The Forest Finnish barn at Peistorpet is now protected by the National Heritage Board. The barn is a unique Forest Finnish cultural monument with a large collection of magical symbols - an important part of the Forest Finnish belief in nature.
Deep in the forest, right on the Swedish border, there's a barn that at first glance looks like an ordinary barn, but that's until you take a closer look. A wealth of a rare and inalienable part of the Forest Finnish cultural heritage in Norway has been carved here: magical symbols.
This barn carries the knowledge of an important part of the Norwegian cultural heritage that was close to being wiped out. Here, this magical protection is literally in the walls. Fortunately, it is now a place where we can both experience and learn about the magical part of the Forest Finnish cultural heritage in Norway.
Audun Skeidsvoll, Assistant National Heritage Officer
The Forest Finns had a view of nature rooted in Finno-Ugric shamanism and Finnish mythology that they brought with them from Finland when they emigrated in the 17th century. The use of magical symbols has been an important part of daily life for the Forest Finns. The symbols had a protective function and were carved into valuable buildings and places, such as barns, storehouses and stables.
It is therefore no coincidence that the symbols are carved in the barn. The barn was used to store both the seeds and the grain used to live on during the snowy season. The symbols were carved or engraved on doors, around doorways or other openings in the walls. Separate fertility symbols were also carved. These were intended to help increase the yield and fertility of farm animals. In the barn at Tomta, Peistorpet, we find them all.
Because most of the carved symbols were placed around doorways, weather and wind have often worn them off over time. Because the symbols in the barn are protected from this wear and tear, we find an unusual amount of the magical symbols preserved here.
We don't know enough about the meaning of all the symbols, but they are known from ancient times in many parts of the world.
Lost memories
Much of the culture of the Forest Finns has been lost through the Norwegianization process. That's why the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with Forest Finnish organizations, has ensured that a selection of Forest Finnish cultural monuments are protected. Each preservation will tell its own part of the story of the Forest Finnish community in Norway. The magical symbols will now be preserved as living mediators of the Forest Finnish belief in nature.
It is the Forest Finns themselves who know what their cultural heritage is. That's why we would like to thank the Forest Finnish interests in Norway and the Forest Finnish Museum for their commitment to the barn and solid professional assistance. If it hadn't been for their commitment, we don't think the National Heritage Board would have discovered this gem.
Øystein Hagland, Senior Advisor in the Preservation Unit at the Directorate for Cultural Heritage
Forest Finns and the travelers
This barn is also a cultural monument to the travelers - the Tatars. They traded with the farmers at Peistorpet, and were sheltered for the night in what is now known as the tater loft in the barn. It was said that the finest horse the farm had was bought by the travelers. This is why one of the cultural monuments of the Romani/Tater people is also protected.
When we preserve an area or a building, it is always as part of a larger narrative. This is especially true of those buildings and areas of which there are very few left. The building we are protecting today, Låven på Tomta, Peistorpet, is as far as we know the only one of its kind in this country.
Traditions, knowledge and shared stories are of great importance to society and to the identity of individuals. Cultural heritage creates a sense of belonging and community. It gives us a sense of continuity and a connection to our own past and history. The Forest Finnish language disappeared during the 20th century, so the cultural monuments that remain are particularly important to preserve.
Maintenance
From 2018 to 2021, later transferred to 2023, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage awarded a grant for the restoration of the barn with the aim of safeguarding the cultural heritage value of the magical symbols. During the restoration of the barn, parts of the barn with carvings were dismantled and stored at the Forest Finnish Museum. These parts were returned in 2023.
Facts and figures
religion
Sweden and Finland had already converted to Protestantism in the 16th century, so the Forest Finns belonged to the same religion and denomination as the rural people in the areas they came to in Norway.
The Forest Finns have often been associated with magic and mysticism. The Forest Finns' use of magic is rooted in the shamanistic view of nature common to Finno-Ugric cultures and is not a religion that, for the Forest Finns, conflicted with an official religion. Shamanic magic was practiced through rituals, incantations and symbols, and was used to heal illness and protect against evil forces. The rune songs of the forest Finns could be both religious and storytelling.
Finnskogen
Finnskogen stretches from Trysil in the north to Hølen in the south. The forest areas were named after the Finn migration in the 1600s. People from Finland came here to find deserted forests where they could make a living by raising livestock, hunting and fishing.
Peistorpet/Piesala is a forest Finnish site located in Grue municipality right on the border with Sweden, in the area where the forest Finnish tradition and way of life has been preserved the longest.
