Ahti is a water god in

Finnish mythology Finnish mythology commonly refers of the folklore of Finnish paganism, of which a Finnish Neopaganism, modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people. It has many shared features with Estonian mythology, Estonian and othe ...

. In the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

'', he is referred to with the name ''Ahto'' in order to not confuse him with the separate character ''Ahti Saarelainen''.

Name

Initial theory for the origin of the name Ahti was in the

North Germanic The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

word ''ahva'' ("water"). According to a later theory, Ahti's name could come from the verb ''ahtaa'' ("to hang fishnets to dry"). A net drying rack is ''ahde''. Similar words are found across

Uralic language The Uralic languages ( ), sometimes called the Uralian languages ( ), are spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers ab ...

s. This would make Ahti a god who guarantees luck in seining. Mikko K. Heikkilä thought the name came from Sámi *''āhččē'' ("father, master spirit").

Description

Ahti was first mentioned in writing in 1551 by

Mikael Agricola Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territo ...

as the one who gave fish from water (''Achti wedhest caloia toi''). Ahti is the name of the king or god of the sea, and ''Ahtola'' is his sea-castle. His wife is Vellamo, and they live together at the bottom of the sea. The

Sampo In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways, constructed by the blacksmith and inventor Ilmarinen and which brings riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (corn ...

comes into his possession and he is unwilling to return it. In the ''

'', Ahto appears in Rune XLI; in Rune XLII, where

Väinämöinen () is a deity, demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical sing ...

charms him with his magic harp playing; in Rune XLIII, where the

is lost in the sea; and in Rune XLVIII, where he is briefly mentioned. In a fable similar to Mercury and the Woodman, Ahto dives to return the lost knife of a shepherd, out of pity. He first finds a gold knife, and then a silver knife, but the shepherd does not claim them as his. The third knife Ahto retrieves is the correct one; as a reward for his honesty, Ahto gives the shepherd all three.

Ahti Saarelainen

Ahti is a heroic character in

folk poetry Folk poetry (sometimes referred to as ''poetry in action'') is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song. Description Folk poetry in general has several characteri ...

who is sometimes given the

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

Saarelainen (, "Islander"). In the ''

'', the compiler

Elias Lönnrot Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish polymath, physician, philosopher, poet, musician, linguist, journalist, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish language, Finnish Oral literature, oral poetry. He is best k ...

conflated several mythological persons into the main characters in an attempt to create a consistent narrative from several songs. The heroic figures ''Kaukomieli'' and ''Ahti'' were condensed into ''

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 the work. Ahti's story is of a man so eager to fight that he abandons his young wife and sets out on an adventure with his friend '. The original songs in the Ahti cycle have been tentatively dated to the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

because of their references to sea voyages, but Oinas also sees an adventurous element in both Ahti and Kaukamoinen's tales. ''Ahti Saarelainen'' is described as a fierce seagoing warrior. He makes a double vow with his wife ''Kyllikki'', binding him to stay at home and not to engage in raiding, and binding her to stay faithful. However, Kyllikki breaks her oath and Ahti goes on a voyage with his old war companions. In the Kalevala, Ahti is mentioned (as a synonym of Lemminkäinen) in Rune IX, where his close association with the sea is made clear; in this verse his marriage to Kyllikki, and their vows, are described. Rune XII describes Kyllikki's breaking of her vow. In Rune XX Ahti is briefly mentioned, and the conflation with Lemminkainen and Kaukomiele is made explicit. Ahti is also mentioned in Rune XXVI, in Rune XXVIII he is called "Ahti, hero of the Islands", and in Rune XXX he is again identified with Lemminkainen. A pattern of association of the name "Ahti" with islands and seafaring is found in Runes XX, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, and other runes.

References

Sources

* * * Finnish gods Sea and river gods {{deity-stub

Name

Description

Ahti Saarelainen

See also

References

Sources