Lempo

Lempo () is a demon from Finnish folklore and mythology. Lempo has been connected to the names Lemmes, Lemmas, Lemmätär and Lemmetär (), as well as themes of love and fire. The ''-tär'' ending names are feminine, but Lempo has also been understood as a male demon in some instances.

Descriptions

Christfried Ganander called Lempo a flying evil spirit who forged evil flying arrows; Lemmes a forest god or faun who planted the alder and is its protector; Lemmas a nymph who stirred iron after it was lifted from bogs; and Lemmetär or Lemmätär a smith maid who pulled the bellows when iron was made and shook trees with her breath.

Matthias Castrén connected the name Lempo to the word ''lempi'' ("erotic love"). It was personalized as a capitalized Lempi in love spells. This ''lempi'' in spells could be a wild and raging feeling, like lust awoken by an evil witch, so Castrén thought a love god could've thus developed into an evil god. Elias Lönnrot connected the name to the Swedish word ''slem'' ("lousy"). Lemmetär is also mentioned in runic songs describing the origin of stones.

A South Savonian description of a love spell explains that when a wife had broken the laws of chastity, Lempi in her had transformed into Lempo and was then driven out of her with a spell. A North Savonian love spell includes expressions of gratitude to Lemmetär at the end of it.

Lönnrot wondered if love ("lempi") was in the process of forming into the god Lempi when Christianity arrived to Finland.

In runic songs, Lempo is connected to fire, which has created theories of Lempo's possible role as a fire haltija. ''Lemmes'' or ''lemmäs'' means a meteorite which makes a howling sound when falling to the ground, while plural ''lemmenet'' means sparks above a campfire. The word ''lempo'' means a ball lightning. Similarly, erotic love (lempi) has been described like a flame which flares up within a person. Fire which came with a meteorite crash or ball lightning was considered sacred. There are many similar sounding place names in Lempäälä, such as Lempoinen and Lempää. According to folklore, there were Lempo's cave (''Lemmon luola'') and Lempo's hole (''Lemmon kuoppa'') in Lempäälä, the latter near the local church. It has been theorized these formations could've been caused by meteorite strikes. Local folklore states Lempo was worshipped there before the arrival of Christianity. Both formations were destroyed when a railway was built in the area. It is also possible the place names near Lempäälä originate from a name meaning a place of fire.

Demonic Lempo

After Christianity came to Finland, the reputation of Lempo worsened: it is portrayed in the folklore usually as an erratic spirit, as love can be capricious, even dangerous, and it could even take control of a being and turn them to destruction.

Lempo brought down the hero Väinämöinen with the help of his two demon cohorts, Hiisi and Paha.

The words "lempo" and "hiisi" are also used as very mild swear words in the Finnish language. Piru is a slightly stronger swear word.

Sukkamieli

Ganander mentioned a being called Sukkamieli () who he connected to Asmodeus, who caused discord between a wedded couple to make the husband jealous ("to have black socks"). Sukkamieli was called ''mielen kääntäjä'' ("changer of minds") and was asked to change the minds of a couple in discord to be loving again. The runic song Ganander refers to has, however, never been collected from anywhere else, which has led researchers to think this song and Sukkamieli could be of later, pseudo-mythological creation. Ganander did not dare write down the sexually explicit love spells of Finnish and Karelian runic song tradition.

Castrén explained the name Sukkamieli as someone who loves socks, and since socks are soft and smooth, the goddess of love was called Sukkamieli because she cared for the weakest and most tender feelings of the heart. He also refers to the verb ''suksutella'' ("to entice, to tease"). According to Kaarle Krohn, it was originally ''siukka mieli'' ("mental illness") and the whole line ''siukkamieli-mielen kääntäjä'' ("the one who changes the mentally ill mind").Krohn, Kaarle (1912). ''Suomalaisten runojen uskonto''. Porvoo: WSOY and Finnish Literature Society. Pages: 244–245.

"Changing of minds" appears frequently in love spells. One Olonets Karelian runic song speaks of the mind changer as Melutar, though the song is focused on descending through rapids. In Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia and North Savo, names like Mielutar and Mielis-neiti refer to the Mistress of the Forest; in one South Savo song, Mieluutar even refers to the Mistress of Water.

See also

* 47171 Lempo, a Kuiper belt object
* '' Love is the Monster''

References

External links and references

The Kalevala Glossary

Taivaannaula: Lempo

Finnish gods
Finnish legendary creatures
Love and lust gods

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