Fanas, the Sámi boat. The motif of the boat on Sámi shamanic drums represents everyday life, the connection of the world’s layers, and travel between them. Together, this reflects both the practical and spiritual significance in the traditional Sámi worldview.
- Material: bronze
- Size: 23 × 27 mm
- Lapponia collection
On the drums, the different levels of the world are depicted by horizontal lines – the upper part represents the spiritual or heavenly realm, the middle the human world, and the lower the underworld. The symbols include animals, hunting, fishing, movement, and travel, often featuring boats with fishing nets or members of the community.
The boat motif on the drums has several meanings:
Travel and boundaries between worlds: The boat may symbolize the transition between worlds – for example, between the living and spiritual realms. During trance, the shaman often left their body to travel to the spirits, and the boat can represent these spiritual journeys.
Everyday life: For the Sámi, who lived in environments rich in waterways and fishing grounds, the boat was an essential tool for survival – a source of food and a means of mobility between lakes and fjords. This everyday importance was reflected in drum motifs as a symbol of life and a connecting element.
Symbol of the boundary: The boat lies in the transitional zone between water and land, which in Sámi cosmology represents the symbolic border between the world of the living and the world of spirits. Celtic and Scandinavian traditions also associate waterways with the passage of souls, which can be analogously traced in Sámi artifacts.
Related products
