- Finnic mythology
Finnic mythology consists of the
Finnic peoples mythologies:Volga Finns ,Baltic Finns ,Permians and usually the more distinctSami are included. [cite book |title=European Mythology |last=Leeming |first= David Adams |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location= |isbn=9780195143614 |pages= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=myMgj6gUWUEC&pg=PA135&dq=%22Baltic+Finns%22&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U3fWQYb1AATub2S6gElEH5ChHjUPw#PPA135,M1 ](
Finno-Lappic ) peoples ofNorthern Europe share many aspects among themselves as well as with broaderCircumpolar mythology andShamanism in Siberia on one hand and with Indo-European Baltic and Germanic mythologies on the other.Finnic pre-Christian deities included a sky-god known by local names as
Jumala in Finnish, Jumal or Taevataat (Sky Grandfather) in Estonian, Jumo in Mari. [http://books.google.com/books?id=4BxvGd3c9OYC&pg A History of Pagan Europe, P. 181] ISBN 0415091365 ]Finnish
Finnish mythology survived in
Karelia region as an oral tradition of mythical poem-singing and folklore well into the 18th century.Although the gradual influence of surrounding cultures raised the significance of the sky-god Jumala in a monolatristic manner, the father god "
Ukko " (Old Man) was originally just a nature spirit like all the others. The most sacred animal, whose real name was never uttered out loud, was thebear . The bear was seen as the embodiment of the forefathers, and for this reason it was called by many euphemisms: "mesikämmen" ("mead-paw"), "otso" ("wide brow"), "kontio" ("dweller of the land").Estonian
A traveler called Wulfstan reported to the king
Alfred the Great (971-899) about the Estum or the Estonian burial customs that included holding the dead unburied in the house of their relatives and friends, who hold a wake of drinking until the day of the cremation. The rite of cremation is thought to be related to belief that it was speeding up the dead's journey to afterlife and the dead would not become earthbound spirits which were thought to be dangerous to the living. Henry of Livonia records that even in 1222 the Estonians disinterred Christian dead and burned them.Henry of Livonia describes in his chronicle a legend fromVirumaa , Estonia that speaks of a mountain and a forest where the god calledTharapita was born and from where he flew toOesel , Saaremaa an island in Estonia. During the battles inLivonian Crusade Oeselians , the proto Estonians fromSaaremaa were described by the chronicle to cry out, rejoicing in Tharapita. [http://books.google.com/books?id=FmJnyTlis7oC&dq The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, Page 193] ISBN 0231128894 ]Not much is known about authentic pre-Christian Estonian mythology, as it was a purely oral tradition and systematic recording of
Estonian folklore started in only in the 19th century, by which time most of the old myths had faded. Fact|date=November 2007The social organization of these
tribe s was rather homogenous; there was no organizedreligion Fact|date=November 2007, no professionalpriest s,Fact|date=November 2007 noscripture and indeed no written tradition at all. Similarly there was no complex pantheon or advanced system of myths.Fact|date=November 2007 This was perceived as a shortcoming by 19th century Estonian andBaltic-German literati who started to create a "proper" Fact|date=November 2007 mythological basis for an emergingnation , following the Herderian lines of nationalromanticism . Today it is difficult to tell how much of Estonian mythology as we know it today was actually constructed in the 19th and early 20th century. One should also note that some constructed elements are loans fromFinnish mythology and may date back to the common Baltic-Finnic heritage. SaysEndel Nirk : "the so called pseudo-mythology has played a greater role in Estonian national movement and the people’s life than for some other people their proven authentic mythology." Fact|date=November 2007Lappic
The knowledge of the Sami religion is primarily based on archeological remains and written sources from missionary works in northern
Scandinavia during theMiddle Ages and up to the early 18th c. Some objects date back to 800-1300s, and the sites are usually termed "Samic metal depots", due to the large findings of metal objects. The objects are mostly coins from Germany and England, and parts from weapons (e.g. arrow-heads). Some minor findings consists of horn fromreindeer .The religion was a form of
shamanism , practiced by thenoaide for the most miscellaneous problems. The instrument used for ceremonies was therune drum , but even a domestic flute, the so-called "fadno", was used. The traditional Sami chant,joik , was used in ceremonies where the noaide fell in trance and left his or her body to transcend into the divine world of "saivo", where he or she could negotiate with gods, spirits and forefathers to improve the fate of the group he or she represented. As with othercircumpolar religion s, the Sami religion contains a hunting ceremony especially forbears , known as thebear cult . We find elements ofNorse mythology as well asChristian ideas in the religious practice in the later years of Sami religion.Mordvin
Mordvin mythology has a number ofgoddess es, notably theEarth goddess "Mastorava" "earth-woman".An epic poem based on Mordvin folktales, "Mastorava ", appeared in 1994.Deities
Estonian
*
Peko - god of fertility, crops and brewing
*Pikne ("lightning") - god of thunder
*Tharapita - god of war, also known as Taara
*Vanemuine ("the ancient one") - god of music (possibly a spurious later development)
*Uku - superior god
*Ilmarine - smithgodFinnish
There are very few written documents about old Finnish religions; also the names of deities and practices of worship changed from place to place. The following is a summary of the most important and most widely worshipped deities.
