Thread by @PeopleOfFinland

from deep, dark waters to the calm, mysterious boreal forests, lets take our journey to land, shall we?

next up, creatures of forests and fields

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Sinipiika, Annikki, Tuulikki & forest elves

forest elves could display themselves as many things; trees, animals, human-like.

Annikki was the daughter of the deity Tapio, the king of the forest, and she was important for hunters, for she could with her flute wake up the forest.

Hitto — yep, that’s a curseword

could’ve meant a place, or a creature, mostly a creature. he wasn’t as nasty as Perkele (yep, also a curseword) but more calm and understanding.

he was like, a softcore devil.

even people who were a bit too shy to call for Perkele could ask him.

Nyyrikki — Tapio’s son

Nyyrikki is probably one of the only forest beings with a clear job description rather than just vague lines here and there.

Nyyrikki just made sure that there was a decent, fitting amount of squirrels to be seen and hunted down.

Kati — she was mysterious

she was believed to be the spirit who gave trees the power and ability to grow taller and stronger.

Kivutar — the taker of pain

she was believed to sit on a “painstone”, a stone that had cracks and/or holes in it, in which she stored away all the pains and sicknesses people would ask her to relieve them of.

Pellonpekko — bröther may i have some öats

Pekko was actually the guardian of barley, not oats but i couldn’t resist. he lived on fields anyway!

not only did he care for barley in the field but he also kept the product made from barley safe...BEER!! he was the guardian of beer!

Tonttu — we stole him from Sweden

this one’s tricky, but try to keep up.

when a house was built on empty land, there were know two things in existence: the house, and the humans. and over time, those two evolve a relationship, and out of that relationship comes the Tonttu.

Tonttu could be born out of something as simple as a person coming back to a campfire over and over again. the more a place started to feel like home, the more likely it was that a Tonttu was now living there and taking care of the place.

Tonttu is very small and only appears as a male. a very old Tonttu might have a beard so long they can use it as a scarf!!

Tonttu might appear to people to warn about something or to show gratitude. they were quick to anger if something wasn’t done right in the house.

i remember that when i was a kid, i would always bring porridge to my grandma’s Tonttu, “house elf”, on Christmas. just to please him.

this year it’s become a bit of a trend to bring back some of that, and people are installing elf-doors into their houses
meillakotona.fi/artikkelit/jok…

Maahinen — gnome. you don’t put it on your lawn, it lives under your lawn.

little tiny things with huge magical powers who lived mostly under ground.

changelings. not pretty fairies but a bit off-looking, human-ish gnomes. that’s how people used to explain disabled children.

Menninkäinen — you did not know this about them

back in the good old pagan days, people believed that after a person has been buried, their spirit lingers under the earth and might take the form of a small pixy, become a Menninkäinen.

they lived like big people, had their own cattle, tiny homes and all that.

it was important for big people to stay in good terms with the Menninkäiset (they might become pixies one day themselves!) so they were brought gifts and sacrifices.

Menninkäiset liked to make little strolls around graveyards after nightfall. and they didn’t like to be disturbed while doing so.

we still have songs and stories to remind us of them, such as this masterpiece: open.spotify.com/track/3zunbS9h…

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