Beaivi

Sources report mythic traditions that identify Sámi people as 'children of the Sun' in certain epics and narratives connected to Beaivi; some localized epics (e.g., traditions mentioning the Gállábártnit) link human origins and the invention of skis to relationships between humans and the Sun or the Sun’s offspring. Eastern Sámi accounts and other regional variants additionally describe the Sun or the Sun’s daughter as the giver or teacher of reindeer to humans, and some versions state reindeer are owned by the Sun. These specific origin motifs are recorded as regional variants rather than a single uniform origin myth.

In the sources Beaivi appears primarily as solar iconography and gendered personification rather than with detailed anthropomorphic description. On Northern Sámi drums the Sun is shown as a circle near the top; on Southern Sámi drums it appears as a central square with four radiating lines ('four straps of the Sun'). In narrative imagery Beaivi (as female in parts of Sápmi) travels with a daughter, Beaivi-nieida, through the sky in an enclosure sometimes described as covered with reindeer bones or antlers; in Skolt and Kola accounts the Sun-being is male and is depicted riding with a human wife. The supplied materials do not give further facial or clothing details.

Beaivi is associated with bringing spring and warmth, fostering plant growth, and ensuring the fertility and flourishing of reindeer, thereby underpinning human prosperity. Communities petitioned Beaivi for the return of sunlight after winter and for cures of mental illnesses attributed to lack of light; people also sought help for summer headaches and for guidance if one got lost. Mythic variants attribute to the Sun or the Sun’s daughter a role in initiating or giving reindeer to humans.