The old court books from Senjen in northern Norway bear witness of a trial from 1749, where three local people; two men and a young girl, were sentenced to death for the brutal murder of two young S??mi men. They were later beheaded near the place where the misdeed had been committed, and their heads were put on stakes, according to the law at that time. This historic incident became the raw material of several legends in the area, but the content and the perspectives of these narratives relate very different versions of what had happened, especially in relation to the possible ethnic conflicts between S??mi and Norwegians in the area. The article discusses this as different narrative strategies in coping with a situation where many people had a mixed ethnic background, and open ethnic conflicts between S??mi and Norwegians were evaded.
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