InFinnish mythology, ahaltija is a supernatural inhabitant of a specific place and a protector of living beings, living in an invisible environment but able to show themselves to humans. A haltija could be the supernatural original inhabitant and guardian of a place or the original mother of an animal species. A person who died and was buried to their home could also become a haltija. A haltija of a locality is a solitary creature who protects their home, its nature and peace. A haltija of an animal species protects their continued existence by returning dead animals back to earth.[1]
Deity-like figures in Finnish mythology are often described asjumala and/orhaltija.Risto Pulkkinen [fi] described a jumala as a being who rules over a wider concept, such as water, while a haltija is more localized, ruling over a specific body of water. According to him, there is only a small number of beings in Finnish paganism which could be called jumala, but a wide variety of haltija beings.[2] Thus, a haltija is a ruler of a domain smaller than a god's.[3]
The word is possibly derived from theProto-Norse *halđiaz or *halđia- ("hold", compare toOld Swedishsamhälde "society";uphälde "livelihood")—although this is not the only possible etymology. It can also be derived from the Finnish verbhallita, which means "to rule", "to command", "to master".[4] InSwedish, a similar creature is calledrå (frområda "to rule").[5] Lauri Harvilahti suggested aBaltic origin:žaltys means a "grass snake", which was considered a household spirit.[6]
The word is also used in modern Finnish to mean, depending on the context, holder, occupant, lord, master,owner-occupier, occupier, possessor, bearer, or owner.[7] InEstonian mythology a similar being is calledhaldjas;[8] a holder or administrator ishaldaja.[9] Similar words exist in otherBaltic Finnic languages as well:Izhorianhaltias, haltiaine, haltē, halteine;Karelianhaltie;Ludichaĺgī. InVotic,altia, altiaz, altē̮, halt́śiaina means a "malevolent ghost".[4]
Haltija is sometimes written ashaltia. Nowadays, this more old-fashioned spelling often refers to theelves inTolkien's books or other fantasy literature. There has been controversy over the correct spelling of the word over the 20th and 21st centuries, but theInstitute for the Languages of Finland supportedhaltija as the primary word until 2013, when it stated the two ways of spelling to be equal for the "fairytale creature".[10][11]
There are many different kinds of haltijas. One is the forest maiden,metsänneitsyt, inspired by the SwedishSkogsrå, known inUusimaa,Western Finland and among the Finns of Northern Sweden. In Western Finland, the names used for the forest maiden also includedhaapaneitsyt ("aspen maiden"), and in Northern Sweden,metsänemäntä ("forest mistress"). Just like the Skogsrå, the Finnish forest maiden was beautiful from the front but ugly from the back, and she tried to trick men into sexual encounters with her.[12]
The haltija of a homestead is calledmaanhaltija ("land haltija") ortonttu, which is the Finnish version of Swedishtomte. The wordstonttu and Swedishtomt come fromtontti ("building lot" and "building site"). In Swedish, such local spirits are also later referred to as atomtegubbe ("old man of the homestead"). Thekotihaltija ("home haltija") orkotitonttu lives in every home. It takes care of the house and it is important to treat it with respect. Thesaunatonttu lives in thesauna and protects it but also makes sure that people do not behave improperly in it, and themyllytonttu is the haltija of amill. Tonttu are such more limited to a specific location than haltijas in general.[2]Joulutonttu is Finnish for Christmas elf.
When building a house to a new location, one had to bring offerings of water, bread, money and charcoal to the land haltija.[13]
The barn haltija could appear in the form of a cat, which is why it was important in some houses to treat the barn cat well in all ways and feed it regularly.[14]
In nature, there aremetsänhaltijat ("forest haltijas") in the forest andvedenhaltijat ("water haltijas") in water, among other types. A metsänhaltija could help humans but also punish them if they didn't respect the forest. People offered sacrifices to haltijas at sacred places such as yard trees.[15] The water haltija has been described as having large brown eyes, long black hair and a voice like a woman's. She also has cows.[12] Their names inrunic songs are usually Kirjo, Karjo and Haluna.[16] Other cow names which might appear are Verkuna, Maatinki, Omena,[17] Torstikki and Perjakka.[18]
The original sky god ofBaltic Finnic paganism,Ilmarinen, was demoted from the position of the sky god to a wind deity-haltija being after theBaltic mythology inspired thunder godUkko was added into the pantheon. What is a jumala (god) and a haltija is a matter of definition. In Pulkkinen's opinion, only Ukko,Tapio,Ahti and possibly the ruler of the underworldLouhi can be considered jumalas; all other deities in Finnish mythology would go into the haltija category.[2]
There are even personal haltijas: the haltija soul[15] is a part of the plural human soul in Finno-Ugric animism. The haltija soul maintained a person's wellbeing and success. If the haltija soul left a human's body, it could result in disease, dilapidation, poverty and the weakening of one's quality of life, even resulting in death. AcrossFinland andKarelia, this soul has had multiple names, includinghahmo ("figure"),haamu andaave ("ghost"),emuu ("mother"),luonto ("nature"),onni andlykky ("luck", latter afterSwedishlycka "luck"), andsäästi (afterRussian счастьеschast'ye "luck").[19]
Collectively, haltijas can be calledväki ("power", "magic power", "folk"). For instance, there ismetsänväki, the "(magic) power of the forest" in the older sense, which has gained the meaning of "forest folk".[20] In this context, the wordväki can refer to them as a folk, their magical powers, or usually both at the same time.
The complicated word väki was defined byKaarle Krohn first and foremost as haltija-like beings in 1914. In 1916,Uno Harva brought forth the now common view of väki as an impersonal supernatural force. Later research has connected the word väki tomana, even treating them as equivalents.Anna-Leena Siikala andMatti Sarmela used the term to explain the change in Finnish folk religion as people shifted from hunter-gathering and to farming communities: hunter-gatherers'shaman communicated with the souls of the dead, while the agrariantietäjä handled impersonal väki.Laura Stark wrote that väki as a concept is much more narrow than mana, while Tenka Issakainen argued the opposite: väki is not a special magic power, but any kind of power in general, not necessarily supernatural. Mythological väki can also differ:tulenväki (väki of fire) is in fire itself, butkallionväki (väki of rock) tends to only use rock as a conduit, not originating from it.[21]
