The images and captions of the presentation are from the book Pohjoisten kansojen
historia (History of the Northern Peoples) by Bishop Olaus Magnus, the original Latin
publication of which was published in 1555 with the related first edition of Carta
Marina published in 1539. Background material providing further information is Heli
Saarinen's study of the wood engravings of Olaus Magnus as original depictions of the
Lapland fable. Some of the images refer to the Finnish-language version of Pohjoisten
kansojen historia (History of the Northern Peoples) and the English-language translation
of the work.
Olaus Magnus (1490 - 1557) was a Nordic historian renowned for Pohjoisten kansojen
historia [A History of the Nordic Peoples] and as an author of Carta marina, closely
connected with the same. He was a highly learned clergyman who is often referred to as
the last Roman Catholic bishop of Swedish Finland. In reality he did not attend to his
bishop vocation for even as long as a day, because King Gustav had changed Sweden into a
land of Lutheranism and could not approve a Catholic bishop appointed by the Pope. Olaus
Magnus lived in exile for the rest of his life and died in Rome.
From 1518 to 1519, Olaus Magnus made a journey across Sweden. During his trek, he
collected information connected with nature as well as the people and their habits,
which serve as the foundation of his works. Pohjoisten kansojen historia [A History of
the Nordic Peoples], which was published in 1555, was the first literary and pictorial
presentation of Lapland. Olaus relates his own eyewitness observations of Tornionlaakso
Valley, as his journey extended as far as Pello. With respect to the rest of Lapland,
his description is based on antique and medieval literary sources and oral accounts
which were mixed up with plenty of imagination and prejudices.