Abstract

This article deals with Isaac Olsen, a Norwegian who was an itinerant catechist and teacher among the Sami people in Finnmark, Northern Norway. The author claims that Isaac Olsen, as a forerunner to the Sami missionary Thomas von Westen, in fact was the first missionary among the Sami people in Finnmark. Isaac Olsen came to Finnmark just after 1700, learned the Sami language and started his work among the Sami population in Eastern Finnmark. He got to know the Sami people well, and they gave him information about Sami pre-Christian religious practice, among other names of places of sacrifice. These names, in addition to many other pieces of information, were written down by Isaac Olsen in a copybook that has been preserved. The article discusses in great detail the contents of this book, which contains valuable knowledge about Early Modern Sami culture and religion. Isaac Olsen, also as a pioneer, translated Danish religious texts into the Sami language, called to Copenhagen to perform translation work by the Missionary College.

Highlights

  • Missionary activity in Finnmark is normally associated with the name of Thomas von Westen (Skjelmo and Willumsen 2017)

  • He was employed by the Missionary College in Copenhagen and undertook his missionary work among the Sami population in Norway from 1716 until his death in 1727 (Skjelmo and Willumsen 2017, 122)

  • ‘preacher’ are used about Isaac Olsen in this article, it is based on the fact that Isaac Olsen was formally employed as a catechist among the Sami people in Finnmark eight years before Thomas von Westen was installed in his position as leader of the mission in Norway by the Missionary College in Copenhagen

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Summary

Introduction

Missionary activity in Finnmark is normally associated with the name of Thomas von Westen (Skjelmo and Willumsen 2017). ‘preacher’ are used about Isaac Olsen in this article, it is based on the fact that Isaac Olsen was formally employed as a catechist among the Sami people in Finnmark eight years before Thomas von Westen was installed in his position as leader of the mission in Norway by the Missionary College in Copenhagen. On 9 July 1708, bishop Peder Krog from Nidaros, travelling in Finnmark, issued an Instruction stating that ‘Isaac Olsen should continue with the information of the Sami people and catechize the people, in particular the youth, in every way that he would find most suitable, and with the greatest diligence and industry’ [Author’s italics].2 It becomes clear form this wording by the use of the verb ‘continue’ that Isaac Olsen was going to proceed with a work that he already had started. The life and work of Isaac Olsen is the core of this article

Isaac Olsen
Educational texts
Moral parables
Texts for entertainment
Linguistic development
Personal experiences
Sami places of sacrifice and Sami sorcery
Official documents
Demons and places of sacrifice
Heavenly letters
Works Cited
Full Text
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