Peko (Finnish spelling Pekko, Pekka, Pellon Pekko) is an ancient

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

n and Finnish god of crops, especially barley and brewing. In the area of

Setomaa Setomaa (; , ) is a region south of Lake Peipus and traditionally inhabited by the Setos, Seto people. The Seto dialect is a variety of South Estonian language, South Estonian. The historic range of Setomaa is located in the territories of pres ...

, between Estonia and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, inhabited by the

Seto language Seto (; ) is a dialect of South Estonian spoken by 25,080 people. It is sometimes identified as a variety under Võro, or the two are described as Võro-Seto. Setos () mostly inhabit the area near Estonia's southeastern border with Russia in ...

-speaking

Setos Setos (, , , ) are an indigenous Finnic peoples and linguistic minority that have historically lived in the borderlands between modern day Estonia and Russia. Setos have historically spoken the Seto language and been Orthodox Christians.Kalku ...

, the

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

of Peko was alive until the 20th century. Today, the

Seto Seto may refer to: Places *Seto, Aichi, production place of Japanese pottery and venue of Expo 2005 * Seto, Ehime, facing the Seto Inland Sea * Seto, Okayama, adjacent to Okayama, in Okayama Prefecture *Seto Inland Sea of Japan *Setomaa (''Seto ...

people (an ethnic group of Estonians in the south-east of the country) also revere Peko as their national hero and king, the name and figure are widely used as a national symbol.

Name

Magnus Olsen Magnus Bernhard Olsen (28 November 1878 – 16 January 1963) was a Norwegian philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies. Born and raised in Arendal, Olsen received his degrees in philology at Royal Frederick University in Kristiania, ...

connected Peko to Norse

Byggvir Byggvir is a figure in Norse mythology. The only surviving mention of Byggvir appears in the prose beginning of '' Lokasenna'', and stanzas 55 through 56 of the same poem, where he is referred to as one of Freyr's servants and as the husband of ...

, whose name comes from the Norse word for "barley". If Peko's name came from

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

, it would require the existence of the Proto-Norse form *''beggwu'' for barley.

Kaarle Krohn Kaarle Krohn (10 May 1863 – 19 July 1933) was a Finnish folklorist, professor and developer of the geographic-historic method of folklore research. He was born into the influential Krohn family of Helsinki. Krohn is best known outside of Finla ...

pointed out the Finnish connection of the name Pekka to Pietari (biblical Peter).

Legend

In Finland, Peko is known as ''Pellon Pekko'' (Pekko of the field). First mentioned by bishop

Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the m ...

in 1551 as the one who granted the growth of barley,

Christfried Ganander Christfried Ganander (21 November 1741 in Haapajärvi – 17 February 1790 in Rantsila) was a Finnish compiler of folk culture, a priest and lexicographer. Ganander's greatest achievement was the compilation of the first fully extensive Finnish-l ...

called him the god of barley. He gave good

wort Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be Ethanol fermentation, fermented by the brewing yeast to prod ...

called ''pellon maito'' ("milk of the field"), and drinking it was called tasting or drinking Pellon Pekko.

Martti Haavio Martti Henrikki Haavio (22 January 1899 – 4 February 1973) was a Finnish poet, folklorist and mythologist, writing poetry under the pen name P. Mustapää. He was born on 22 January 1899 in Temmes, and died on 4 February 1973 in Helsinki. He ...

connected Pellon Pekko to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

. According to

Uno Harva Uno Nils Oskar Harva (known as Uno Holmberg until 1927; 30 August 1882, Ypäjä – 13 August 1949, Turku) was a Finnish religious scholar, who founded the discipline in Finland together with Rafael Karsten. A major figure in North Eurasian ethnol ...

, Finnish-Estonian Pekko is the

haltija In Finnish mythology, a haltija is a supernatural inhabitant of a specific place and a protector of living beings, living in an invisible environment but can show themself to humans. A haltija could be the supernatural original inhabitant and guard ...

of barley and drinks made of it. He also considered Pekko to have originally been the personification of barley.

