, for you are to go home. If you eat with us, you will never return home.» Then the door opened, and the woman was back on this earth and went home.
Also told: The wife crucified the child and took it with her. The next time she was collected, she did not get to crucify the child.
Midwife to the Underground, told by Harry Solhaug
Current links
Midwife among the subterranean, Sami legends and myths, Qvigstad, National Library
Midwife of the Underground, NRK
Lappish fairy tales and legends from Lyngen, National Library of Norway
Sami stories, National Library of Norway
