Estonian

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

is a complex of myths belonging to the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n 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 The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing dates back to Saxo Grammaticus' ''Gesta Danorum'' (c. 1179). Saxo spoke of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for a battle. Henry of Livonia at the beginning of the 13th century describe ...

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 (), () or ( Mari)A History of Pagan Europe, P. 181
means "god" in the

'' in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, and ''Jumo'' in Mari.

Estonian mythology in old chronicles

According to the

Chronicle of Henry of Livonia The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' ( la, Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae) offers a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's inland Estonia and the northern part of Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was ...

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 Virumaa ( la, Vironia; Low German: ''Wierland''; Old Norse: ''Virland'') is a former independent county in Ancient Estonia. Now it is divided into Ida-Viru County or Eastern Vironia and Lääne-Viru County or Western Vironia. Vironians built ...

in North Estonia - about a mountain and a forest where a god named

Tharapita Taara (variations of the name include Tooru, Tharapita and Tarapitha), also known as Uku or Jumal, is a prominent god in Estonian mythology, with a strong resemblance to the Finnish Ukko and the Germanic Thor. History The Chronicle of Henry of ...

, worshipped by

Oesel Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...

ians, had been born. The solstice festival of

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...

( et, Jaanipäev) celebrating the sun through solar symbols of bonfires, the tradition alive until the present day and numerous Estonian nature spirits: the sacred oak and linden have been described by

Balthasar Russow Balthasar Russow (1536–1600) was one of the most important Livonian and Estonian chroniclers. Russow was born in Reval, Livonia (now Tallinn, Estonia). He was educated at an academy in Stettin, Pomerania (now Szczecin, Poland). He was the ...

in 1578.

Mythical motifs in folklore

Some traces of the oldest authentic myths may have survived in runic songs. There is a song about the birth of the world – a bird lays three eggs and starts to lay out the nestlings – one becomes

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, one becomes

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and one becomes the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. Other

Finnic peoples The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly '' Finno-Permic'') language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of ...

also have myths according to which the world has emerged from an egg. The world of the Estonians’ ancestors is believed to have turned around a pillar or a tree, to which the skies were nailed with the

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude tha ...

. The

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

(''Linnutee'' or Birds' Way in Estonian) was a branch of the World tree (''Ilmapuu'') or the way by which birds moved (and took the souls of the deceased to the other world). These myths were based on

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, ...

beliefs. Changes occurred in proto-Estonian mythology as a result of the contacts with

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

and Germanic tribes, as well as the transition from

hunting and gathering A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

. Personifications of celestial bodies,

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

and

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmos ...

deities and

fertility Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...

gods gained importance in the world of the farmers. There may have been a sky and thunder god called Uku or Ukko, also called Vanaisa (Grandfather) or Taevataat (Sky Father). Proto Estonian pre-Christian deities may also have included a sky-god by name Jumal, known also by other

as Jumala in

and Jumo in Mari. Estonian legends about giants (

Kalevipoeg ''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th century Epic poetry, epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic. Origins In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition ...

, Suur Tõll, Leiger) may be a reflection of Germanic (especially

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n) influences. Giants themselves in some stories stood as protectors against such Germanic influences, such as

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

. There are numerous legends interpreting various natural objects and features as traces of Kalevipoeg's deeds. The giant has merged with Christian

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

, giving birth to a new character – Vanapagan (a cunning demon living on his farm or manor) and his farm hand Kaval-Ants ("Crafty Hans"). Other mythical motifs from Estonian runic songs: * a mighty oak grows into the sky, is then felled and turned into various mythical objects * Sun, Moon and Star are the suitors of a young maiden, she finally accepts the Star * a crafty blacksmith forges a woman of gold but is not able to give her a soul or a mind * a holy grove starts to wither after having been desecrated by a love-making couple; only sacrificing nine brothers cleanses it * mighty heroes are not able to kill a terrible giant ox, but a little brother is * a woman is forced to kill her daughter who then goes to live in the heaven as the Air Maiden * a girl finds a fish and asks her brother to kill it – there is a woman inside the fish * young girls go out at night and young men from the holy grove (or the land of the dead) seduce them by offering them riches * a lake travels to another place when it has been desecrated by an inconsiderate woman or an incestuous couple It has been suggested by ethnologist and former president Lennart Meri (among others), that a Kaali meteorite which passed dramatically over populated regions and landed on the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the isla ...

around 3,000-4,000 years ago was a cataclysmic event that may have influenced the mythology of Estonia and neighboring countries, especially those from whose vantage point a "sun" seemed to set in the east. 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 ...

