Finnish paganism was a pagan religion in finland and karelia before the finnish people were christian. This book contains both an examination of and an anthology of finnish folklore from the nineteenth century to the present. Finnish cartoonist kristian huitula illustrated the comic book adaptation of the. In finnish mythology, the sampo or sammas was a magical artifact that many tried to steal, one of them was louhi. Object of power and riches in finnish folklore ancient origins skip to main content. Discover the best childrens norse literature in best sellers. Shepard is the author of several books based on mythological tales from.
Wikimedia commons has media related to mythology of finland pages in category finnish mythology the following 12 pages are in this category, out of 12 total. Finnish mythology, like that of many other cultures, tells the stories of gods and legendary heroes. The nature of the sampo still remains shrouded in mystery and scholars have attempted to explain the origin and purpose of the artifact. In the ancient finnish poems sampo had a very prominent role.
I suggest we merge finnish mythology, estonian mythology and sami mythology as well as this one into finnic mythology or finnolappic mythology. Finnish mythology and folklore mythical creatures from. It is also called tuonela, the realm of tuoni, and pohjola, derived from the word pohja, meaning bottom and also north. There we can read how and why sampo was made and what finally happened to it. It is regarded as the national epic of karelia and finland and is one of the most significant works of finnish literature. The kalevala, a poem based on finnish folklore and mythology, is regarded as the national epic of finland. This means that people believed nature was full of small and big spirits. Finnish mythology however predates nordic it is 3,000 years or more old before nordic myths or language existed. Finnish mythology is a commonly applied description of the folklore of finnish paganism, of which a modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the finnish people. Neil gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction.
We specialize in bringing back to live rare, historical and ancient books. The kalevala by elias lonnrot, il figlio del dio del tuono by arto paasilinna, pakanuuden aikakausi by julius krohn. Hannunvaakuna finnish good luck symbol from the book finnish proverbs by inkeri. This list of names from finnish mythology compiled by the data dwarves at. Ilmarinen is an immortal smith in finnish mythology, the creator of the sky and the magic mill known as the sampo. In finnish mythology, the sampo or sammas was a magical artifact of indeterminate type. Discover with us the magic belief of ancient finns.
The 10 best norse mythology books norse mythology for. It borders on the gulf of bothnia and sweden in the west, on norway in the north, on russia in the east, and on the gulf of finland and the baltic sea in the south. But in order to understand norse magic, it is essential to become familiar with norse mythology and norse paganism, the prechristian spiritual tradition of the northern europeans. The library of alexandria is an independent small business publisher. Media in category mythology of finland the following 27 files are in this category, out of 27 total. Behind the myth of the scandinavian utopia paperback.
Joukahainen shoots an arrow to vainamoinen who falls down into the sea. It says that there was only water and sky at the beginning of the world. Mythology books, norse mythology, greek mythology, wiccan, pagan, norse. It is closer to estonian, hungarian and turkish languages than the germanic languages of scandinavia. The concise list can be found on our pantheon page of finnish gods and spirits. Most of the myths date from prechristian times and were passed from. She was becoming bored of being alone in the void of emptiness, so she let herself fall into the primal ocean where she floated aimlessly. The word is possibly derived from the compound maanala, the space or area under the earth. It has many features shared with estonian and other finnic mythologies, but also shares some similarities with neighbouring baltic, slavic and, to a lesser extent, norse mythologies. Myths, culture and feelings from the ancient finland. Finnish religious leaders were usually called shamans.
Bestselling novels, nonfiction, picture books, learn to speak finnish with textbooks, dictionaries and other materials. Finnish mythology myth encyclopedia god, story, tree. The chapters discuss how folklore has been collect and researched, regional distinctions within the countrys traditions, and how traditions have changed in the process of modernization of an agrarian society to an industrialized society. Enhanced with tove janssons simple, sprightly drawings, this series of delightful stories about life in moomin valley has enchanted audiences around the world for more than forty years. In the beginning, there was only the goddess luonnotar, whose name means daughter of nature. The finnish underworld and related concepts among other finnougric peoples, such as the yabmeaimo of the sami. In addition to finnish mythology baby names, at baby name world you will find thousands of other unique and popular male and female baby names and their meaning sorted by origin. Religion has always been the mirror of a society, and the finnish ancient religion perfectly reflects the needs and the daily life of such a magic people. Neil gaiman on his norse mythology, in which odin wants. Finnish mythology symbols scandinavian art, lapland. Finns have the power of darkness, finns are wizards. Imbolc feb 2nd ostara mar 21st22nd beltane april 30thmay 1st lithia june 21st22nd lammas july 31staug 1st mabon sept 21st22nd.
