Estonian mythology

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The Estonian mythology consists of a plurality of myths that the Folk Heritage of Estonian belong.

Not much is known about the real pre-Christian mythology of the Estonians; the tradition was exclusively oral. The old legends were only written down systematically from the 19th century, when most of them had already disappeared.

In the different stages of development of Estonian mythology, one speaks of Baltic-Finnish or even Finno-Ugric mythology. The social organization of these tribes was largely the same; there was no organized religion , no professional priests, no scripture, and of course no written tradition at all.

This was recognized as a mistake by the Estonian and Baltic-German writers of the 19th century. The former began to create their “own” mythological basis for an emerging nation, following Johann Gottfried Herder in the sense of national romanticism . Today it's hard to say how much of the Estonian mythology we know today was actually artificially created in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It should also be noted that some of the constructed elements are borrowed from Finnish mythology and could be traced back to shared Baltic-Finnish heritage.

Endel Nirk says: "The so-called pseudo-mythology has played a greater role in the Estonian national movement and the life of the people than for other peoples their real mythology."

The oldest myths

Some traces of the oldest real myths may have survived in the ancient songs (Regilaul) . There are songs in numerous variations about the birth of the world . The simplest song just notes: a bird laid three eggs and began to arrange its young - one became the sun , one became the moon, and one became the earth . Other Finno-Ugric peoples have similar myths.

The world of the ancient Estonians revolved around a pillar or a tree to which the sky with the north star was nailed. The Milky Way ( Estonian : Linnutee or The Way of the Bird ) was a branch of the World Tree ( Ilmapuu ), or the way birds moved (and brought the souls of the dead to the afterlife). These myths were based on shamanistic beliefs.

Changes occurred in Proto-Estonian mythology as a result of contact with Baltic and German tribes or the transition from life as a hunter-gatherer to agriculture . Personifications of celestial bodies , sky - and weather deities and fertility gods gained importance in the world of farmers. There could have been a sky and thunder god named Uku , Ukko or Vanaisa (grandfather). However, most of the recorded legends and myths describing him are likely from later times and include Christian and / or foreign influences.

It has been suggested by ethnologists and former President Lennart Meri , among others , that a meteorite that flew dramatically over populated regions around 3,000 to 4,000 years ago and landed on the island of Saaremaa was a disruptive event that struck the mythology of Estonia and the surrounding countries could have influenced, especially those from whose point of view a "sun" seemed to be setting in the east. In the Finnish national epic , the Kalevala , chants 47, 48 and 49 can be interpreted as descriptions of the impact, the resulting tsunami and the devastating forest fires.

The Estonian legends about giants ( Kalevipoeg , Suur Tõll , Leiger ) could be a reflection of Germanic (especially Scandinavian ) influences. There are numerous legends that interpret various natural objects as traces of Kalevipoeg's deeds.

Over time, this giant merged with the Christian devil , resulting in a new character, namely Vanapagan (a huge demon who lives on his farm or manor and is more stupid than malevolent, and by shrewd people like his servant Kaval-Ants (Smart Hans ) can be easily outwitted).

Mythical motifs in folklore

Other mythical motifs from ancient Estonian songs are:

  • A mighty oak grows up into the sky, then is felled and transformed into various mythical objects
  • The sun, moon and star appear as suitors to a young girl; she chooses the star
  • A shrewd blacksmith forges a woman out of gold , but is unable to give her a soul or a spirit. The narrative varies the common motif of the process of rejuvenation and its unsuccessful imitation.
  • A sacred grove begins to wither after it has been desecrated by lovers. Only the scarification of nine brothers cleanses him again
  • Mighty heroes ca n't kill a terrible, giant ox , but a little brother can
  • A woman is forced to kill her own daughter , who then lives in heaven as an air girl
  • A girl finds a fish and asks her brother to kill it. There is a woman in the fish
  • Young girls go out at night and are seduced by young men from the sacred grove (or the land of death) by offering them riches.
  • A lake travels to another place after it has been desecrated by a reckless woman or a couple who commit incest .

Artificial mythology

Friedrich Robert Faehlmann and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald created the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg from numerous prosaic folk legends and self-written imitations of runic verses . Faehlmann also wrote eight fictional myths in which he mixed elements of Estonian folklore (from the legends and folk songs) with Finnish mythology (from Kristfrid Ganander's "Mythologica Fennica") and classical Greek mythology . Matthias Johann Eisen was another folklorist and writer who studied folk legends and reworked them into a literary form. Many of the contemporary scholars accepted this popular mythology as real Estonian mythology.

