Dálvi: Six Years in the arctic tundra
I discovered Dálvi back in 2022, about a year after permanently moving to Finland. A time when I was navigating my own integration into a new culture in the far North, deeply immersed in my Finnish language studies, and uncovering new nuances and meanings of home and belonging every day. Laura Galloway's memoir resonated with me from the very first page.
In a mix of memoir and travelogue, Dálvi tells the story of journalist Laura Galloway and her encountering with the Sámi culture. After a DNA test revealing her Sámi heritage, Laura decides to leave behind her bustling life in New York City to relocate to Kautokeino, a remote village in Norwegian Lapland. The story follows Laura’s journey during her six transformative years in the far North, Dálvi is a compelling exploration of Arctic life, Sami culture, and the themes of identity and belonging.
Reading Dálvi feels like embarking on a journey all the way to the Arctic. From page one, the narrative is filled with vivid descriptions of the Arctic landscape. Beyond minus fifteen Fahrenheit, lingonberries, and reindeer stew, Dálvi also addresses delicate themes of mental breakdown, anxiety and that pervasive sense of “exhaustion” coming from present-day social media culture:
“I am now a million miles away from anyone that understands ‘life hacks’ and people who drink grass-fed yak-butter coffee or do six-day silent meditation retreats in exotic locales and then write extensive posts about their personal growth on LinkedIn and Instagram with hashtags like #blessed.”
Another compelling layer of Laura’s journey is her exploration of the Sámi language, a minority group of Uralic languages spoken by the indigenous people of the Sápmi region. This region spans the northern parts of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and the Kola Peninsula. The narrative is enriched with Sami and Norwegian words starting from the title itself Dálvi - winter, in Sami.
Ultimately, Laura’s journey is one of profound self-reflection. It’s a narrative about finding oneself in the most unexpected places and cultivating a deep sense of belonging and understanding that home is not merely a physical location, but resides within us and in the connections we form with others
“I don’t know what the future holds, but knowing I’ve found the meaning of home, anything is possible.”
The conclusion, one of the most hopeful endings I have ever read, marks the dawn of a new chapter, and a new journey ahead:
"I have a course to plot across Europe. - The trip will take me 3,292 kilometres across seven countries, with two cats and two dogs. I need to be prepared"
Returning to this book years later to write this review, I find myself once again enchanted by Dálvi. Every time I come back to these pages I find myself underlying more and more passages and reflecting on my own journey into the North.
As I wrap up this review, I know that this winter too, I’ll curl up with a blanket and hot tea from my cozy apartment in Helsinki, the place I now call home, and step back into Dálvi - to be moved and inspired, again, by this fascinating tale.