, cantos 47, 48 and 49 can be interpreted as descriptions of the impact, the resulting tsunami and devastating forest fires. It has also been suggested that the Virumaa-born Oeselian god Tharapita is a reflection of the meteorite that entered the atmosphere somewhere near the suggested "birthplace" of the god and landed in Oesel.

Literary mythology

Friedrich Robert Faehlmann Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (Fählmann) (31 December 1798 in Ao Manor, Kreis Jerwen – 22 April 1850 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer, medical doctor and philologist active in Livonia, Russian Empire. He was a co-founder of the Learned Eston ...

and

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 ...

compiled the Estonian national epic

out of numerous prosaic folk legends and runic verse imitations that they themselves had written. Faehlmann also wrote eight fictional myths combining motives of Estonian folklore (from the legends and folk songs), Finnish mythology (from Ganander's "

Mythologia Fennica Mythologia Fennica (''Finnish Mythology'') is a 1789 book on Finnish mythology written in Swedish by Kristfrid Ganander, a Finnish priest. ''Mythologia Fennica'' contains 430 entries in alphabetical order from "AARNI" to "YRJÄNÄ". Entries cover ...

") and classical

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

. Matthias Johann Eisen was another folklorist and writer who studied folk legends and reworked them into literary form. Many of their contemporary scholars accepted this

mythopoeia Mythopoeia ( grc, , , myth-making), or mythopoesis, is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where an artificial or fictionalized mythology is created by the writer of prose, poetry, or other literary forms. This meaning of the word f ...

as authentic Estonian mythology. The Estonian literary mythology describes the following pantheon: The supreme god, the god of all living things, is

Taara Taara (variations of the name include Tooru, Tharapita and Tarapitha), also known as Uku or Jumal, is a prominent god in Estonian mythology, with a strong resemblance to the Finnish Ukko and the Germanic Thor. History The Chronicle of Henry of ...

. He is celebrated in sacred oak forests around Tartu. The god of thunder is Uku. Uku's daughters are

Linda Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

and Jutta, the queen of the birds. Uku has two sons: Kõu (Thunder) and Pikker (Lightning). Pikker possesses a powerful musical instrument, which makes demons tremble and flee. He has a naughty daughter, Ilmatütar (Weather Maiden). During the era of

Estonian national awakening The Estonian Age of Awakening ( et, Ärkamisaeg) is a period in history where Estonians came to acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves. This period is considered to begin in the 1850s with greater rights bein ...

the elements in the literary mythology were quickly and readily incorporated into contemporary popular culture through media and school textbooks. It can be difficult to tell how much of Estonian mythology as we know it today was actually constructed in the 19th and early 20th century. Faehlmann even noted in the beginning of his ''Esthnische Sagen'' (Estonian Legends) that:

"However, since
Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy an ...
has started to penetrate deep into the life of the people... nging folk songs and telling legends have become forbidden for the people; moreover, the last survivals of pagan deities are being destroyed and there is no chance for
historical research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...
."

Some constructed elements are loans from

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 may date back to the common Baltic-Finnic heritage.