Anna-Leena Siikala Arja Anna-Leena Siikala (formerly Kuusi, née Aarnisalo, born Helsinki, 1 January 1943, died Espoo, 27 February 2016) was a professor emeritus at the University of Helsinki, specialising in folk-belief, mythology, and shamanism, along with oral stor ...

supported Harva's view over Haavio's. Additionally, as beer in

runic song Runic song, also referred to as ''Rune'' song, ''Runo'' song, or ''Kalevala'' song, is a form of oral poetry and national epic historically practiced among the Baltic Finnic peoples. It includes the Finnish epic poems ''Kalevala'' and '' Kantele ...

s is often described as something which makes people festive and sing, Harva called Pekko the "ancient Finnish

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

" and called him the god of song and poetry as well. Peko is sometimes associated with Estonian

Pikne Pikne (also ''Piken'' or ''Pikker'': the long one) is the god of lightning in Estonian mythology. In Finnish, lightning is sometimes called ''Pitkäinen'', which is similar in meaning. It is likely that both are taboo euphemisms. There was an ...

(Pitkne), Baltic

Perkūnas Perkūnas (, , Old Prussian: ''Perkūns'', ''Perkunos'', Sudovian language, Yotvingian: ''Parkuns'', Latgalian language, Latgalian: ''Pārkiuņs'') was the common Baltic languages, Baltic List of thunder gods, god of thunder, and the second m ...

or even Christian

Traditions

Before

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

festivities, before the dawn broke, young Seto men held a ritual fight until the first drop of blood was shed. The bleeding person became the host of the next year's feast. Black candles were lit to revere wooden idols of Peko. The people chanted "Peko, Peko, come to drink the beer" and some older men called the priests of Peko made sacrifices. The second holiday dedicated to Peko was held after the harvest. Peko was also revered during

Candlemas Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday, Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of ...

and

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

feasts. The carved idols of Peko were kept hidden in granaries around the year. The head of the idol typically had holes for candles. A third holiday was held around August 4, in which the people of Setomaa sing the local anthem, host a musical competition, and elect the next representative of Peko for the year (known as ''ülebtsootska'', the "vice-king"), before they end the celebrations with a military parade.TOP Estonian folk festivals
/ref>

Modern appearances

Seto folksinger

Anne Vabarna Anne Vabarna (21 December 1877 in Võpolsova – 7 December 1964 in Tonja, Estonia, Tonja) was a Setos, Seto singer. In her lifetime she recorded over 140,000 verses, most notably her composition of the Seto national epic 'Peko', depicting the t ...

has created the epic "Songs of Peko" where Peko is depicted as a Seto hero. Peko is in eternal sleep in the cave. When someone calls his name, he brings the rain to the fields. If people of his kin remember his advice and work hard, Peko sends them abundant crops. Peko is praised as a warrior who frees the country, as a hunter who gives bear skins to villagers and as a host of wedding feasts. He ploughs the field with a wooden plough and protects the people against evil spirits who make people to drink too much. Pekos' spirit can also fly around as a butterfly. The supposed grave of Peko is under an old oak tree near the

Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery Pskov-Pechory Monastery or The Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery or Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery (, ) is a Russian Orthodox male monastery, located in Pechory, Pskov Oblast in Russia, just a few kilometers from the Estonian border. Pskov-Caves ...

. He also appears in the name of a song by

Korpiklaani Korpiklaani (Finnish language, Finnish for ) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. History Shamaani Duo While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani st ...

, a Finnish

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

group. The song is called "Pellonpekko" and appears in their album ''

Spirit of the Forest ''Spirit of the Forest'' is the debut studio album by Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani. It was released in 2003 through Napalm Records. ''Exclaim!'' remarked about the album, "Despite the odd iffy moment Spirit of the Forest is fun and bal ...

''.

References

* {{cite book , author1=Suhonen, S. , author2=Hagu, P. , name-list-style=amp , title=Peko , location=Kuopio , publisher=Snellman Institute , year=1995 , isbn=951-842-166-8

External links