Surma is a character in the finnish folklore of kalevala. Finnish gods and goddesses pantheons the white goddess. Neil gaiman was reading to a packed crowd from his new book of stories, norse mythology, on thursday night at town hall, and he had 15 tales to. Manala, in finnish mythology, the realm of the dead. Odin and thor divide the functions of the religious and secular leaders and the vanir are the producers. This list is frequently updated we are constantly discovering more. Public domain the story describes kalevas son and ilmarinens brother. Nordic hero tales from the kalevala and millions of other books are available for. The kalevala is a 19thcentury work of epic poetry compiled by elias lonnrot from karelian and finnish oral folklore and mythology. Finnish paganism simple english wikipedia, the free. I am sure that at one point, the peoples of sweden and norway also shared the same mythos, but it seemed to have become usurped by the germanic mythos. Finnish information ilmarinens amazing magic mill patent pending this extraordinary mill was invented by ilmarinen the divine smith as a wedding present for vainamoinen. In finnish folk religion, the divine mother is the virgin mary or maaria in finnish and she is remembered in songs and spells as a spiritual mother, healer, helper and protector of motherhood. In the kalevala, we encounter many complex and intriguing personalities such as for example lemminkainen, a war hero who is a prominent figure in finnish mythology.
Rustic mythology the finnish countryfolk used to consider the flow of time to be a continuum without a beginning or an ending. Based around the concept of the world tree, which is cut down by hero of the kalevala vainamoinen, the finnish world view and mythology was of a old, shamanic tradition, fairly removed from what became the norse myth cycle, and far older. The sampo a magical artifact which louhi tried to steal. They are principally known for pulling young children into the depths, if they lean over bridge railings, docks or. Surma is a terrible beast, embodies sudden, violent death and guards the gates of the tuonela to prevent escape.
The biggest spirits were gods who had names, the god of the sky was ukko. An encyclopedia of norse mythology project gutenberg. The creator of the childrens book series the moomins also wrote a number of novels for adults, and a. Each list of finnish mythology names can be sorted by finnish mythology baby girl names or finnish mythology baby boy names. Compiled from finnish and karelian folklore in the 19th century, the book made a deep impact on the young j. It is often described as being a large dog with a snaketail and can turn people into stone with a stare. Mention the word norse and it is sure to conjure up images of vikings, dragon ships, and trolls. An encyclopedia of norse mythology based on the project gutenberg edition of myths of the norseman from the eddas and sagas by h. Ilmarinen m finnish mythology derived from finnish ilma meaning air. See more ideas about mythology, gods and goddesses and deities. Paasilinna is a finnish national treasure, and his other novel translated into english, the howling miller, is a great one that i keep stocked in the bookstore, too. Godcheckers az names list of finnish gods and spirits.
Kullervo m finnish, finnish mythology derived from finnish word kulta gold. Finnish paganism is close to scandinavian paganism and baltic paganism. Finns have the power of darkness, finns are wizards this was the cry of the viking warriors who feared nothing. In finnish epic kalevala kullervo kalervonpoika son of kalervo was a beautiful man with hair of golden colour and tragic life. Our holy database currently contains 105 finnish deity names and 50 unique articles.
The shamans did magick, conjuration, incantations and spells to control men, animals, divine or demonic entities and inanimate beings. The work and rest, weekdays and festivities were in rythm with the movement of nature, the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon and the changes of the seasons. In finnish mythology a mysterious virgin by the name of iro is said to have given birth to the three divine brothers at the beginning of times. He is one of the main characters in the finnish epic the kalevala. Only the highest grade of sorcerer was allowed to use a drum and raise spirits. When the sampo was stolen, it is said that ilmarinens homeland fell upon hard times and he sent an expedition to retrieve it, but in the ensuing battle it was smashed and lost at sea. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. The original finnish language is baltic of the uralian family of languages. Such devices have been included into modern tales such as strega nona 1975, childrens book. It includes all the spectrum of motifs and many characteristics of norse mythology and finnish folklore. List of books and articles about finnish history online. Finnish and englishlanguage books from finland for adults and children. Olympus, but their abode is separate from that of humans.
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