() is a Finnish word meaning '
evil spirit' and a popular
Finnish profanity, used similarly to the English phrase ''
God damn'', although it is considered much more profane. It is most likely the most internationally known Finnish curse word.
Etymology
The name is of Indo-European origin;
Perkwunos is the reconstructed name of the god of thunder.
Some researchers consider to be an original name of the thunder god
Ukko, the chief god of the
Finnish pagan pantheon, but this view is not shared by all researchers. There are related words in other
Finnic languages: in
Estonian, means
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, in
Karelian means an
evil spirit.
Influence of Christianity
As Finland was
Christianized
Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
, the ancient pre-Christian deities came to be regarded as demons. This led to the use of "" as a translation for "Devil" in the Finnish translation of the Bible. Later, in other translations, the word was rendered as (the evil one).
See also
*
Piru (spirit)
References
{{Finland topics
Finnish gods
Thunder gods
Profanity
Finnish profanity