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Finnish Mythology
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. 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. Finnish mythology survived within an oral tradition of mythical poem-singing and folklore well into the 19th century. Of the animals, the most sacred was the bear, whose real name was never uttered out loud, lest his kind be unfavorable to the hunting. The bear ("karhu" in Finnish) was seen as the embodiment of the forefathers, and for this reason it was called by many circumlocutions: ''mesikämmen'' ("mead-paw"), ''otso'' ("browed one"), ''kontio'' ("dweller of the land"), ''metsän kultaomena'' ("the golden apple of the forest") but not a god. Study of Finnish mythological and religious history The first historical menti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mythologia Fennica
Mythologia Fennica (''Finnish Mythology'') is a 1789 book on Finnish mythology written in Swedish by Kristfrid Ganander, a Finnish priest. ''Mythologia Fennica'' contains 430 entries in alphabetical order from "AARNI" to "YRJÄNÄ". Entries cover Finnish mythology, folk poetry, spells, Sámi mythology, and the Norse gods. The work influenced Elias Lönnrot, compiler of the epic ''Kalevala''; as a result, Ganander has been later perceived as a kind of "Lönnrot before Lönnrot." Publication and translation ''Mythologia Fennica'' was intended as an appendix to a Swedish-Finnish dictionary which was left unfinished by Ganander. It was created with the encouragement of and assistance from Henrik Gabriel Porthan, the father of Finnish historical research. It was completed in 1789 but only published 4 years later, following Porthan's review. A German translation was made by the Estonian poet Kristjan Jaak Peterson Kristian Jaak Peterson (, Riga – , Riga) also known as Christian Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Star
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that fluctuates around 1.98, it is the brightest star in the constellation and is readily visible to the naked eye at night. The position of the star lies less than 1° away from the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star. The stable position of the star in the Northern Sky makes it useful for navigation. As the closest Cepheid variable its distance is used as part of the cosmic distance ladder. The revised ''Hipparcos'' stellar parallax gives a distance to Polaris of about , while the successor mission ''Gaia'' gives a distance of about . Calculations by other methods vary widely. Although appearing to the naked eye as a single point of light, Polaris is a triple star system, composed of the primary, a yellow supe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-throated Loon
The black-throated loon (''Gavia arctica''), also known as the Arctic loon and the black-throated diver, is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere, primarily breeding in freshwater lakes in northern Europe and Asia. It winters along sheltered, ice-free coasts of the north-east Atlantic Ocean and the eastern and western Pacific Ocean. This loon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It has two subspecies. It was previously considered to be the same species as the Pacific loon, of which it is traditionally considered to be a sister species, although this is debated. In a study that used mitochondrial and nuclear intron DNA, the black-throated loon was found to be sister to a clade consisting of the Pacific loon and two sister species, the common loon and the yellow-billed loon. The black-throated loon measures about in length and can weigh anywhere from . In breeding plumage, the adult of the nominate subspecies has mostly black upperparts, with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barn Swallow
The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin". There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are strongly migratory, and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. Its huge range means that the barn swallow is not endangered, although there may be local population declines due to specific threats. The barn swallow is a bird of open country that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Pochard
The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina'') is a medium-sized diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin ''ferina'', "wild game", from ''ferus'', "wild". Description The adult male has a long dark bill with a grey band, a red head and neck, a black breast, red eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a narrower grey bill-band. The triangular head shape is distinctive. Pochards are superficially similar to the closely related North American redhead and canvasback. Females give hoarse growls. Males have whistles cut off by a final nasal note ''aaoo-oo-haa''. Distribution and habitat Their breeding habitat consists of marshes and lakes with a metre or more water depth. Pochards breed in much of temperate and northern Europe and across the Palearctic. They are migratory, and spend winter in the south and west of Europe. In the British Is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanteletar
''Kanteletar'' is a collection of Finnish folk poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot. It is considered to be a sister collection to the Finnish national epic ''Kalevala''. The poems of ''Kanteletar'' are based on the trochaic tetrameter, generally referred to as "Kalevala metre". The name consists of the base word '' kantele'' (a Finnish zither-like instrument) and the feminising morpheme ''-tar'' and can be roughly interpreted as "maiden of the kantele" or "zither-daughter", a kind of muse. History ''Kanteletar'' was published in 1840 under the name ''Kanteletar taikka Suomen Kansan Wanhoja Lauluja ja Wirsiä'' (''"Kanteletar or Old Songs and Hymns of the Finnish People"''). Lönnrot got the foundation for the collection on his journeys in 1838 after he met rune singer Mateli Kuivalatar on the banks of the Koitere. The poems sung by Kuivalatar were recorded in Lönnrot's notes. ''Kanteletar'' consists of three books. The first book includes 238 lyrical poems which Lönnrot n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalevala
The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the epic mythical wealth-making machine Sampo. The ''Kalevala'' is regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature with J. L. Runeberg's ''The Tales of Ensign Stål'' and Aleksis Kivi's '' The Seven Brothers''. The ''Kalevala'' was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the intensification of Finland's language strife that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917. The work is also well known internationally and has partly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synty
''Synty'' ('origin, birth, aetiology', pl. ''synnyt'') is an important concept in Finnish mythology. ''Syntysanat'' ('origin-words') or ''syntyloitsut'' ('origin-charms') provide an explanatory, mythical account of the origin of a phenomenon (such as an illness), material (such as iron), or species (such as a bear), and were an important part of traditional Finno-Karelian culture, particularly in healing rituals. Although much in the Finnish traditional charms is paralleled elsewhere, 'the role of aetiological and cosmogonic myths' in Finnic tradition 'appears exceptional in Eurasia'. The major study remains that by Kaarle Krohn, published in 1917. Meanings of ''synty'' The term ''synty'' is used in this article and in a range of scholarship as a genre-label, but it had a wide variety of meanings. ''Synty'' transparently derives from ''syntyä'' (‘come into existence, be born’) and means ‘birth’, ‘origin’, ‘aetiology’, and so forth. Its meanings can be literal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tietäjä
Tietäjä (pl. ''tietäjät'', 'seer', 'wise man', literally 'knower') is a magically powerful figure in traditional Finno-Karelian culture, whose supernatural powers arise from his great knowledge. Roles The activities of a ''tietäjä'' were primarily healing and preventing illness, but also included helping with farming, fishing and hunting; dealing with witchcraft; supporting approved marriages and disrupting disapproved liaisons; identifying thieves; and bringing success to ventures such as journeys or building. Their incantations might call on helpers such as the dead, '' väki'', Ukko, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or animal spirits. Many ''tietäjät'' knew ''Kalevala''-metre poems, as well as mythical stories, spells, and healing charms. One of the key branches of the ''tietäjäs knowledge concerned aetiologies ('' synnyt'', s. ''synty'') of natural phenomena. It was believed that beings and phenomena could be controlled if their origin was known. For example, disease ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Poetry
Folk poetry (sometimes referred to as ''poetry in action'') is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song. Description Folk poetry in general has several characteristics. It may be informal and unofficial, generally lacks an owner and may "belong" to the society, and its telling may be an implicitly social activity. The term can refer to poems of an oral tradition that may date back many years; that is, it is information that has been transmitted over time (between generations) ''only'' in spoken (and non-written) form. Thus as an oral tradition folk poetry requires a performer to promulgate it over generations. The definition can also be extended to include not just oral epics, but latrinalia, many forms of childlore (skipping-rope rhymes, the words of counting-out games etc), and limericks; as well as including anonymous or improvised poems. Narrative folk poetry is often characterized by repetit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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