Sáráhkká

Sámi goddess of birth, menstruation and the growing child (classed as deity); the most beloved of the goddesses. Sáráhkká / Sarakka, 'the cleaving woman' (sárrit 'to split' + áhkká), who dwells under the hearth. Daughter of Máttaráhkká. Honoured with cloven firewood and a birth-porridge. Secondary attestation (Læstadius, Holmberg, Rydving).

Parentage

• mother: Máttaráhkká

Domains

• childbirth
• fertility
• hearth

Powers

• Grow the flesh of the child about its bones in the womb
• Ease the pains of labour, for which wood is cloven in two
• Govern menstruation, women's fertility and sexuality

Relations

• sibling: JuoksáhkkáSister of Juoksáhkká, the bow-woman.Holmberg, Finno-Ugric Mythology (1927); Rydving, The End of Drum-Time (1993): the three sisters Sarakka, Juksakka and Uksakka, daughters of Maderakka (secondary)
• sibling: UksáhkkáSister of Uksáhkká, the door-woman.Holmberg, Finno-Ugric Mythology (1927); Rydving, The End of Drum-Time (1993): the three sisters daughters of Maderakka (secondary)

Sources

• Sáráhkká (Sarakka; usually < sárrit 'to cleave' + áhkká 'goddess') is the most beloved Sámi goddess, daughter of Máttaráhkká, who dwells under the hearth and presides over menstruation, sexuality, fertility and birth; she grows the flesh of the child in the womb, eases labour (for which a stick was cloven in two), and received a special porridge after a successful delivery.: L. L. Læstadius, Fragments of Lappish Mythology (ms. 1838–1845; ed. Pentikäinen, trans. Vähämäki, 2002) (secondary); U. Holmberg (Harva), Finno-Ugric Mythology (The Mythology of All Races IV), 1927 (secondary); H. Rydving, The End of Drum-Time: Religious Change among the Lule Saami, 1670s–1740s (1993) (secondary)