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Orkney's Ganfer

The word is explained slightly differently in different dictionaries. The Orkney Dictionary by Margaret Flaws and Gregor Lamb has it in the form 鈥済amfer鈥� in the senses 鈥�1. close misty weather. A gamfer for snaa. 2. An appartition.鈥� Although spelled differently, it is still the same word. The reason it has an 鈥渕鈥� instead of an 鈥渘鈥� is just that the 鈥渇鈥� which follows is a labial (touching the lips), and so is an 鈥渕鈥�, while an 鈥渘鈥� doesn鈥檛 touch the lips. So it鈥檚 easier for our mouths to go from an 鈥渕鈥� to an 鈥渇鈥� than it is to go from an 鈥渘鈥� to an 鈥渇鈥�.

The Shetland Dictionary by John J. Graham has 鈥済anfer: an apparition of a living person, regarded as a portent of that person鈥檚 death.鈥�

Jakob Jakobsen鈥檚 dictionary of Shetland Norn actually has two entries for ganfer, which means that he regards it as two different words which just happen to sound the same.

Ganfer 1 refers to meteorological phenomena such as a mock sun, a broken rainbow, portending bad weather, cold mist indicating snow, and, interestingly, also a loud cracking sound in the atmosphere. This sudden crash may be followed by misfortune.

Ganfer 2 refers to a ghost or ghost-like person, or a person鈥檚 apparition seen before noon.

Hugh Marwick in his dictionary The Orkney Norn follows a similar arrangement as Jakobsen. He adds, however, that the word can also refer to 鈥渁ny supernatural phenomenon鈥�.

Gregor Lamb, in Hid Kam Intae Words, rightly asks the question: 鈥淭he real meaning of this word (...) is ghost (...) so how does it come to be used in Orkney applied to the weather?鈥�

Well. I recently came across two very interesting articles which both try to answer that question. One is by the Swedish folklorist Bo Almquist and appears in the book Jakob Jakobsen in Shetland and the Faroes. The other is by Eldar Heide, an expert on Old Norse language and literature from the University of Bergen (his article is available on ).

In order to understand why the word 鈥済anfer鈥� can refer to both meteorological phenomena and supernatural phenomena, we need to know something about how the Norse belief system saw the human soul. The Norse believed that people didn鈥檛 just have one soul, but several. One of these was a 鈥渂reath soul鈥� and so the soul comes to be associated with various forms of wind. For instance, when a person dies, the soul may blow out a candle on its way past as it leaves the body. It was believed that people skilled in magic were able to send their soul forth on journeys 鈥� while they themselves were still alive, but in a trance. This type of magic was known as gandr. The primary meaning of gandr, says Eldar Heide, is of 鈥渟oul or spirit sent forth鈥�. Interestingly, Jakobsen鈥檚 Shetland dictionary not only holds the word 鈥済anfer鈥�, but also a word 鈥済ander鈥�. Heide argues that 鈥渢he old connection between soul or spirit and wind can explain why one meaning of Shetlandic gander is gust of wind.鈥�

In Old Norse literature, you sometimes come across witch hunts riding across the sky. Such witch hunts are referred to as a 鈥済and-rei冒鈥� 鈥� a spirit ride. Jakobsen deduces that the word 鈥済anfer鈥� is probably another way of saying 鈥済and-rei冒鈥�, substituting the word for 鈥渞ide鈥� (鈥渞ei冒鈥� ) with a word meaning 鈥渏ourney鈥� (鈥渇er冒鈥�). Seeing such a sight is a very bad omen. Sometimes you don鈥檛 even see it, but instead you may observe a range of accompanying phenomena. For instance, you might hear a loud bang in the atmosphere 鈥� hence the Shetland meaning of 鈥済anfer鈥� as a cracking sound. 鈥淭he ride also had as a result drastic visible changes in the sky, such as the appearance of celestial rings of fire and streams of fire falling from the sky鈥� writes Almquist. Although much more dramatic, this is reminiscent of the range of meteorological phenomena that are referred to by the word 鈥済anfer鈥� in Orkney and Shetland.

What about the ghost or apparition, then? In modern Norwegian, a word for ghost is 鈥済jenferd鈥� 鈥� which appears to mean, literally, 鈥渁gain-traveller鈥�: Somebody who is walking about again after their death. However, in Orkney dialect, a 鈥済anfer鈥� may not only refer to a ghost, but a person鈥檚 double or an apparition of somebody who is not yet dead. It may be taken as a sign of their imminent death. Or, the way my husband uses it, it may be a sign of their imminent arrival. So it doesn鈥檛 seem to match the Norwegian word. The question is whether the 鈥済jen-鈥� in the word 鈥済jenferd鈥� really is the word 鈥渁gain鈥� or whether it could be the word 鈥済and鈥�, meaning 鈥渟pirit sent forth鈥�. In any case, the Norwegian 鈥済jenferd鈥� is most certainly someone who is dead already, whereas the Orcadian and Shetlandic 鈥済anfer鈥� is not necessarily dead (yet). Presently, I lean towards the explanation that it all has to do with the word 鈥済and鈥� in the sense of travelling spirits 鈥� that would unite the weather phenomena with the ghosts and the apparitions quite nicely. But I am of course open to other explanations if they are well argued.

Is it a bad omen to see a living person鈥檚 鈥済anfer鈥� or alter ego? It most certainly was for 镁贸r冒r Leysingjason in Nj谩l鈥檚 Saga, who saw his own apparition covered in blood! Walter Traill Dennison has a dramatic story where a woman from Westray who was believed to be a witch was seen in her native island while she was actually in prison in Kirkwall. Her 鈥済anfer鈥� was carrying a rope in one hand and a cubbie full of ashes in the other, foretelling her execution by strangulation and burning. In Almquist鈥檚 article there is also a fascinating story told by Orkney storyteller Tom Muir about a North Ronaldsay man by name of Willie Thompson. 鈥淲hen just a little child Willie, who knew that his grandmother has been seriously ill in bed, thought that he saw her going past the window outside the house, and reported this to his mother in the words 鈥楪ranny must be feeling better now.鈥� But the mother, who knew that granny was too ill to get out of bed, told her son that it was not the grandmother but her ganfer that he had seen.鈥�

In these stories, the 鈥済anfer鈥� is foretelling the person鈥檚 imminent death. However, there seems to be another current usage of the word 鈥済anfer鈥� which foretells a person鈥檚 imminent arrival rather than their death. Such a belief exists in Scandinavia as well, the only difference being that this type of alter ego is not called a 鈥済anfer鈥� or 鈥済jenferd鈥� or anything of that derivation, but a 鈥渧氓rd鈥�. It is sometimes just a noise, as if there was somebody at the door, rather than a visual apparition.

Interestingly, seeing a 鈥済anfer鈥� may in Shetland sometimes be taken as a good omen 鈥� but only if it is seen before noon. Almquist explains that this variation in the belief in 鈥済anfers鈥� stems from a more general belief that the morning is associated with youth, vitality and health, while the evening is associated with approaching death. In Orkney, however, the belief in how the time of day at which the 鈥済anfer鈥� is seen affects the interpretation seems to be turned on its head: Walter Traill Dennison explains that when a person鈥檚 鈥済anfer鈥� is seen in the forenoon, death will follow very soon, while if it is seen later in the day, it may be a while away yet. The earlier in the day the apparition is seen, the sooner the fulfilment of what it portends.

This is why the Orkney dialect is so fascinating: It is like an endless goldmine of interesting stuff! The ores of gold run through centuries and millennia and right up until the present day when an ordinary Orcadian might look up and say: There鈥檚 a gamfer for snow in the air the day.