Estonian mythological and literary mythological beings, deities and legendary heroes

* Pikker (Äike) - Thunder * Äiatar – a female demon, Devil's daughter * Alevipoeg - Alev's son, a friend of

* Ebajalg - demonic whirlwind * Ehaema - Mother Twilight, a nocturnal spirit or elf, encouraging spinning * Eksitaja - an evil spirit who makes people lose their way in a forest or a bog * Haldjas (the ruler) - elf, fairy, protector spirit of some place, person, plant or animal * Hall - personification of malaria * Hämarik - personification of dusk, a beautiful young maiden * Hännamees – a demon who stole and brought food, money and other worldly goods to its maker and owner * Hiid - a giant * Hiiela - another world, land of the dead * Hiieneitsid - maidens from the land of the dead * Hiis - holy grove * Hingeliblikas – a person's spirit in the form of a moth * Hingeloom - a person's spirit in the form of an insect or a small animal * Hoidja - protector, keeper * Härjapõlvlane - goblin * Ilmaneitsi, Ilmatütar - Air Maiden, Sky Maiden * Ilmarine, Ilmasepp - a mythical blacksmith who forged among other things the Sun and the Moon (cf. Ilmarinen) * Ilo - Joy, the hostess of feasts * Järvevana - Old Man from the Lake * Jumal - God * Jutta - queen of the birds, daughter of Taara * Juudaline - demon * Kaevukoll - bogeyman of the well * Kaitsja - protector *

, Kalevine, Sohni, Soini, Osmi - giant hero, mythical ancient king of Estonia * Kalm - grave; spirit of a dead person; ruler of the land of the dead * Kalmuneiu - Maiden of the Grave; a girl from the land of the dead * Katk - personification of plague * Kaval-Ants (Crafty/Sly Hans) - wicked farm hand who deceives his master Vanapagan - the Devil * Kodukäija - a restless visitant ghost * Koerakoonlane - a demonic warrior with a dog snout * Koit - personification of Dawn, a young man, eternal lover of Hämarik * Koll - bogey * Kolumats – bogeyman * Kratt, Pisuhänd, Tulihänd, Hännamees, Puuk - a demon who stole and brought food, money and other worldly goods to its maker and owner in the form of a whirlwind or meteor-like tail of fire ''Scandinavian Ghost Stories and Other Tales of the Supernatural'' Pennfield Press Iowa City 1995 pages 9-16 * Kuu - Moon * Kõu - Thunder; son of Uku, brother of Pikker * Kääbas - grave, death spirit * Külmking - a spirit of an unholy dead, eats children when they bother the forest spirits * Lapi nõid - witch of Lapland * Leiger (player) - a giant living in Hiiumaa island, younger brother of "Suur Tõll" * Lendva - an illness sent by an evil witch * Libahunt, Sutekskäija - werewolf * Liiva-Annus or Surm - Death *

- mother of Kalevipoeg * Lummutis - ghost, wraith * Luupainaja - incubus, nightmare * Maa-alune - a creature living under the earth and causing illnesses * Maajumalad - Gods of Earth * Maaemä - Mother Earth * Majauss - domestic grass-snake, protector spirit * Mana - a hypothetical ruler of the dead * Manala - land of the dead * Manalane - inhabitant of the land of the dead * Marras - spirit of death, predictor of death * Mereveised - Sea cows * Metsaema - Mother of Forest * Metsavana - Old Man of the Forest * Metsik - a fertility god * Mumm - bogey, monster, ghost * Murueide Tütred - daughters of Murueit, beautiful maidens * Murueit - a female spirit of forest and earth, connected to the land of the dead * Näkk - a shapeshifting water spirit, that often appears in a human shape, male or female, but sometimes also as an animal * Nõid - witch * Olevipoeg - a friend of Kalevipoeg, city builder, related to St Olaf * Painaja - nightmare, incubus * Pakane - Frost * Pardiajaja - (from German-language ''Parteigänger'') half-demonic warrior *

Peko Peko (Finnish spelling Pekko, Pekka, Pellon Pekko) is an ancient Estonian and Finnish god of crops, especially barley and brewing. In the area of Setumaa, between Estonia and Russia, inhabited by the Seto language-speaking Setos, the cult of ...

