BIEGGAOLMMÁI – THE WIND GOD

In the illustrations of Bieggaolmmái he has two shovels, or a showel and a club, that he shuffels the wind in and out with.

Bieggaommái was important because he could give humans better life conditions, since he is everywhere – on mountains, tundras, land and at sea. And he would strike against demons.

Bieggaolmmái ruled the wind and tempests and was important particularly because he was able to move reindeer by making the wind blow continuously in one direction. People have made sacrifices for the wind god at, for example, Inari’s Tuulispää Fell, some ten kilometres from the town of Inari.
In southern Sami areas some used to give an offering to Bieggaolmmái by placing the offering in a tiny boat made by birch bark, and send it off on the sea or a lake.

A very basic concept within shamanism is that everything in nature has a soul, a spirit. Like animals and plants for example. Also the forces of nature, like wind, rain and thunder. In the modern western society, the rain god seems to be a fairly well known concept. But here in Sápmi we never really have neither floods or draught. (Although this might be in process of changing now, due to climatic change). So we don’t really have a tradition of interacting much with the rain god. Here it’s the wind god that “rules” our life. And the Noaidi could ask Bieggaolmmái for rain when needed.

Just two generations ago we didn’t have any roads. And we still have quite big areas without roads, so it’s the sea, lakes and rivers that serves as roads, both summer and winter. That makes the wind very important.

-The movement’s of the reindeers is very much dictated by the wind. A very short explanation would be that the reindeers tend to migrate towards the wind. But it takes a lifetime working with the reindeers to really understand the interactions between the wind and the reindeers. Also the lichen (the food for the reindeers) is fed by the air/the wind, not by the earth like plants.

– The wind also dictates in what direction to walk when going hunting.

– When there is a eastly wind, its a bad time to go fishing, because it’s too hard to catch a fish, be it in the sea or in a lake. The reason for it is because the fish stand still in easterly wind, and you have to fish exactly where the fish is standing to catch it.

– The wind can create total whiteouts in the winter, and make you loose your directions and life.

-The wind can also move the mist away and save your life when you are lost. There is a story about a famous photographer in Kiruna who was out walking on a mountain when he got lost in the mist. He asked Bieggaolmmai for help, and the wind came and made his path clearer for him to get back home safely.

In short, Bieggaolmmái is definitely someone you want a good relationship with.

Sources:

https://www.nationalparks.fi/inari/sights/mythology

Samenes gamle religion og Folketro, Odd Mathis Hætta, Alta Museum Småskrifter

Leŋges Hearggi Sáhčal Fatnasa, Fredrik Prost, Dat 2022.

Also read:

SAMI GODS, GODDESSESS AND MYTHICAL ENTITIES

Bieggaolmmái – An interesting trainride