Loviatar (, alternative names Loveatar, Lovetar, Lovehetar, Louhetar, Louhiatar,
Louhi
Louhi () is a wicked queen of the land known as Pohjola in Finnish mythology and a villain of the ''Kalevala''. As many mythological creatures and objects are easily conflated and separated in Finnish mythology, Louhi is probably an alter-eg ...
) is a blind daughter of
Tuoni
In Finnish mythology, Tuoni () was the god of Tuonela (the underworld), and darkness personified. He was the husband of Tuonetar. Their children included Kipu-Tyttö, Tuonenpoika, and Loviatar
Loviatar (, alternative names Loveatar, Lovetar, Lov ...
, the god of death in
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, ...
and his spouse
Tuonetar, the queen of the underworld. Loviatar is regarded as a goddess of death and disease. In Runo 45 of the ''
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 r ...
'',
[''Kalevala'', translated by John Martin Crawford (1888)](_blank) Loviatar is impregnated by a great wind and gives birth to nine sons, the Nine diseases
. In other folk songs, she gives birth to a tenth child, who is a girl.
In the ''Kalevala''
Loviatar appears in Rune 45:
Relation to Louhi
When Elias Lönnrot compiled the ''
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 r ...
'', he made Loviatar and
Louhi
Louhi () is a wicked queen of the land known as Pohjola in Finnish mythology and a villain of the ''Kalevala''. As many mythological creatures and objects are easily conflated and separated in Finnish mythology, Louhi is probably an alter-eg ...
two different characters. However, in the folk songs from which he compiled the epic, the names are often used interchangeably, and in some songs Louhi herself is the mother of the nine diseases.
[For example, poem 2104 in Part I4 o]
''Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot''
(''SKVR''), the corpus of Finnish folk songs (in Finnish). Other songs give Loviatar the title "Whore Mistress of
Pohjola
Pohjola (; from 'base, bottom', but used in derived forms like ''pohjois-'' to mean 'north' + ''-'' 'place'), sometimes just Pohja (), is a mythical place, location in Finnish mythology. It is one of the two main polarities in the Finnish nationa ...
".
[For example, poem 2039 in Part VII4 o]
''SKVR''
[Wilfrid Bonser, "The Mythology of the Kalevala, with Notes on Bear-Worship among the Finns" (1928), pp. 344-358.]
There is one difference between Louhi and the various forms of Loviatar in the songs: Loviatar's name occurs only in
spell
Spell(s) or The Spell(s) may refer to:
Processes
* Spell (paranormal), an incantation
* Spell (ritual), a magical ritual
* Spelling, the writing of words
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Spell'' (1977 film), an American t ...
s where diseases are banished to go back to her, while Louhi's name occurs also in
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
or narrative songs. She gives
quests to
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
es,
[As in poems 1020 in Part I2 and 364 in Part VII1 o]
''SKVR''
and opposes
Lemminkäinen
Lemminkäinen () or Lemminki () is a prominent figure in Finnish mythology. He is one of the heroes of the ''Kalevala'', where his character is a composite of several separate heroes of oral poetry. He is usually depicted as young and good-loo ...
in a spell contest.
[Poem 815 of part I2 o]
SKVR
One hypothesis is that Louhi and Loviatar were regional variants of the same
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
, and that the epic songs were composed in an area where Louhi was the primary name. A large portion of the epic songs about the Mistress of Pohjola do not give her any name.
[There are about 50 such poems in Part I1 o]
''SKVR''
See also
*
Syöjätär
Syöjätär (; ), sometimes referred to as an "ogress", is a character in Finnish folklore. She is associated with the origin of some diseases, as well as unpleasant (or useless) creatures such as the snake, lizard, or wolf. In some folktales she t ...
: in some variants of Finnish folk songs, Syöjätär is the offspring of Loviatar's tenth child.
References
Finnish goddesses
Death goddesses
Characters in the Kalevala
Evil deities
{{deity-stub