Middle Ages12th–14th century AD · Dovre, Innlandet, Norway
Medieval Norse sagas place the Sámi in central Norway centuries before 1700
NTNU historians trace a South Sámi presence in texts from the 12th to 14th centuries, against the view that the Sámi arrived only in the 1700s.
In brief 3 key points
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- Medieval texts place South Sámi people in central Norway before 1700.
- They challenge the idea of Sámi arrival in the 18th century.
- Many figures are probably mythical, so the texts record beliefs about ancestry.
Medieval written sources record a South Sámi presence in central Norway centuries earlier than some researchers had assumed. Historians at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) reached this view by studying texts from Norway, Iceland and Orkney. The texts were written down between the 12th and 14th centuries.
For a long time, some researchers held that the South Sámi reached central Norway in the 18th century at the earliest. On this view, Norwegian farmers lived there long before them. The idea is known as the "hypothesis of late immigration".
Peter Sigurdson Lunga and Emil Mård Vaadal Eliasson are historians at NTNU's Department of Teacher Education. Both belong to the research group Middelalderdidaktikk (Medieval Didactics), which Lunga leads. They published a special issue of the journal Historisk Tidsskrift on South Sámi traces from the Middle Ages. Researchers from Germany and the Netherlands co-wrote several of the analyses.
“A key finding across several of the articles is that a South Sámi presence is, in fact, well documented in written sources from the Middle Ages. This stands in stark contrast to the 'hypothesis of late immigration' that many researchers previously championed.”
Peter Sigurdson Lunga, historian, NTNU
Sámi ancestry was a mark of status
The team found Sámi names and other concrete traces in the texts. These include references in origin stories about ancestry and geographical roots. Earlier scholars dismissed the Sámi in such texts as a fairy-tale element. Lunga noticed how often they were mentioned. He concluded that the Sámi were likely physically present and seen as significant.
In the Viking Age and early Middle Ages, kinship with the Sámi was one trait that supported a family's high status. The Sámi were thought to have mastery over magic. Lunga writes that from the 13th century, many Norwegian and Icelandic noble families were believed to have Southern Sámi ancestors. Norse chieftain families could use such ancestry, genuine or constructed, to raise the standing of their line.
“We see clear traces of intermarriage, and several powerful families have distinct Sámi elements in their genealogies. We also see Sámi traces in royal genealogies, such as that of Harald Fairhair.”
Emil Mård Vaadal Eliasson, historian, NTNU
The researchers tie this to Norse myth. The gods descended from the Jotuns, giant-like beings who lived on the edges of the world and held knowledge the gods needed. The Sámi dressed differently from other Norwegians and often lived in mountains and high plateaus, much like the Jotuns. Old texts sometimes call the same person both a Jotun and a Finn, an old Norse term for a Sámi.
Snøfrid and the Finn-king of Dovre
The best-known Sámi figure in the royal sagas is Snøfrid Svåsedatter. In the sagas, she "bewitched" Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and married him. Her father, Svåse the Finn-king, also called Svåse the Jotun, lived in Dovre. He became the ancestral figure of the Dovre dynasty.
The story first appears in Ågrip, the oldest surviving Old Norse work on the kings of Norway, from the 12th century. It later appears in Snorri Sturlasson's sagas. Dovrefjell has a central place in South Sámi history. Harald is said to have held the banquet where he met Snøfrid a day's travel from ancient Sámi settlements by Aursjøen lake.
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“We can assume that Svåse and his kin represented a Sámi presence in the Dovre region. The myth positions the South Sámi as Indigenous to the South Sámi territory.”
Emil Mård Vaadal Eliasson, historian, NTNU
Other texts follow the same pattern. In the Founding of Norway saga, the mythical founder Nor marries the sister of King Rolv, a son of Svåse. The Landnámabók (Book of Settlements) names a Finn-king, Møttul. Several of his descendants have names that suggest Sámi ancestry: Finn, Finnvard, Kolfinna, Tind and Grima. The Fagrskinna text makes Møttul the magic-wielding foster father of Gunnhild, wife of King Eirik Bloodaxe.
Lunga thinks Svåse and Møttul were probably not real people. The texts show what medieval writers believed about ancestry. They are not proof that Snøfrid or Svåse lived.
“Much like Svåse, Møttul is likely not a historical figure; nevertheless, he appears to have played a significant role in the genealogies of Icelandic families, as well as in the lineage of the Norwegian royal dynasty.”
Peter Sigurdson Lunga, historian, NTNU
Archaeology points the same way, though gaps remain. Remains of traditional Sámi dwellings and hearths have been found, but Eliasson says many have not been precisely dated. Lunga says the group has developed a new project on the South Sámi in the Middle Ages with Saemien Sijte, a South Sámi museum and cultural centre.
Sources (1)
Peer-reviewed paperfrom Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Paper: Peter Sigurdson Lunga, "Svási 'Finnkonungr' from Dovre and Perceptions of Saami Ancestry in Old Norse Genealogies", Historisk tidsskrift (2026). DOI: 10.18261/ht.105.2.4
Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars
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