Sky (Num)

The Nenets/Samoyed supreme sky-god; classed 'deity'. Same name (Num/Nom/Nop) recurs among the Selkup (see selkup_nom). Foundational sources: Castrén (mid-19th c.) and Lehtisalo's 1924 Jurak-Samoyed mythology. English 'Sky' leads, native Num in term.

Children

• Death-God (Nga)
• God's Lake (Num-to)

Domains

• sky and creation
• weather and natural order

Powers

• make and govern the world from on high
• give the reindeer as a sacred gift

Epithets

• Num latin · Num · cultThe supreme sky-god and maker of the worldT. Lehtisalo, on Nenets (Samoyed) mythology (secondary)

Relations

• equated with: Sky FatherBoth continue Uralic *num 'sky/high'; the Samoyedic supreme sky-creator Num is the cognate of Ob-Ugric Num-Torum."Num," Encyclopedia of Religion (citing Uno Holmberg, Mythology of All Races vol. 4, 1927) (secondary)
• equated with: Upper Sky FatherMansi Numi- and Samoyedic Nenets Num share Uralic *num 'sky' as the supreme celestial deity."Num," Encyclopedia of Religion (citing Uno Holmberg, Mythology of All Races vol. 4, 1927) (secondary)
• equated with: Sky (Nom)Samoyedic cognate reflexes of the same sky-god lexeme: Nenets Num = Selkup Nom 'sky/highest god'."Num," Encyclopedia of Religion (citing Uno Holmberg, Mythology of All Races vol. 4, 1927) (secondary)
• enemy: Death-God (Nga)Reciprocal of nenets_nga.enemy — Death-god and sky-god stand opposed in the Samoyed light/dark dualism, though Nga is also Num's son; the registry parentage records the sonship.T. Lehtisalo, Entwurf einer Mythologie der Jurak-Samojeden (1924) (primary)
• spouse: Mother Earth (Ya-Nebya)Sky-father and Mother Earth form the cosmic complement of Nenets religion; Ya-Nebya is reckoned Num's wife in the recorded accounts.T. Lehtisalo, Entwurf einer Mythologie der Jurak-Samojeden (1924) (primary)

Sources

• Num is the supreme sky-god and creator of the world of the Nenets (and the wider Samoyed peoples), a remote 'Sky-Father' (Num-Nisya) who governs natural phenomena and to whom animals, food, clothing and money are sacrificed.: Lehtisalo, T. (1924). Entwurf einer Mythologie der Jurak-Samojeden. Helsinki: Société Finno-Ougrienne. (ethnography); Castrén, M.A. (1853 ff.). Samoyedic religion and travel notes. (ethnography); Hultkrantz, A. / Encyclopedia.com, 'Num'. (secondary)
• Num is the father of Nga, the god of evil and death, and his antipode; in one myth Num and Nga together create the world, cooperating and competing — a dualistic cosmology.: Lehtisalo, T. (1924). Entwurf einer Mythologie der Jurak-Samojeden. (ethnography); Encyclopedia.com 'Num'; 'Samoyed Religion'. (tertiary)