Nærøy manuscript

The Nærøy manuscript (Norwegian: Nærøymanuskriptet), originally Relation anlangende Find-Lappernis saa-vel i Norrlandene og Finmarken som udi Nummedalen, Snaasen og Selbye deres Afguderie og’ Satans Dyrkelse, som Tid efter anden ere blevne udforskede og decouvrerede [Treatise on the Sami in Nordland and Finnmark as well as in Namdal, Snåsa and Selbu, their idolatry and worship of Satan, as it has been revealed], is a 1723 treatise by Johan Randulf, then a vicar at Nærøy Church.

Randulf writes about Sami missionary Thomas von Westen's visit to the Nærøy parish in January 1723.

Randulf and von Westen summoned the Sami people of the parish to be interviewed and taught at the vicarage of Nærøy Church.

[1] The treatise is considered an important source on Sami religion, as Randulf builds his description on his own observations in a geographically defined area.

[6] It was published by Just Qvigstad in Kildeskrifter til den lappiske mythologi; bind 1; in the series Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs skrifter (1903).

This is the oldest skretch of the sami drum described in the manuscript; possibly drawn by Thomas von Westen . There is also a newer, more styled drawing .