On Tue, 12 Dec 2000, Kjell Høyer wrote: > One of my ancestors Olof Nilsson is spoken about the following way in his > death record in Tornio with the Torne river that today is the border between > Sweden and Finland "12.2.1761 1.3.1761 Torneå stad Spögubben Olof > Nilss: 82" > > I suppose "spögubbe" corresponds with the Norwegian word "spåmann". (which > could mean something like a fortuneteller in English Does anyone have more > precise information about what a "spögubbe" at time in that area is doing? > Could for instance the shamanism we find among the laps be something of the > same? > No, "spögubbe" means the one who delivered the whippings (floggings, "spöstraff" in Swedish). Later on members of this profession became vergers ("kyrkstöt", "kyrkvaktare"). Tom Tom Sundius University of Helsinki, Department of Physics phone +358-9-191 8339 P.O.Box 9, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland fax +358-9-191 8680