Paul Olaf Bodding was a Norwegian missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

, linguist

Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

 and folklorist. He served in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 for 44 years (1889–1933), and operated mainly from the town Dumka

Dumka

Dumka, headquarters of Dumka district, is a city and municipality in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region which was carved out of Bhagalpur and Suri districts after The Great Santal Hul 1855. Presently, it is the commissionary headquarter of...

 in the Santhal Parganas-district. Bodding created the first alphabet and wrote the first grammar for the Santali

Santali

Santali can refer to:* Santali language, spoken by Santals in Eastern India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan* Santali latin alphabet, invented in the 1890s by the Norwegian missionary Paul Olaf Bodding, and still used by most Santals, especially the members of the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church...

-speaking native people in eastern India. In 1914 he also completed the translation of the Bible into the Santali language.

Paul Olaf Bodding had studied theology at the university of Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. He was a celebrated scientist, and he is still well known among the santals

Santals

The Santhal , are the largest tribal community in India, who live mainly in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. There is also a significant Santal minority in neighboring Bangladesh, and a small population in Nepal....

 living in the states of Jharkand, Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

 and Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 as well as in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 and the Scandinavian countries.

Bodding was the son of a bookseller, and he first met the founder of The Indian Home Mission to the Santals (later developed to the NELC

Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church

Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church is a multi-lingual Lutheran Christian church that is centred mainly in three states of North India - Bihar, Assam and Bengal. The reach of the Church extends into Nepal and the NELC also works in Bhutan....

), Lars Olsen Skrefsrud

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud was a Norwegian missionary and language researcher in India. Together with Hans Peter Børresen he is regarded as the founder of the Norwegian missionary organization Santalmisjonen...

, in his father's bookshop in Gjøvik. Skrefsrud was born just outside the neighbouring town Lillehammer

Lillehammer

is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

, in Oppland

Oppland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

, Norway.

Bodding was also involuntarily involved in a personal scandal, as his second wife, a Danish missionary-daughter, ran away with an Indian Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 (according to Olav Hodne - in his book Oppreisning (2006)).

A monument to Bodding stands in front of Gjøvik church in Norway.

The main picture shows Bodding in Benagaria, India.

Works

• Materials for a Santali Grammar I, Dumka 1922
• A Chapter of Santal Folklore, Oslo 1924
• Santal Folk Tales (3 volumes), 1925–29
• Studies in Santal Medicine and Connected Folklore (3 volumes), 1925–40
• A Santal Dictionary (5 volumes), 1933–36
• Santal Riddles and Witchcraft among the Santals, 1940

Cecil Henry Bompas published Folklore of the Santal Parganas. London: D. Nutt, 1909, compiled from stories collected by P. O. Bodding.

Some sources

• The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - Christian Cyclopedia at www.lcms.org
• Olav Hodne
  Olav Hodne
  Olav Hodne was a Norwegian humanitarian and missionary. In 1972, he became the founder and director of RDRS Bangladesh, an organization to created in order to give aid to the rural poor in northern Bangladesh....
  
  Oppreisning, a biography on Bodding, published by Luther forlag, Oslo, November 2006 (in Norwegian).