The Estonian fictional mythology or pseudo-mythology describes the following world of gods : The supreme god is Taara . It is celebrated in sacred oak forests around Tartu . Another name for Taara is uku . Uku's daughters are called Linda and Jutta , the queen of birds. Uku also has two sons: Kõu (thunder) and Pikker (lightning), who protect the people from demons and Vanatühi , the lord of the underworld . Pikker owns a powerful musical instrument that makes the demons tremble and flee, and has a cheeky daughter named Ilmatütar (air girl ).

More recently, the well-known Estonian folk healer Aleksander Heintalu published his own version of ancient Estonian mythology, in the form of the epic Kuldmamma (Golden Mama), which focuses on the matriarchal society of the ancient Baltic-Finnish tribes.

Estonian mythological beings, deities and legendary heroes

Page from Johann Gutslaff's Kurtzer report and lessons From the false-holy brooks in Lieffland Wöhhanda (Tartu, 1644) contains an evocation of the Pikne
  • Aiatar - a female demon , the daughter of the devil
  • Äike - thunder
  • Alevipoeg - son Alevs and a friend of Kalevipoeg
  • Ebajalg - demonic whirlwind
  • Ehaema - mother twilight , nocturnal spirit or elf , promotes spinning
  • Eksitaja - an evil spirit, which people in a forest or in a bog can get lost (see also Wisp )
  • Haemarik - personification of dusk , a beautiful young girl
  • Hännamees , Kratt , Puuk , Pisuhänd , Tulihänd - a demon who steals money, food and other valuable goods for its creator or owner. It appears in the form of a whirlwind or a jet of fire
  • Härjapõlvlane - leprechaun
  • Haldjas ("the regulator") - elf, fairy, guardian spirit of a place, an animal, a person or a plant
  • Hall - personification of malaria
  • Hiid - a giant
  • Hiiela - a world beyond, the land of death
  • Hiieneitsid - girl from the land of death
  • Hiis - sacred grove
  • Hingeliblikas - a person's spirit in the form of a moth
  • Hingeloom - a person's mind in the shape of an insect or small animal
  • Hoidja - guardian spirit
  • Ilmatütar , Ilmaneitsi - air girl , sky girl
  • Ilmarine , Ilmasepp - a mythical blacksmith who, among other things, the sun and the moon made (see also Ilmarinen )
  • Ilo - joy, the hostess of parties
  • Järvevana - old, mostly bad man from the lake (see also Lake Ülemiste )
  • Jumal - God
  • Jutta - queen of the birds, daughter of Taaras
  • Juudaline - demon, possibly related to Judas Iscariot
  • Kääbas - grave or dead spirit
  • Kaevukoll - Butzemann of a source
  • Kaitsja - guardian spirit
  • Kalevipoeg , Kalevine , Sohni , Soini , Osmi - huge hero, mythical former king of Estonia (see also Kalevipoeg )
  • Kalm - spirit of a grave or a dead person, ruler of the land of the dead
  • Kalmuneiu - girl of the grave, a girl from the land of death
  • Kaval-Ants ("clever / cunning Hans") - servant who deceives his master Vanapagan (the devil) with cunning
  • Kodukäija - a restless spirit
  • Koerakoonlane - a demonic warrior with a dog snout
  • Koit - personification of dawn , a young man and eternal lover of Haemarik
  • Koll - ghost
  • Kolumats - Butzemann
  • Kõu - Donner , son of Ukus , brother of Piknes
  • Külmking - spirit of an unconsecrated dead
  • Kurat , Kuri , Vanakuri - Devil (The Evil One )
  • Kuu - the moon
  • Lämmeküne - (see Lemminkäinen )
  • Lapi nõid - witch of Lapland
  • Leiger ("player") - a giant living on the island of Hiiumaa , brother of Suur Tõll
  • Lendva - a disease sent by an evil witch
  • Libahunt - werewolf
  • Linda - Kalevipoeg's mother
  • Lummutis - spirit, anger
  • Luupainaja - incubus , nightmare
  • Maa-alune - a creature living underground and causing disease
  • Maaema - mother earth
  • Maajumalad - gods of the earth
  • Majauss - tamed grass snake , guardian spirit
  • Mana - a hypothetical ruler of death
  • Manala - land of death
  • Manalane - resident of the land of death
  • Marras - death spirit, death prophet
  • Mereveised - manatee
  • Metsaema - mother of the forest
  • Metsavana - old man of the forest
  • Metsik - a fertility god
  • Mumm - ghost, monster, ghost
  • Murueide Tütred - Murueit's daughters , beautiful girls
  • Murueit - a female forest and earth spirit with a connection to the land of death
  • Näkk - mermaid
  • Nõid - witch
  • Olevipoeg - the successor of Kalevipoeg, town builder, related to Olav the Saint
  • Päike - sun
  • Painaja - nightmare, incubus
  • Pakane - frost
  • Pardiajaja - half-demonic warrior
  • Peko - especially among the Setu people, god of fertility and (beer) brewing
  • Pell - a fertility god
  • Peninukk - semi-demonic fighter
  • Penn
  • Peremees - master
  • Pikne , Pikker - Blitz , “The Tall One ”, son of Ukus
  • Piret - wife of Suur Tõll
  • Põrguneitsi - Virgin of Hell
  • Rongo
  • Rõugutaja - a female deity and patroness of rye , working women and the city of Narva
  • Rukkihunt
  • Salme
  • Sarvik - horned demon, a devil
  • Sulevipoeg - Sulev's son, friend of Kalevipoeg
  • Surm - death
  • Suur Tõll - gigantic hero wholiveson Saaremaa
  • Taara - the supreme god of Estonian pseudo-mythology
  • Taarapita , Tarapita , Tharapita - hypothetical god of war of the inhabitants of Saaremaa
  • Täht - star
  • Taevataat - God, literally " old man"
  • Tallaja
  • Tige - personification of anger
  • Tikutaja
  • Great
  • Tons - mind
  • Toonela - land of death (see also Tuonela )
  • Tooni - ruler and god of death
  • Toor , Tooru - a deity known in western Estonia who largely coincides with the Scandinavian god Thor
  • Tulbigas
  • Turis
  • Tuule-Ema - mother wind
  • Tuuleisa - father wind
  • Tuulispea - whirlwind
  • Tuuslar - a sorcerer living in Finland
  • Udres-Kudres - slave, called "son of the sun", hero of various folk songs
  • Uku - supreme god, also Taara
  • Vanaisa - grandfather
  • Vanatühi ("The Old Empty"), Vanapagan ("Old Heath") - the devil, depicted as a huge, stupid farmer
  • Vanemuine - the god of songs
  • Varavedaja
  • Varjuline
  • Veehaldjas - Spirit of the water, weaver of the Ahjualune spring
  • Veteema - mother of water
  • Vetevana - water spirit
  • Vihelik
  • Vilbus
  • Virmalised - Northern Lights
  • Virus Kundra

