Ruohtta


Ruohtta is personification of sickness and death in Sami mythology. He ruled the land of the dead Rotaimo. Contrary to Sami practice, he travelled on horseback. The horse was among the Sami, a feared and detested animal, probably because it was the preferred form of transportation of the Norsemen. People who did not live their lives according to the natural orders came to Rotaimo, deep underground. There they also received a new body, but they could never leave Rotaimo again.