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Chapter 2. Connections 47
names were Sarakka (saret = “to cleave”; akka = “old woman”), Juksakka (“bow old
woman”), and Uksakka (“door old woman”), and they correspond to Urð, Verdandi,
and Skuld respectively. Sarakka was the guardian of pregnancy, or the splitting of
woman into two beings, who governed life in the womb. Umo Holmberg provides a
description of a ceremony dedicated to Sarakka:
“. . . women in childbed drank ‘Sarakka’s brandy’ before deliverance and,
together with other women, ate ‘Sarakka’s porridge’ after giving birth. In
the porridge three sticks were placed; the first one was cleft and had three
rings hanging from it, the second was black, and the third white. These were
all laid for three days at the door of the tent. If it were found that the black
stick had disappeared, it was believed to indicate that the mother or the child
would die. If, on the other hand, the white was lost, both would live.” 38
(Note: It is interesting that the tradition of nornagreytr [Norn’s groats] was a custom
which lived on until fairly recently in this century as a birth custom among the Faroe
Islanders and that the ceremony was basically the same as described for the Samí
above.) Juksakka warded over the birthing process and, according to tradition, was
able to change a girl-child to a boy immediately prior to birth if the proper sacrifices
were made to her. Her symbol was a small bow, and she would provide a boy child
with the necessary skills to become a good hunter. Uksakka lived under the door
to the tent and received the “newcomer on his arrival in the world, [and], later, she
watched over the first steps of the child to prevent its falling and hurting itself.” 39
The Samí made sacrifice to her by pouring a drink onto the ground by the door
where she dwells.
If the names of the Norns, Urð, Verdandi, and Skuld, are translated as Bauschatz
suggests, i.e.“that which has become,” “that which is becoming,” and “obligation,”
then the idea of the dispensation of “fate” as was retained by the Samí would run
something like this:
Part of the Flow of the Waters of Life are brought up together as a swirl
or eddy out of the Well of Urð (‘that which has become’) and is moved to the
surface (‘that which is becoming’). Once the child is born out of the events
38 Holmberg, Umo Finno-Ugric Mythology, published as vol. 4 of Mythology of All Races
edited by J. A. MacCulloch (Boston MA) 1928, pp. 253-54. This book contains much material
pertaining to the cultures neighboring the Germanic realm immediately to the north and to the
east. Holmberg also has many discussions about the speculation of ”borrowings” between the
Scandinavians and the Finno-Ugric tribes. Holmberg’s material is also used in many of the chapters
that follow and it was this work primarily which encouraged the author to look closely at the
border-zone culture as being a way to fill in gaps, particularly by what the Scandinavians chose to
”borrow” presumedly to fill in gaps that they themselves perceived.
39 Holmberg, p. 254.