Sami_noaidi_with_a_drum_used_for_runic_divination.html" ;"title="Sami shamanism-->Sami noaidi with a drum used for runic divination">Sami shamanism-->Sami noaidi with a drum used for runic divination (''meavrresgárri''). Illustrations printed from copperplates by O.H. von Lode in Florence, after drawings made by Knud Leem for ''Beskrivelse over Finnmarkens Lapper'' (1767) Knud Leem (13 February 1697 – 27 February 1774) was a Norwegians, Norwegian priest and linguist, most known for his work with the

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

and the

Sami languages Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

.Rolf Grankvist
''Knut Leem''

Norsk Biografisk Leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

, snl.no, retrieved December 10, 2012

Biography

Knud Leem was born in Haram in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Niels Knudssøn Leem and his wife Anne Danielsdatter Bugge. Leem started theological studies at Copenhagen University in 1713 and got his theological degree two years later at 18 years of age. He worked as a teacher and assistant to more senior priests until 1725 when he got a position as

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for the Samis in

Porsanger Porsanger ( se, Porsáŋgu; fkv, Porsanki) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lakselv. Other villages in the municipality include Børselv, Brenna, Indre ...

. In 1725 he moved back to southern Norway where he was appointed vicar in

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund. The village was an ancient c ...

He was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

in Alta in

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbour ...

during 1728. Dating from 1752, Leem headed the Seminarium Lapponicum Fredericianum in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

until his death in 1774.

Sami studies

At the Seminarium Lapponicum, Knud Leem was assisted by

Anders Porsanger Anders Porsanger (1735 – 10 October 1780) was a Sámi linguist and the first Sámi who received a higher education. In 1752, he was invited to assist professor Knud Leem in his efforts to create a Sámi dictionary, all the while pursuing his stu ...

in his work on a Sami dictionary. Leem had first started the linguistic study of Sámi when he published a grammar book in 1748. Between 1756 and 1768, he published two dictionaries. He also produced ''Lexicon Lapponicum Bipartituma'', a trilingual

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...

to and from the Sami language into both Danish and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

(1768–1781). Leem's grammar book shows an insight into Sámi that was not present in many other grammar books of the same era. Leem uses an inflection classification quite similar to the one being used today. He also commented on consonant gradation, but more as a tendency than as a rule.

Topographic work

Knud Leem’s most important topographic work, ''Beskrivelse over Finmarkens Lapper deres Tungemaal, Levemaade og forrige Afgudsdyrkelse'' (1767), was supplied with comments from Bishop

Johan Ernst Gunnerus Johan Ernst Gunnerus (26 February 1718 – 25 September 1773) was a Norwegian bishop and botanist. Gunnerus was born at Christiania. He was bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1758 until his death and also a professor of theology at the Unive ...

and a large historic-religious study written by Erik Johan Jessen-Schardeböll (1705–1783), who was the Danish General Church inspector. Leem described, in both Danish and

, the life and livings among the contemporary Sami population, their garments, clothing and dress, food and cooking, hunting, fishing and sport equipment,

shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...

and folk belief. A rich, but in many cases distorted, illustrated material, enlarges the value of the documentation about elderly Sami culture, at the same time as the book is among the foremost topographic work published in the Nordic countries during the 18th century. ''Jessen (-Schardebøll), Erik Johan, 1705-83'' (Dansk biografisk Lexikon / VIII. Bind. Holst - Juul / 489 (1887-1905) Author: Carl Frederik Bricka)
/ref>

Selected works

* ''En lappisk Grammatica efter den Dialect, som bruges af Field-Lapperne udi Porsanger-Fiorden : samt et Register over de udi samme Grammatica anførte Observationers Indhold, hvorhos er føyet et Blad af den berømmelige Historie-Skriveres Hr. Baron Ludvig Holbergs Kirke-Historie oversat i det Lappiske Tungemaal med en Analyse over hvert Ord.'' (1748)

* ''En Lappesk Nomenclator efter Den Dialect, som bruges af Fjeld-Lapperne i Porsanger-Fjorden.'' (1756)

* ''Om Lappernes Afgudiske Ofringer'' (1760) *''Knud Leems Beskrivelse over Finmarkens Lapper, deres Tungemaal, Levemaade og forrige Afgudsdyrkelse, oplyst ved mange Kaabberstykker = Canuti Leemii De Lapponibus Finmarchiae, eorumqve lingva, vita et religione pristina commentatio, multis tabulis aeneis illustrata / med J.E. Gunneri Anmærkninger. Og E.J. Jessen-S Afhandling om de norske Finners og Lappers hedenske Religion.'' (with Erich Johan Gunnerus and Johan Ernst; 1767) *''Lapponico - Danico - Latina.'' (1768)

Biography

Sami studies

Topographic work

Selected works

References

Related Reading