Ilmatar
Ilmatar (from Finnish: ilma , air) (also Luonnotar from Finnish: luonto , nature) was a virgin female spirit of the air who created the world and thus the mother of Finnish mythology .
Ilmatar longed for a son. But since she was alone in the world, her wish could not come true. But one day when her longing for a son grew so great that she collapsed, she became pregnant with Väinämöinen , the child of the wind . When the child was not yet born after 700 years, Ilmatar gave up hope of ever seeing it and went to the primeval sea, where she became the mother of water.
There she saw a duck bird looking for a breeding place. As there was no land yet, Ilmatar was so kind and lifted her knee , on which the bird perched and laid seven eggs ; one of them was made of iron . However, Ilmatar grew impatient during the incubation, so that the eggs fell from her knee and broke. Heaven and earth emerged from the parts of the eggs . The egg yolk formed Päivätar , the sun , the egg white became Kuu , the moon, and small pieces of the eggshell formed the stars . The black yolk of the iron ice turned into a thundercloud .
Then, after 730 years of pregnancy , Ilmatar gave birth to her very old son Väinämöinen , the singer who created life on earth.
Others
Ilmatar is also the name of an asteroid in the main asteroid belt: (385) Ilmatar , also a Finnish female given name.
Two Finnish passenger ships also bore this name: SS Ilmatar (1929) and MS Ilmatar (1964).
Jean Sibelius composed the tone poem Luonnotar for soprano and orchestra in 1913 .
literature
- Kalevala. The Finnish epic by Elias Lönnrot. Translation: Lore Fromm and Hans Fromm. Epilogue: Hans Fromm. Reclam Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-15-010332-6 (including 1st and 2nd chant)