Metsavana, also known as metsataat or metsaisa, is the old man of the forest, a forest deity in
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 eccles ...
.
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
Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Balk ...
, 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 referred to pseudonymously to avoid catching his notice, using names ''such as'' "uncle" ''(djadja'') and "old man".
Each forest has its own metsavana. Metsavana is described as a tall elderly man with an unkempt beard, overgrown with moss. His clothes are made of birch and he wears a large birch hat and boots. Metsavana rules over the forest, deciding how plentiful the hunters' harvest will be, and he can speak with the birds and animals.
They can be the protectors of wild animals, for example bears, wolves, snakes and foxes.
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 pare ...
states in his book on Estonian mythology that as late as the 17th and 18th centuries straw puppets dressed alternately as Metsaema (forest mother) and Metsaisa (forest father) were used in ''metsiku tegemine'' festivals. It has been suggested, however, that Kreutzwald may have made the connection himself due to the ''metsa'' etymological link, as there is no other written evidence of these names being used to describe the puppets.
[{{Cite journal, last=Västrik, first=Ergo-Hart, date=1998, title=Clothed Straw Puppets in Estonian Folk Calendar Tradition: a Shift From Cult to Joke, url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=208084, journal=Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, language=English, issue=7, pages=3, issn=]
References
Forest spirits
Estonian mythology
Estonian deities