Stallo - the Sami boogeyman
Troll, demon, ghost, golem - or a Viking/Russian invader?
Did you know that the Sami also have their own boogeyman who serves as the villain in their fairy tales? Yes, it is true, and his name is Stallo. With the Sami national day, 6 February, coming up, I thought it would be a good idea to write a post about him.
Strong, but stupid
Different narrative traditions have given Stallo different shapes. Sometimes he is a troll, other times he is a demon, devil or a ghost. In some stories, Stallo is like a golem, created from earth and mud by a Sami shaman , a noaidi, to fight against the noaidi's enemies. However his shape, Stallo is usually dressed in black, followed by a black dog and carrying an iron tube which he uses to suck the souls out of his unfortunate victims. Sometimes it is his wife, Luhtak, who carries this tube. Stallo usually also has a bag on his back, in which he stuffs unfortunate children he meets. Like our Norwegian trolls, Stallo is a real glutton and fond of meat, especially human flesh.
Fortunately, Stallo, despite his size and strength, is also very stupid, and in every fairy tale he is rather easily fooled - even small children can trick him! Fortunately, we must say, otherwise many Sami heroes would probably have ended up as Stallo's dinner.
Stallo as Father Christmas
Just like the Norwegian trolls, Stallo has been used to scare children into behaving well, especially around Christmas time. For the Sami, Stallo also acts as Father Christmas! On Christmas Eve itself, Stallo drives around with his raide (sledding team) of mice or rats. Outside the siida (dwelling place) everything must be swept and tidy , so the raide does not get stuck in anything. Should that happen, Stallo will be furious, and then there will hell to pay for the children who hasn´t tidied up properly! The children must also put a bucket of water outside in case Stallo is thirsty. If he doesn't get water to quench his thirst, Stallo can end up draining the people of blood to quench his thirst! I think it is safe to say that Stallo is way scarier than the Santa we grew up with...
Throughout the Christmas season, the children must behave nicely and not make a lot of noise, because Stallo can't stand that, and then he might show up. You would prefer to avoid that Christmas visit for sure! Neither must they go sledding, because they risk sledding straight into Stallo's sack, and it is safe to say that he won't say no thanks to a free dinner!
Russian origins?
According to some historians and folklorists, the stories of Stallo might originate from Norse or Russian warriors, who went on plundering raids to the North. If this is true, the name "Stallo" might refer to the steel used in the warriors' chainmail armor. The theory is very interesting certainly rooted in historical facts - both Norse and Russian warriors regularly went on raids in the north, to plunder from the Sami people. Thus, the Sami population has dealt with abuse from both Norwegian and Russian rulers since the Viking Age. Is it perhaps no surprise that the abusers were demonized in the Sami fairy tales and turned into Stallo?