*
Ahti (or "Ahto") - god of streams, lakes and sea
*Loviatar - One of Tuoni's daughters. Goddess of pain.
*Mielikki - Tapio's wife, the Goddess of forests
*Otso - son of a god, king of the forest, whose carnal form is the bear
*Pekko (or "Peko") - God/dess (the actual gender is obscure) of fields and agriculture
*Perkele - god of thunder (originally a Lithuanian deity of thunder, "Perkunas"; adopted into Finnish tradition at a late date)
*Rauni - Ukko's wife, Goddess of fertility
*Tapio - god of forest and wild animals
*Tuonetar - The wife of Tuoni
*Tuoni - god of the underworld
*Ukko - god of heaven and thunder, the over-god. same asJumala , later the Christian God.ami
This is a list of deities in the old Sami religion prior to Christianization in the 17th century.
* Aske or Manna - The god of theMoon .* Atja - The god of
thunder , also called Bajanolmmai, Dierpmis or Hovrengalles, which means "Thor- man".* Beaivi or Biejje - The great Goddess of the
Sun , mother of human kind.* Bieggagallis - The god of the
storms , father of human kind, consort of Beaivi.* Bieggolman - God of the summer winds.
* Biegkegaellies - God of the winter winds.
* Biejjenniejte - Goddess of healing and
medicine ; her name means "Daughter of the Sun" or "Maiden of the Sun", and she was especially helpful against sickneses caused by her mother, the sun.* Jabbmeaaakka - Goddess of
death and queen of the underworld and the kingdom of death.* Jipmel - "God"; possibly this was a late name of the Christian god, but it could also have been a name to include all good deities.
* Juoksahkka - The protecter and guardian of children; "The woman with an
arrow ".* Lieaibolmmai - God of the
hunt , the god of adult men.* Maadteraahka - Mother of the tribe, Goddess of women and children, she who gives humans their
body ; women belonged to her, and boys belonged to her until they were declared men. Maadteraahka is popular among modern sami feminists.* Maadteraajja - The father of the tribe, husband of Maadteraahka; while his wife gives humans their body, he gives them their
soul ; and thus, they are born.* Mubpienålmaj - "The evil one"; possibly the Christian god of evil, but also a name that included all the evil deities.
* Oksaahka - The former of the fetus; she shaped the fietus in the mother's womb and gave humans their gender. She was the sister of Juoksahka.
* Raedie or Väraldarade - The main god, the great creator ot the world; he was, however, passive, some say even sleeping, and not very included in active religion.
* Raedieahkka - Wife of Raedie.
*
Rana Niejta - Daughter of Raedie. "Rana" was a popular name of Sami girls.* Raediengiedte - Son of Raedie.
* Ruohtta - The god of sicknesses and therefore also a death-god. He was depicted riding on a horse.
* Saaraahka - The Goddess of fertility, menstruation, love, sexuality, pregnancy and childbirth. Saaraahka was the most important female god; she is sometimes sister of Juoksahka and Oksaahka, sometimes they are a trinity of the same Goddess.
* Stallon - The feared giant of the woods.
* Tjaetsieålmaj - The men of water.
ee also
*
Uralic mythology
*Hungarian deities
*Altaic mythology
*Baltic mythology
*Bear cult
*Mastorava
*Circumpolar mythology
*Rock carvings at Alta External links
* [http://www.tjatsi.fo/?side=491b24523f05ea96689d93e856f99618 Beivve] , including many other related topics (e.g.
soul dualism of Sami)References
* Herman Hofberg, "Lapparnas Hednatro"
* Uno Holmberg, "Lapparnas religion"
* Rafael Karsten, " Samefolkets religion"
* Edgar Reuteskiöld, " De nordiska samernas religion"
*Tatiana Deviatkina, "Some Aspects of Mordvin Mythology", Folklore 17 (2001). [http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol17/mordmyth.pdf]
*Paasonen (ed.), "Mordwinische Volksdichtung" (1941).
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