Lemminkäinen
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Lemminkäinen () or Lemminki () is a prominent figure 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, ...
. He is one of the
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 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 ...
'', where his character is a composite of several separate heroes of oral poetry. He is usually depicted as young and good-looking, with wavy red hair.


Description

The original, mythological Lemminkäinen is a
shamanistic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...
figure. In the Kalevala, he has been blended together with epic war-heroes Kaukomieli/Kaukamoinen and
Ahti In Finnish mythology, Ahti () is a heroic character in folk poetry who is sometimes given the epithet Saarelainen (, "Islander"). Ahto is a Finnish sea god. The connection between the hero Ahti and the god Ahto, if any, is unclear. Descript ...
Saarelainen. In one myth, he drowns in the river of
Tuonela Tuonela (; )Oinas, Felix J., and Juha Pentikäinen. "Tuonela." In ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', 2nd ed., edited by Lindsay Jones, 9396-9397. Vol. 14. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. ''Gale eBooks'' (accessed January 3, 2021)/ref> i ...
(the underworld) in trying to capture or kill the black swan that lives there as part of an attempt, as
Ilmarinen Ilmarinen (), the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the ''Kalevala'', is a god and archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as being unlucky in love. He i ...
once made, to win a daughter of Louhi as his wife. In a tale somewhat reminiscent of
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
' search for
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
, Lemminkäinen's mother searches heaven and earth to find her son. Finally, she learns of his fate and asks
Ilmarinen Ilmarinen (), the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the ''Kalevala'', is a god and archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. He is immortal and capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as being unlucky in love. He i ...
to fashion her a rake of copper with which to dredge her son's body from the river of Tuonela. Thus equipped, she descends into the underworld in search of her son. On the banks of the river of the underworld, she rakes up first Lemminkäinen's tunic and shoes, and then, his maimed and broken body. Unrelenting, she continues her work until every piece of Lemminkäinen's body is recovered. Sewing the parts together and offering prayers to the gods, the mother tries to restore Lemminkäinen to life, but while she succeeds in remaking his body, his life is still absent. Then, she entreats a bee to ascend to the halls of the over-god
Ukko Ukko (), Äijä or Äijö ( Finnish for 'male grandparent', 'grandfather', 'old man'), parallel to Uku in Estonian mythology, is the god of the sky, weather, harvest and thunder in Finnish mythology. Ukkonen, the Finnish word for thunder, ...
and fetch from there a drop of honey as ointment that would bring Lemminkäinen back to life. Only with such a potent remedy is the hero finally restored. One of the challenges Lemminkäinen faced was a character named Surma. Surma was a terrible beast which embodied sudden, violent death and guarded the gates of the Tuonela to prevent escape. Surma is often described as being a large dog with a snake-tail and can turn people into stone (with a stare). An often-used Finnish metaphor is ''surman suuhun'' "into Surma's mouth", as if the victim was mauled to death by Surma.Pulakka, Raisa; Tuikka, Raili. ''Eläimet saattavat kuoleman maahan.'' Yle Kulttuuri 15.01.2016

/ref>


Lemminkäinen in arts

Lemminkäinen is the subject of the four-part "
Lemminkäinen Suite The ''Lemminkäinen Suite'' (also named ''Four Legends'' or ''Four Legends from the Kalevala''), Op. 22, is a four-movement symphonic poem for orchestra completed in 1895 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece was originally conceived ...
" by
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...
, and of an overture by Väinö Haapalainen, both of them Finnish composers. The 2007 album ('' Silent Waters'') of Finnish
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band
Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, ...
is about the story of Lemminkäinen. The 2008 song (''
River of Tuoni ''River of Tuoni'' is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn. The songs "River of Tuoni" and "My Only Star" from the album were the first Amberian Dawn tracks to have a music video recorded, in Ma ...
'') by Finnish
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band
Amberian Dawn Amberian Dawn is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 2006 by Tuomas Seppälä and Tommi Kuri. Their fifth album '' Re-Evolution'' (a re-recorded compilation with a new singer) was released on KHY Suomen Musiikki & Encore Music in sum ...
is about Lemminkäinen's mother's search for him in the river of Tuoni. Lemminkäinen appears as Lemminkal Heikkinen the Warrior-Mage in
Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include i ...
's 500 Kingdoms Series' homage to
Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...
, among other Scandinavian and northern European myths and legends, ''
The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...
'' (2008). The 2018 song The Bee by Finnish
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band
Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, ...
also references the story of Lemminkäinen and of the bee entrusted by his mother to retrieve honey from the halls of the over-god Ukko. Lemminkäinen is the protagonist of the 1959 film, '' The Day the Earth Froze''. The ''Dungeons & Dragons'' character
Mordenkainen Mordenkainen is a fictional wizard from the ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. He was created by Gary Gygax as a player character, only months after the start of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign, and ...
is partially named after him.


Lemminkäinen in Films

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"Back to Lemminkäinen"
– (Documentary Series, 2020)


Gallery


See also

*
Baldr Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...
*
Temple of Lemminkäinen The Temple of Lemminkäinen ( fi, Lemminkäisen temppeli) is a cave in the village of Gumbostrand, located in Sipoo, Finland. It is said to contain an underground temple depicted in ''The Bock Saga'', a collection of stories by Ior Bock: accordin ...


References


Books

* Fictional heroes Finnish mythology Heroes in mythology and legend Characters in the Kalevala Karelian-Finnish folklore {{Finland-myth-stub