Mount Seydpahk (height 188 meters) is located in the middle reaches of the Ponoi River. The mountain is famous for its seids, the most legendary of them is the Flying Stone.
According to Sami legend, this stone came from somewhere in Scandinavia. He was looking for a calm and fertile place for a long time, sinking to the ground in many places in Lapland, and did not find it. He didn’t like the mountains, or the waters and winds, or people treated him without due respect. And so he found his place here, on Lake Vuliavr, on a high mountain covered with gray lichens. He sat down on his future bed, as if not yet deciding to finally stay here. He turned his face to the vast Ponoy swamp with the sacred secret lake Seydyavr and he liked this land. So since then, he rests here, while this corner of nature still remains untouched, while people still treat him with due respect. History has not brought to us completely the legend of the Flying Stone, only its echoes. The Sami were extremely reluctant to let foreigners into their secrets, even thosewith whom they lived for a long time, whom they respected. The secrets of the Sami people are only for the Sami themselves.
Surprisingly, the rocks that make up the stone and the pedestal are completely different. The rocks of the stone are very dark, even black, while the pedestal and outcrops of the surrounding rocks consist of some kind of light granite gneisses, which are also covered with silvery lichens in places. So the color of the Flying Stone contrasts very well with the surrounding background and stands out well against it.
The Lopari venerated the holy stones … They deified the Flying Stone. They came to him with their sorrows and illnesses, expected help from him, good luck in their affairs. How many times did the soothsayers-Noids use the fear and respect that the Flying Stone inspired people!
In the century before last, during the active Christianization of the peoples of the North, Russian missionaries tried to dump a stone and destroy it as a symbol of paganism. For this purpose, scaffolding was erected around it. But the attempt was unsuccessful.
Promotional video: