Late Rev. L.O. Skrefsrud published The Traditions and Institutions of the Santhals, for the first time in 1887. The present edition has been updated, freshly translated from the original Santali and re-edited by the author with a number of explanatory footnotes and some additional matter. The author's translation is absolutely literal, in order to enable the reader, as far as possible, to understand the Santal mentality and way of expression. P. O. Bodding was a Norwegian missionary, linguist and folklorist. He spent 44 years in India mainly in Eastern Indian in the Santhal Parganas-district.