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, ...
, Otso (also known as Karhu, Ohto, Kontio, Metsän kuningas, and Mesikämmen) is a bear, the sacred king of animals and leader of the forest. It was deeply feared and respected by old Finnish tribes.
Otso appears in the Finnish national epic, 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 ...
''. Due to the importance of the bear spirit in historical
Finnish paganism
Finnish paganism is the indigenous pagan religion in Finland and Karelia prior to Christianisation. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities. The principal god was the god of thunder and the sky, Ukko; other i ...
, bears are still considered by many Finns to be kings of the forest, and the bear is even the
national animal
This is a list of countries that have officially designated one or more animals as their national animals.
National animal
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! Name of animal
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of Finland.
Otso is not a particular individual bear spirit, but rather the collective
animistic
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
spirit of all bears. Besides being worshipped by historical Finnish pagans, Otso is also worshipped in modern
Finnish neopaganism, and the neopagan organization
Karhun kansa is named after the bear.
Mythology
The story of how Otso was born varies in myths. Some stories tell of how
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, ...
, the god of weather, threw wool into the sea and how Otso was born from the bits of wool that reached the shore. Other stories tell of how Otso was born from the
Ursa Major
Ursa Major (; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear," referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa ...
constellation.
The most ancient myths surrounding Otso tell of the marriage between Otso and the primordial mother of all men. This relationship was reflected in the ritual of Peijaiset, in which the bear spirit was symbolically returned to its family through marriage.
Otso had many wives and children, but it was also said to eat them.
Peijaiset
If a bear had to be killed by ancient Finns, a sacred ritual of
Peijaiset
Peijaiset (in dialectal forms peijahaiset, peijaat or peijaajaiset) is a Finnish concept, dating to pre-Christian times, denoting a memorial feast (akin to a wake) that was held in the honour of a slain animal, particularly the bear, the animal ...
was held. In it, the bear's skull was mounted on a pine tree.
The bear was skinned in the forest after which the meat and the hide were taken to the village. Ale was brewed and the meat of the bear was eaten as a sacred meal. A girl and a boy were then elected as the symbolic wedding couple. During the feast, the skull of the bear was carried on a plate to the room. The plate was given a place of honor at head of the long table. The bride and bridegroom sat at the opposite end.
The skull of the bear was then carried to a sacred tall pine and fixed high on a branch among other bear skulls. At this point there followed a chant as a dialogue between the killed bear and the primordial mother of the bear who was called Hongotar.
The bones of the bear were then buried under the pine. One important function of this rite was to prevent the skull from decomposing. The skull of the bear was a holy object and to destroy it was taboo. The idea of this conservation was to make it possible for the spirit of the bear to return to earth to reincarnate and be killed again.
See also
*
Bear worship
Bear worship (also known as the bear cult or arctolatry) is the religious practice of the worshipping of bears found in many North Eurasian ethnic religions such as among the Sami, Nivkh, Ainu, Basques, Germanic peoples, Slavs and Finns. There a ...
References
{{Kalevala
Finnish legendary creatures
Mythological bears
Finnish gods
Bear deities