Taara (variations of the name includeTooru,Tharapita andTarapitha), also known asUku orJumal,[1] is a prominent god inEstonian mythology, with a strong resemblance to the FinnishUkko and the GermanicThor.
TheLivonian place nameThoreyda (alsoThoreida andGermanTreiden) attested in theChronicle of Livonia is interpreted as the 'garden of Taara –Thor' fromTaara +*aida 'garden'. If this interpretation is correct, the theonymTaara was also known in Livonian.[2]
The nameTharapita has been interpreted as 'Taara, help!' (Estonian:Taara, a(v)ita!) and 'Taara's thunderbolt' (Estonian:Taara pikne).[3]
TheChronicle of Henry of Livonia mentions Tharapita as the superior god of theOeselians (inhabitants ofSaaremaa), also well known toVironian tribes in northernEstonia. According to the chronicle, when thecrusaders invaded Vironia in 1220, there was a beautiful wooded hill in Vironia, where locals believe Tharapita was born and from which he flew to Saaremaa. The hill is believed to be[by whom?] theEbavere Hill (Ebavere mägi) in modernLääne-Viru County.
Tharapita also inspired an Estonianneopagan movement, known astaaralased ortaarausulised. In the middle of the 19th century, Taara became popular in the national movement, as an anti-German and anti-Lutheran symbol, and creators of Estonian pseudomythology made Taara the supreme god of the Estonian pantheon. From that period, Estonia's second-biggest cityTartu was poetically calledTaaralinn ("city of Taara").
Taara was known by theTavastian tribe of Finland. At an old cult location now known as Laurin Lähde (Lauri's Fountain) in the county ofJanakkala, Tavastians worshipped Taara there as late as the 18th century, eventually being shut down by church authorities.[citation needed]
Tharapita may have been known among the Slavs of the island ofRügen, where Danish crusaders destroyed a pagan idol namedTurupit in 1168.[citation needed]
The story of Taara's flight from Vironia to Saaremaa has been associated with a majormeteorimpact that formed theKaali crater in Saaremaa. One proponent of theories about the meteor and its consequences was historianLennart Meri, the president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001, who wrote several books about the subject.
Variations similar to the name "Thor" are known to many peoples who speakUralic languages. TheKhants have a god namedTorum, theSamis haveTurms, and theSamoyeds haveTere. Finnish bishopMikael Agricola mentions in 1551 a war god calledTurisas, although this is more likely to refer toThurisas; the Finns had also a god of harvest, luck and success calledTuuri.[citation needed]
According to several medieval chronicles, Estonians did not work on Thursdays (days of Thor) and Thursday nights were called "evenings ofTooru". Some sources say Estonians used to gather in holy woods (Hiis) on Thursday evenings, where abagpipe player sat on a stone and played while people danced and sang until the dawn.[citation needed]
Tharapita is mentioned five times in theChronicle of Livonia by themissionarypriest Henry. The first mention is in connection with mission inVironia in the north of Estonia, the rest pertain to the conquest and baptism of the islands ofMuhu andSaaremaa (Osilia) off the western coast of mainlandEstonia.
Along with the first mention, Henry presents the story of Tharapita flying from a forest on top of a hill in Vironia to the island of Saaremaa. According to the chronicle, missionaries felled the images and statues of gods from the hill. The locals are said to have wondered at the fact that the statues did not bleed, which increased their belief in the priests' sermons.
Quo audito sacerdotes modicum subridentes et excusso pulvere pedum in eos ad alias villas festinantes in confinio Vironie tres villas baptizaverunt, ubi erat mons et silva pulcherrima, in qua dicebant indigene magnum deum Osiliensium natum, qui Tharapita vocatur, et de illo loco in Osiliam volasse. Et ibat alter sacerdos succidens imagines et similitudines deorum ibi factas, et mirabantur illi, quod sanguis non efflueret, et magis sacerdotum sermonibus credebant.[4]
According to the chronicle, Estonians besieged in the Muhu hill fort exclaimed to Tharapita in joy and cried to the sacred grove (nemus) for assistance, as the Christians laying siege prayed to God and exclaimed to Jesus for help.
Gaudet exercitus christianorum, exclamant, Deum exorant. Clamant et illi, gaudentes in Tarapitha suo. Illi nemus, isti Iesum invocant, in cuius nomine ac laude fortifer ascendunt, ad summitatem valli perveniunt, fortissime et ab illis repelluntur.[5]
As the sons of nobles are baptised in the defeated hill fort ofValjala (Waldia), Tharapita is banished from the fort:
Dantur pueri nobilium, quorum primum venerabilis Rigensis episcopus cum gaudio et devotione magna catechizatum sacro baptismatis fonte rigavit; alii presbyteri alios rigaverunt, qui et in urbem cum gaudio ducuntur, ut Christum predicent, ut Tharaphitam, qui deus fuit Osilianorum, eiciant, qui per medium castrum fontem consecrantes et dolium replentes primo seniores et meliores cathechizatos, deinde viros alios et mulieres baptizant et pueros.[6]
Priests spread out over Saaremaa to preach Christ and banish Tharapita.
His mysteriis in urbe Waldia celebratis venerunt nuncii, missi de cunctis urbibus et kiligundis Osilie, querentes pacem et baptismi petentes sacramentum. Gaudet exercitus obsidibusque receptis pax datur et Fraternitus amor. Dicitur, et Suecos captivos restituant liberos. Obediunt, restituere promittunt, presbyteros secum ad castra sua ducunt, qui Christum predicent, qui Tharapitha cum ceteris paganorum diis eiciant, qui populum sacro baptismate tingant. Baptizant itaque sacerdotes in omnibus castris Osilie populum universum utriusque sexus cum leticia magna et pre gaudio lacrimantes, eo quod Domino tot milia genuerunt per lavacrum regenerationis prolem spiritualem, Deo dilectam sponsam novam ex gentibus.[7]
In the concluding passage of the chronicle, Henry expresses his joy over the fact thatVirgin Mary has helped the missionaries fromRiga to banish Tharapita and drown thePharaoh (i.e., theDevil).
Gloria Dei et domini nostri Iesu Christi et beate Marie Virginis servis suis Rigensibus in Osilia talia humiliter, obsides et tributa recipere, captivos omnes christiani nominis restituere, cum victoria redire! Quod reges hactenus non potuerunt, hec beata virgo per servos suos Rigenses breviter et leniter ad honorem sui nominis adimplevit. Quo completo, quo facto, populo videlicet cuncto baptizato, Tharaphita eiecto, Pharaone submerso, captivis liberatis, redite cum gaudio Rigenses.[8]