äppäräs, inSamireligion andfolklore, theghost of a dead child that haunts the place of its death because it did not receive proper burial rites. Theäppäräs is only one of several of the anomalous dead figures in Finno-Ugric mythology that serve as warnings for the living to observe the norms of society or expect supernatural intervention. Theäppäräs was most often thought of as the restless soul of anillegitimate child murdered by its mother. Other placeless or wandering dead, such as the Finnishihtiriekko and the Ostyakvylep orpatshak, oftenmanifest themselves in apparitions or as auditory experiences, indicating the uneasiness of the people about the proper fate of their dead. The Samirawga and Finnishraukka ormeriraukka, most likely from old Scandinaviandraugr, are similar ghosts, in this case people who perished at sea and thus received no proper burial.