Ved-ava is a water deity, common to several

Finno-Ugric peoples Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century ...

traditionally dependent on fishing. She is also sometimes associated with

fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...

. She is generally depicted as a water creature resembling a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

, with long hair, large breasts, and the lower body of a fish complete with tail, and is sometimes said to play or sing, seducing humans with her music.

Fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

sacrificed to her the first of their catch and observed numerous taboos related to her while fishing. Seeing Ved-ava boded ill, most often drowning. She has been regarded as the spirit of a drowned person or simply as a personification of the water itself. Among the

Mordvins Mordvins (also Mordvinians, Mordovians; ; no equivalents in Moksha language, Moksha and Erzya language, Erzya) is an official term used in Russia and the Soviet Union to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928. Names While Robert Gordon ...

(an area in what is now Western

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 ...

) she was the Water Mother, ruler of the waters and their bounty; she is known as Vete-ema among the

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

and Veen emo among the

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

References

"Ved-ava." ''Britannica Concise Encyclopedia from Encyclopædia Britannica''. Accessed May 13, 2006.

"Ved-ava." ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service). Accessed May 13, 2006
{{deity-stub Finnish goddesses Sea and river goddesses Estonian goddesses