From the Shores of Finnmark: A Story from Norwegian Lapland

Aikio, Matti, 1872-1929Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 162K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Ruijan rannoilta: Kertomus Norjan Lapista by Matti AikioAuthor: Aikio, Matti, 1872-1929,Language: Finnish, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jun 8, 2016

Editor's review

This is a narrative work written in Finnish by the Finnish author Matti Aikio, with a subtitle referring to the Norwegian Lapland region. It is a free public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, classified under Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literature. The work presents life in the northern borderlands in story form, offering readers a glimpse of how Lapland and northern Norway were depicted in early twentieth-century Finnish-language literature. Its value lies in providing a non-English example of Nordic regional narrative, suited to readers interested in Finnish language and literature and Nordic local writing. Readers should note that the original is in Finnish and that the work carries the assumptions of its time, so it should not be read simply through a contemporary lens. It is best approached as a literary text rather than ethnographic material, with attention to how characters and environment are presented; reading it alongside some knowledge of Nordic geography will make it smoother.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with Finnish reading ability and an interest in Nordic literature
Students of Finnish literature and Scandinavian regional writing
Readers who want to see how Lapland was narrated in early literature
Readers who enjoy strongly regional works with a leisurely narrative pace

Not a good fit for

General Chinese readers without Finnish and without translation support
Those seeking current practical travel or folklore information about Norwegian Lapland
Readers who prefer fast-paced plots or strongly dramatic fiction

Reading tips

Learn about the author and the work's historical background before starting, to reduce misreading caused by unfamiliar context
Proceed chapter by chapter, noting descriptions of landscape and daily life and sensing the pace of regional narrative
Read alongside a map of Northern Europe to build a sense of the story's space
Finnish readers can excerpt key passages and compare interpretations in different translations or reviews

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What language is this book written in?

The original is in Finnish, published by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Chinese readers without Finnish will need translation tools or a related translation to assist them.

Is the story set in Norway or Finland?

The subtitle refers to Norwegian Lapland, and the work uses life in the northern borderlands as its narrative background. Readers may regard it as Finnish-language literary writing about a northern region rather than as strict geography.

Is this book suitable for studying Nordic folklore?

It should not be used directly as folklore material. It is a literary work shaped by the author's era and narrative craft; for folklore research it should be compared with other ethnographic sources.

How can I read it without Finnish?

Start with introductions to the work and related reviews to get a general sense of the content; then use translation tools paragraph by paragraph, or look for existing translations and reading guides.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Aikio, Matti, 1872-1929 Author · Norwegian · 1872–1929

Aikio, Matti (1872–1929) was a Norwegian Sámi writer who wrote in Norwegian and is regarded as one of the pioneers of Sámi literature. Public information about his life is limited, and existing records center mainly on his two signed works. Ruijan rannoilta: Kertomus Norjan Lapista is set in the Sámi regions of northern Norway, while Eläinten nahoissa: Tarina Ruijasta likewise draws on the Sámi world. These works show that his writing was closely tied to Sámi experience and to life in the northern regions. As an early writer who treated Sámi subjects in Norwegian, he holds a place in the transition of Sámi literature from oral tradition to written literature and helped open the way for later Sámi authors.