Joik of the Sun

It’s the first day of winter! So, with the winter solstice kicking off the holiday season, and with Christmas and New Year’s just around the corner, I decided to draw some wintery stuff for the occasion.

This piece is inspired by the culture of the Sami people, who live in the northernmost parts of Nordic countries. Not only do they have rich and unique folklore (which I hope to study in much greater detail sometime), but they have occupations that to someone like me are unusual, such as reindeer herding, and musical styles such as the joik.

While I won’t go into all of the inspiration in this piece, depicted here is a haldi, a spirit devoted to watching over nature, in the form of a reindeer as it joiks the sun in hopes that it will return to bring the world out of this dark time of year. The joik is an ancient style of music that is meant to evoke a particular subject through the use of song, and often is lyricless. The sun is represented by the symbol of Beaivi, the Sami sun goddess who has a connection to reindeer and, among other things, brings fertility to them.

A side note about the reindeer’s eye color: According to UCL’s Glenn Jeffery, it appears that reindeer can change their retinal structure, resulting in different eye colors. In the summer, their eyes are gold, while in winter, they’re blue, each color allowing them to better see in the lighting conditions in their surrounding climate.

I hope you enjoyed this, and that you have a great holiday season!