Folklore in the Nordic World

In seven concise chapters that document both the history of Nordic folkloristics and the ongoing vivacity of Nordic folklore today, Thomas A. DuBois demonstrates how the informal, traditional elements of a culture or subculture are an integral and vibrant part of the Nordic world. From methods of preparing suovabiergu (smoked reindeer meat) in SÁpmi, to celebrating graduation by “running the falls” at Uppsala University in Sweden, to massive folk music festivals in Finland and tales of supernatural visitors bestowing baby names in Iceland, folklore offers unique insights into the everyday life of Nordic society. The study of Nordic folklore began in the nineteenth century, when early folklorists imagined that the true character of a nation could be found among the tales of the peasantry. Today, the theories, tools, and institutions developed by influential folklorists in the Nordic region continue to lead the way in documentation, preservation, and analysis of folklore.

Thomas A. DuBois is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Scandinavian Studies, Folklore, and Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His books include Sacred to the Touch, SÁmi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North (coauthored with CoppÉlie Cocq), and Songs of the Finnish Migration (coedited with B. Marcus CederstrÖm).