Ilmatar (pronounced[ˈilmɑtɑr]) is a virgin spirit and goddess of the air in the Finnish nationalepicKalevala.[1]
The name Ilmatar is derived from the Finnish wordilma, meaning "air," and the female suffix-tar, corresponding to the English "-ess". Thus, her name meansAiress. In the Kalevala she was also occasionally calledLuonnotar (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈluo̯nːo̞t̪ɑr]), which means "Naturess," "female spirit of nature" (Finnishluonto, "nature").[2]
She was impregnated by the sea and wind and thus became the mother ofVäinämöinen.
Ilmatar does not appear connected to thecreation of the world inFinnish mythology.[3] Inrunic songs, the name only appears in one collectedWhite Karelian poem in reference to theoldest of women. In a rareOstrobothnian runic song, it is said that the one who gave birth to Väinämöinen was the Maiden of North (Pohjan neito). This is the runic song basis for Lönnrot's Ilmatar as the feminine birther of the world.[4] InLadoga Karelia, the one who gives birth to Väinämöinen is either Iro (Saint Irene) or Maaria (Virgin Mary).[5]
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Jean Sibelius composed the Finnish epictone poemLuonnotar, for soprano and orchestra in 1913. In this work, the mythical origin of the land and sky (recounted in verses from theKalevala) becomes an intenseSibelian metaphor for the inexorable force of terror of all creation. Considered to be one of the composer's most compelling works, it alternates between two musical themes. As heard at the outset, these are the shimmering stirrings of ever-growing possibility; and, underpinned with dissonant, static, harp strokes, the even more incantatory, distressed cries of the "nature spirit" (Luonnotar) herself, heavy with child.[citation needed]
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