- Seto god of fertility and brewing * Peninukk - half-demonic warrior * Penn * Peremees - Master * Pikne, Pikker - Thunder, "The Long One" * Piret - wife of Suur Tõll * Põrguneitsi - literally: virgin of Hell * Päike - Sun * Rongo * Rõugutaja - a female deity, protector of the rye crops,

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

in labor and the city of Narva * Rukkihunt * Salme * Sulevipoeg - Sulev's son, friend of Kalevipoeg * Suur Tõll - giant hero living in

Island *

Tharapita, Taarapita, Tarapita - the god of nature, sometimes considered supreme god. Mythological Osilian God of War * Taevataat (literally Sky Father), Vanaisa ("Grandfather") * Täht - Star * Tallaja - trampler * Tikutaja * Tõnn - fairy, fertility god * Tont - ghost * Toonela - land of the dead * Tooni - god of death, ruler of the dead * Toor, Tooru - a deity known in western Estonia, related to Scandinavian Thor * Tulbigas * Turis * Tuule-Emä - Mother Wind * Tuuleisa - Father Wind * Tuulispask - whirlwind * Tuuslar - a sorcerer living in Finland * Udres-Kudres - serf, called "Son of the Sun", hero of folksongs * Uku - the supreme god *

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It was the first Estonian language theatre. History ''1870–1906 The Beginning of the Beginning. Koidula’s Theatre, Wiera’s Theatre.'' On June 24, 1870 was the first day in Estonian theatre ...

- the god of songs, art and literature * Vanapagan ("The Old Heathen") Vanatühi, ("The Old Empty one"), Vanakuri ("The Old Evil One"), Vanapoiss ("The Old Boy"), Vanasarvik ("The Old Horned One") in some texts also Vanataat ("The Old Father") - The Devil * Varavedaja - loot carrier * Varjuline - shadowling * Veehaldjas - spirit of the water, the weaver of a spring Ahjualune * Veteema – Mother of Waters * Vetevana - Water Spirit * Vihelik * Vilbus * Virmalised - Polar Lights * Viruskundra Christian saints interpreted as gods: * Jüri ( St George) - god of agriculture * Laurits (

St Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

) - god of fire * Mart ( St Martin) - god of fertility * Olev ( St Olaf) - mythical builder of St. Olaf's Church * Tõnn ( St Anthony) - fertility god of the crops and pigs

Estonian mythical and magical objects

* White Ship (''valge laev'') - mythical ship that brings freedom or takes people away to a better land. This myth was born around 1860 when a small sect led by Juhan Leinberg (also known as Prophet Maltsvet) gathered near Tallinn to wait for a white ship to take them away. * Hat of fingernails (''küüntest kübar'') - makes the bearer (usually Vanatühi) invisible. * Mittens (''kirikindad'') – were believed to have protective or magic powers, especially church mittens and the ones that sailors wore. Mittens were (are) decorated with special geometric patterns and narrow red stripes; they have many whispers and spells in them because the crafter used to sing while making, dyeing and knitting yarn. * Belt (''kirivöö'') - the belt had the most ancient and magical patterns of all the craft items, red woven belts and laces were a common item to sacrifice (they were tied to the branches of holy trees). A belt was tied around parts of body that were sick and, pulled tightly around the waist, had to protect and give strength to the bearer. * Sacred stones - the last ice age has left a lot of great stones ( erratics) in Estonia. Many of them were considered sacred and people came to them to sacrifice silver, blood, red ribbons and coins and ask for welfare and prosperity. Often, the stones have little holes in them, some of them probably used to place the sacrifice in. The meaning and function of the holes is however still disputed; according to paleoastronomer Heino Eelsalu they may have had a calendary function. * Travelling forests - when people are mean, greedy and cruel in some place, the forests will leave this place. The most stories about travelling forests are found in coastal areas of Estonia.

References

External links

collected Estonian tales, edited by W. F. Kirby
Taarapita - the great god of the Oeselians, an article by Urmas Sutrop

from the University of Toronto {{DEFAULTSORT:Estonian Mythology Uralic mythology Baltic gods