Meandash: The Mythic Wild Reindeer
The central creation myth of the wild reindeer from eastern Sámi (Kola Peninsula) tradition. Meandash is a shapeshifter—human inside his hut, wild reindeer outside. He is the son of a female noaidi. An earthly girl crosses a river of blood, lungs, and livers to reach him and becomes his wife. She bears his children, who are born human. She is forbidden from drying urine-soaked reindeer skins in the sun. When she breaks this taboo, Meandash transforms permanently into a wild reindeer and his children become reindeer calves, forming the first wild reindeer herds.