From Fell Tops to Standing Stones: Sacred Landscapes in Northern Finland

Abstract

In this article, I present sacred places in northern Finland. The sacred places differ greatly from those in southern Finland. This is due to the different cultural tradition. Sacred sites in the north can broadly be divided into three groups: terrain formation, natural objects and structures. I concentrate on offering places, called sieidi (SaaN), which were used by the ancestors of the modern Sámi. Meat, antlers and metal, and in later times alcohol, were offered in order to gain success at hunting. A prominent feature in sieidi places is their heterogeneity and the long tradition of use attached to them.