Christian saints interpreted as gods

Mythical and magical artifacts

  • The White Ship ( valge laev ) - mythical ship that brings freedom or takes people to a better country. This myth was born around 1860 when a sect led by Juhan Leinberg (also known as Prophet Maltsvet) gathered near Tallinn to wait for the ship to take them.
  • Hat made of fingernails ( küntest kübar ) - Makes the wearer (mostly Vanatühi ) appear invisible.
  • Mittens ( kirikindad ) - it was believed that mittens had protective or magical powers, especially ecclesiastical or sailor mittens . They were or are decorated with special geometric patterns and narrow red stripes. There is a lot of whisper and magic in them because the maker sang while dyeing and knitting the yarn.
  • Ribbons ( kirivöö ) - The ribbons had the oldest and most magical patterns of all handicrafts. Red woven ribbons and cords were a common offering, being tied to the branches of sacred trees. Ribbons were tied around diseased parts of the body and would protect and strengthen the wearer when worn tightly around the abdomen.
  • Holy stones - The last ice age left many large stones ( boulders ) in Estonia. Many of them were held sacred, and people came to offer silver , blood , red ribbons, and coins and to ask for welfare and success. Small holes were often found in them, some of which were probably for the offerings. However, the function of the holes is still controversial. According to the astronomer Heino Eelsalu, they could have had a calendar function.
  • Traveling Forests - When the people in one place are mean, greedy, and cruel, the forests leave that place. Most of the stories about traveling forests can be found in the coastal areas of Estonia.

Web links

literature

  • P. Päär, A. Türnpu, R. Järv, L. Loigu (Eds.): The Heavenly Wedding. Varrak, Tallinn 2005, ISBN 9985-3-1146-9 . Contains 39 commented Estonian folk myths.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ folklore.ee (PDF; 508 kB)
  2. ↑ altreligion.about.com