Paul Olaf Bodding (2 November 1865 – 25 September 1938) was a Norwegian

missionary A missionary is a member of a 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.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and folklorist.

Biography

Paul Olaf Bodding was born at Gjøvik in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The c ...

, Norway. He was the son of Edward Olsen Bodding (1825–1905) and Betzy Emilie Wennevold (1838–1889). Bodding was the son of a bookseller, and he first met the founder of The Indian Home Mission to the Santals (later developed to the NELC),

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud Lars Olsen Skrefsrud (4 February 1840 – 11 December 1910) was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary and language researcher in India. Biography Skrefsrud came from the parish of Fåberg situated north of Lillehammer in Oppland, Norway. As a youn ...

, in his father's bookshop in Gjøvik. Skrefsrud was born just outside the neighbouring town Lillehammer, in

. Bodding studied theology at the University of Kristiania (now

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

) and graduated in 1889. In 1890, he arrived in Santalistan (Santal Parganas) as a missionary priest. When Skrefsrud died in 1909, Bodding took over as the leader of the Norwegian missionary organization Santaline Mission (''Den norske Santalmisjon''). He served in India for 44 years (1889–1933), and operated mainly from the town

Dumka Dumka ( Santali: ᱫᱩᱢᱠᱟᱹ), the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bh ...

in the Santhal Parganas-district. In 1914 Bodding also completed the translation of

the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

into the Santali language. He was a celebrated scientist, and he is still well known among the

santal The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

living in the states of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

as well as in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and the Scandinavian countries. After returning from India in 1934, Bodding settled with his Danish-born wife Christine Larsen (1883–1940) in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, where he died during 1938. Cecil Henry Bompas publishe
''Folklore of the Santal Parganas''
(London: D. Nutt, 1909) compiled from stories collected by P. O. Bodding. In 2006,

Olav Hodne Olav Hodne (16 June 1921 – 29 October 2009) was a Norwegian humanitarian and missionary, affiliated with the Norwegian Santal Mission. He was awarded the Nansen Refugee Award in 1976. Early life and education Hodne was born at Lindås in Horda ...

issued a biography in his book ''Oppreisning''. A monument to Bodding stands in front of Gjøvik church in Oppland.

Works

* ''Materials for a Santali Grammar I'', Dumka 1922 * ''A Chapter of Santal Folklore'', Oslo 1924 * ''Santal Folk Tales'' (3 volumes), 1925–29 * ''Studies in Santal Medicine and Connected Folklore'' (3 volumes), 1925–40 * ''A Santal Dictionary'' (5 volumes), 1933–36 * ''Santal Riddles and Witchcraft among the Santals'', 1940

References

Other sources

* *

(2006
Misjonæren og vitenskapsmannen Paul Olav Bodding''
(Oslo:Luther forlag)

External links

* .
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod – Christian Cyclopedia
at www.lcms.org
Christine Bodding and Paul Olaf Bodding at Darjeeling, North India, ca. 1930
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodding, Paul Olaf 1865 births 1938 deaths People from Gjøvik University of Oslo alumni Linguists from Norway Norwegian folklorists Protestant missionaries in India Norwegian Protestant missionaries Missionary linguists Norwegian expatriates in India Norwegian Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in India