#finnish folklore

OLD GODS - Illustrations of Finnish Wildlife and Folklore

Exhibition at Lielahti Library in Tampere from SEP 25th to OCT 15th

Free admission during mall opening hours!

"Old Gods is a series of illustrations about Finnish wildlife and the myths and beliefs related to different animals. The ancient Finnish worldview has many animistic features, one of the most prominent being the belief that humans are kin to other animals. Some were believed to be so close to humans that transmigration of the soul was possible. For this and many other reasons animals were respected, some even worshipped, and they were believed to possess spiritual power. In this series I explore the mystical nature of the most important animals in Finnish folklore. Each is portrayed as an ancient Finn could have seen them."

I have been dreaming of being able to display all the physical paintings I have made for this series. I finally got a chance to do it and in this day and age I feel that it's increasingly more important to show off the physical work.

This exhibition contains 42 paintings from this series - the main series as well as the sub series Blessings of the Old Gods and Origins (excl. paintings that have been sold).

I left a guest book on the check out counter next to the library door. I would love it if you wrote something if you visit!

Nod-Krai has been a lot of fun. Having my own language and parts of our mythology represented in the game I’ve loved for five years is incredible. That said, I wanted to do an overview of Finnish names I’ve seen in the game.

Names that I have no complaints about since they are actual names in Finland:

Aino, Katriina, Eveliina, Paavo, Pentti, Tapani, Lyylikki, Viljami, Hintsa (used more as a surname), Talvikki, Reetta, Seppo, Heikki, Birgitta, Hannu, Jalo, Havu (rarer first name, more commonly a surname), Risto, Auni, Tuija, Korhonen (one of the most common surnames), Urho, Taisto

Names that I want to give some context:

Limppu. This one is funny to me because limppu is a type of bread in Finland and this npc is a bread seller. Fun fact, we actually have several different types of limppu here. My favourite is perunalimppu or ’potato limppu’

Hunajatta. Again, funny to me since this is a honey seller essentially named ’without honey’. Hunaja = honey, the suffix ’-tta’ indicates a lack of something. Could also be an attempt to create a Finnish name from scratch since we do have names with the -tta suffix, eg. Marjatta.

Kapy. It’s a shame that Hoyo decided to ignore the existence of Å, Ä and Ö. I suspect that this npc’s name is supposed to be Käpy which means ’pinecone’ in Finnish. Kapy is not a real name, at least not in Finland. There are, however, people named Käpy (not many of them but still)

Vaino. Unfortunate case of missing ä and ö turned a regular name ’Väinö’ into a word ’vaino’ which comes from a word ’vainota’ or ’to stalk, hound, harass or persecute someone’

Kuuvahki. Meant to be ’kuuväki’. ’Kuu’ meaning ’moon’ and ’väki’ meaning either ’a group of people’ or ’a power possessed by a group people’

Luonnotar. Mythological beings from the folk poetry of kalevala. They don’t have a set duty and can show up anywhere.

Kuutar. A moon goddess from Finnish mythology. Works together with Päivätär, goddess of sun and day. Rarely seen apart. In Finland’s national epic poem Kalevala, Kuutar and Päivätär are said to have been born from a diving duck’s egg, one from the yolk and one from the whites.

Hiisi island. Hiisi is a character from Finnic mythology and one of our pagan gods, a forest god to be specific. Originally hiisi was a holy place where people went to pray and make sacrifices to the gods. These places were demonized once christianity was brought here and hiisi came to represent something evil.

Paha isle. One more funny one. ’Paha’ is just Finnish for ’bad’, so the island occupied by the bad guys, the Fatui, is called ’Bad Isle’

Kukkia. Means either ’flowers’ or ’to flower’

Rikas. This old white man npc’s name is just ’rich’.

Vanamo. Small, common flower in Finland (Linnea Borealis).

Lauha. A woman’s name. Also used to describe weather that’s just above 0 degrees celsius. When used to describe a person, it has the meaning of ’kind, gentle, friendly’

Yrjo. Again, the missing ö. Should be Yrjö. A common name for men.

Mahla. More often used as a surname or as a part of it, however a handful of individuals have Mahla as their first name. Mahla = sap.

Lalli. This one’s fun and we learn about this very early in school. According to our folklore, Lalli was a farmer and is said to have ended the life of bishop Henrik during his first crusade around the year 1156. Also yes, an actual name.

Kuuhenki. This is just ’moon spirit’. Kuu = moon, henki = spirit

Valta. Finnish word for social and political power.

Satajalka. Not a real name. Literally translates to ’hundred foot’. Satajalka is a pulling toy for small children.

Pakkaisukko. Correct form ’pakkasukko’. Basically Finnish Jack Frost.

Sampo. In Kalevala, sampo is a magical mill that is said to grant riches for it’s owner(s). In this case, the riches were money, grain and salt. Also a common first name.

Takoja ianikuinen. Correct form ’takoja iänikuinen’. Refers to Ilmarinen, the eternal hammerer. A god of air, sky, and weather in the Finnish mythology. In the Kalevala he is called seppä Seppo Ilmarinen. He is a blacksmith and an inventor who was the one to forge the sampo.

Aarnivalkea. Also known as virvatuli, aarreliekki, aarnivalkeat. Eng. Will-o’-the-wisp, will-o’-wisp or ignis fatuus (foolish flame). An atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night. Thought to be spiritual beings or places of treasure called aarnihauta/-kätkö guarded by a fae called Aarni.

Lempo Isle. Lempo is a demon from Finnish folklore and mythology. An erratic and unpredictable god/goddess with a fiery, winged appearance. Connected to themes of fire and love. Has two demon cohorts: Hiisi and Paha.

Pekkani. This one got a laugh from me. Literally translates to ”my Pekka”. Pekka is a regular name.

Sisko. A Finnish word for ’sister’ but used also as a first name.

The pronouciation of some these names/words… there was an attempt. I know Finnish isn’t exactly an easy language so I’m not too bothered lol. However, Lauma’s EN va absolutely nailed the pronounciation of ’Luonnotar’. In general, I noticed that they have some difficulties with Finnish double vowels and end up putting emphasis on the wrong part of the word, eg. ’Kuutar’ more often than not became ’kutaar’ or ’kuttarr’.

By no means does this list have every Finnish word/name in Nod-Krai. If you’ve found some that were not mentioned, do let me know!

And if you got interested in Finnish mythology, I highly recommend you to go on a google deep dive. It truly is fascinating and we seem to have gods for anything you could think of. Seriously, there’s even one for veins.

Also, it is worth mentioning that they never made me read Kalevala in school. I’m also not a linguist. Google and the Finnish education system were my best friends here. Also, Finnish Name Statistics. I was surprised that there actually are few people named Valta. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised about anything since someone did try to name their kid Boothill last year… It was not accepted.