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Metsavana
Metsavana, also known as metsataat or metsaisa, is the old man of the forest, a forest deity in Estonian mythology. Etymology Metsavana is a compound of ''metsa'' ("forest") and ''vana'' ("old, ancient"). The names metsataat and metsaisa translate to "forest father" or "forest old man". Mythology Metsavana is one of the many types of forest spirits found in Estonian mythology, for example Metsaema ("forest mother") and metsahaldjas ("forest fairy"). He is one of many examples of an old man forest deity. Finnic folklore has links with Slavic mythology, shown in Metsavana's similarities with the Leshy and corresponding Komi forest spirit, Vörsa. Female forest spirits are generally more common in Estonian and Latvian mythology, with male forest spirits found more often in Russian mythologies. Estonian forest spirits are often seen as tricksters, generally benevolent but posing some danger to humans who stray from the path or act against them. In Komi folk religion, he is r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estonian Mythology
Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in ecclesiastical registers. Systematic recordings of Estonian folklore started in the 19th century. Pre-Christian Estonian deities may have included a god known as ''Jumal'' or ''Taevataat'' ("Old man of the sky") in Estonian, corresponding to ''Jumala'' in Finnish, and ''Jumo'' in Mari. Estonian mythology in old chronicles According to the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia in 1225 the Estonians disinterred the enemy's dead and burned them. It is thought that cremation was believed to speed up the dead person's journey to the afterlife and by cremation the dead would not become earthbound spirits which were thought to be dangerous to the living. Henry of Livonia also describes in his chronicle an Estonian legend originating from Virumaa in North Es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metsaema
Metsaema is the mother spirit of the forest in Estonian mythology. Etymology The name Metsaema translates to "forest mother" in Estonian (from ''metsa'' "forest" and ''ema'' "mother"). For this reason, the word ''metsaema'' can also be used as a descriptor of other similar deities in Eastern European mythology, for example Vir'ava. Mythology The mother of the forest acts as ruler and guardian. She is sometimes also connected with fertility, acting as a midwife in some texts. Forest spirits are said to be found in each forest, ruling over the animals, birds, trees, and berries. Wild animals such as bears, snakes and wolves are commonly connected with them across European mythologies. The shared elements of Finnic, Slavic, Baltic and Turkic mythology can be seen in similarities between forest mother spirits. Metsaema has strong similarities with the forest mother spirits Vir'ava, from Mordven mythology, and ''Meža mate'', from Latvian mythology. Other related deities are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balto-Finnic Peoples
The Baltic Finnic or Balto-Finnic peoples, also referred to as the Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns, sometimes Western Finnic and often simply as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe who speak Finnic languages. They include the Finns, Estonians (including Võros and Setos), Karelians (including Ludes and Livvi), Veps, Izhorians, Votes, and Livonians. In some cases the Kvens, Ingrians, Tornedalians and speakers of Meänkieli are considered separate from the Finns. The bulk of the Finnic peoples (more than 98%) are ethnic Finns and Estonians, who reside in the only two independent Finnic nation states—Finland and Estonia. Finnic peoples are also significant minority groups in neighbouring countries of Sweden, Norway and especially Russia. Theories of origin According to the "Migration Theory" that was based primarily on comparative linguistics, the proto-Finns migrated from an ancient homeland somewhere in no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slavic Paganism
Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Balkan Peninsula during the 6th–7th centuries AD, bordering with the Byzantine Empire to the south, came under the sphere of influence of Eastern Christianity, beginning with the creation of writing systems for Slavic languages (first Glagolitic, and then Cyrillic script) in 855 by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius and the adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria in 863. The East Slavs followed with the official adoption in 988 by Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus'. The West Slavs, West Slavs' process of Christianization was more gradual and complicated. The Moravians accepted Christianity as early as 831, the Bohemian dukes followed in 845, Slovaks accepted Christianity somewhere between the years 8 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leshy
The Leshy (also Leshi; rus, леший, p=ˈlʲeʂɨj; literally, " efrom the forest", pl, borowy, leśnik, leśniczy, lasowik, leszy) is a tutelary deity of the forests in pagan Slavic mythology. As the spirit rules over the forest and hunting, he may be related to the Slavic god Porewit. There is also a deity, named ''Svyatibor'' (''Svyatobor'', ''Svyatibog''), who is mentioned in the beliefs of the Eastern and Western Slavs as the god of forests and the lord of the leshies. His functions were identical to those of the god Veles. The Leshy is masculine and humanoid in shape, is able to assume any likeness and can change in size and height. In some accounts, Leshy is described as having a wife (''Leshachikha'', ''Leszachka'', ''Lesovikha'' and also, sometimes, the '' Kikimora'' of the swamp) and children (''leshonki'', ''leszonky''). He is known by some to have a propensity to lead travelers astray and abduct children (which he shares with Chort, the "Black One"), which wou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Komi Mythology
Komi mythology is the traditional mythology of the Komi peoples of northern Russia. Gods and spirits *En (Ен) - "Strength". The good creator god, and the enemy of Kul. He took the form of a swan. *Kul' or Omöl' (Куль or Омӧль) - "Weakness". A god of water and of the dead, and the evil creator god. He took the form of a grebe. * Vasa (Васа) - Another water spirit. Like Kul, he could be malicious and had to be appeased by throwing bread, a stick, cakes or tobacco into the water. He was the friend of millers. *Olys' or Olysya (Олысь or Олыся) - A hearth spirit, the equivalent of the Russian domovoi. Under the name Rynyshsa (Рынышса) he is a water spirit associated with baths, appearing as a little hunchbacked old man with a white beard. *Aika (Айка) - "Father" or "Parent". A spirit who protects a specific place. They became enemies of Stephen of Perm. *Peludi-Aika (Пелуди-Айка) - "Father Cornflower". A spirit who forbade peasants to l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald ( – ) was an Estonian writer who is considered to be the father of the national literature for the country. He is the author of Estonian national epic ''Kalevipoeg''. Life Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's parents were serfs at the Jömper estate, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire (in present-day Jõepere, Lääne-Viru County). His father Juhan worked as a shoemaker and granary keeper and his mother Anne was a chambermaid. After liberation from serfdom in 1815, the family was able to send their son to school at the Wesenberg (present-day Rakvere) district school. In 1820, he graduated from secondary school in Dorpat (present-day Tartu, Tartu County, Estonia) and worked as an elementary school teacher. In 1833, Kreutzwald graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Imperial University of Dorpat. Kreutzwald married Marie Elisabeth Saedler on 18 August the same year. From 1833 to 1877, he worked as the municipal physician in Werro (p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest Spirits
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds ''in situ''. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, '' Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020'' (FRA 2020) found that forests covered , or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020. Forests are the predominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are found around the globe. More than half of the world's forests are found in only five countries (Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, and the United States). The largest share of forests (45 percent) are in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
