Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to theEstonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in ecclesiastical registers. Systematic recordings ofEstonian folklore started in the 19th century. Pre-Christian Estonian deities may have included a god known asJumal orTaevataat ("Old man of the sky") inEstonian, corresponding toJumala inFinnish, andJumo inMari.[1]
According to theChronicle of Henry of Livonia in 1225 the Estonians disinterred the enemy's dead and burned them.[1] It is thought that cremation was believed to speed up the dead person's journey to the afterlife and by cremation the dead would not become earthbound spirits which were thought to be dangerous to the living.
Henry of Livonia also describes in his chronicle an Estonian legend originating inVirumaa in northern Estonia – about a mountain and a forest where a god namedTharapita, worshipped byOeselians, had been born.[2]
The solstice festival ofMidsummer (Estonian:Jaanipäev) celebrating the sun through solar symbols of bonfires, the tradition alive until the present day and numerous Estonian nature spirits: the sacred oak and linden were described byBalthasar Russow in 1578.[3]
Some traces of the oldest authentic myths may have survived inrunic songs. There is a song about the birth of the world – a bird lays three eggs and starts to lay out the nestlings – one becomesSun, one becomesMoon and one becomes theEarth. OtherBaltic Finnic peoples also have myths according to which the world has emerged from an egg.[4]
The world of the Estonians' ancestors is believed to have turned around a pillar or a tree,[5] to which the skies were nailed with theNorth Star. TheMilky Way (Linnutee or Birds' Way in Estonian) was a branch of theWorld tree (Ilmapuu) or the way by which birds moved (and took the souls of the deceased to the other world). These myths were based onanimistic beliefs.
Changes occurred in proto-Estonian mythology as a result of the contacts withBaltic andGermanic tribes, as well as the transition fromhunting and gathering tofarming.Personifications of celestial bodies,sky andweatherdeities andfertility gods gained importance in the world of the farmers. There may have been a sky and thunder god calledUku or Ukko, also called Vanaisa (Grandfather) or Taevataat (Sky Father). Proto Estonian pre-Christian deities also may have included a sky-god by name Jumal, known also by otherFinnic peoples as Jumala inFinnish and Jumo inMari.[1][6]
Estonian legends about giants (Kalevipoeg,Suur Tõll,Leiger) may be a reflection of Germanic (especiallyScandinavian) influences. Giants themselves in some stories stood as protectors against such Germanic influences, such asinvasion.[7] There are numerous legends interpreting various natural objects and features as traces of Kalevipoeg's deeds. The giant has merged with ChristianDevil, giving birth to a new character –Vanapagan (a cunning demon living on his farm or manor) and his farm hand Kaval-Ants ("Crafty Hans").
Other mythical motifs from Estonian runic songs:
a mighty oak grows into the sky, is then felled and turned into various mythical objects[8]
Sun, Moon and Star are the suitors of a young maiden, she finally accepts the Star
a crafty blacksmith forges a woman of gold but is not able to give her a soul or a mind
a holy grove starts to wither after having been desecrated by a love-making couple; only sacrificing nine brothers cleanses it
mighty heroes are not able to kill a terrible giant ox, but a little brother is
a woman is forced to kill her daughter who then goes to live in the heaven as the Air Maiden
a girl finds a fish and asks her brother to kill it – there is a woman inside the fish
young girls go out at night and young men from the holy grove (or the land of the dead) seduce them by offering them riches
a lake travels to another place when it has been desecrated by an inconsiderate woman or an incestuous couple
It has been suggested by ethnologist and former presidentLennart Meri (among others), that aKaali meteorite which passed dramatically over populated regions and landed on the island ofSaaremaa around 3,000–4,000 years ago was a cataclysmic event that may have influenced the mythology of Estonia and neighboring countries, especially those from whose vantage point a "sun" seemed to set in the east.[4] In the Finnish national epic, theKalevala, cantos 47, 48 and 49 can be interpreted as descriptions of the impact, the resulting tsunami and devastating forest fires. It has also been suggested that the Virumaa-born Oeselian god Tharapita is a reflection of the meteorite that entered the atmosphere somewhere near the suggested "birthplace" of the god and landed in Oesel.
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann andFriedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald compiled the Estonian national epicKalevipoeg[7] out of numerous prosaic folk legends and runic verse imitations that they themselves had written.[7] Faehlmann also wrote eight fictional myths combining motives of Estonian folklore (from the legends and folk songs), Finnish mythology (from Ganander's "Mythologia Fennica") and classicalGreek mythology.Matthias Johann Eisen was another folklorist and writer who studied folk legends and reworked them into literary form. Many of their contemporary scholars accepted thismythopoeia as authentic Estonian mythology.
The Estonian literary mythology describes the following pantheon: The supreme god, the god of all living things, isTaara. He is celebrated in sacred oak forests aroundTartu.[citation needed] The god of thunder is Uku. Uku's daughters areLinda andJutta, the queen of the birds. Uku has two sons:Kõu (Thunder) andPikker (Lightning). Pikker possesses a powerful musical instrument, which makes demons tremble and flee. He has a naughty daughter,Ilmatütar (Weather Maiden).
During the era ofEstonian national awakening the elements in the literary mythology were quickly and readily incorporated into contemporary popular culture through media and school textbooks. It can be difficult to tell how much of Estonian mythology as we know it today was actually constructed in the 19th and early 20th century. Faehlmann even noted in the beginning of hisEsthnische Sagen (Estonian Legends) that:
"However, sincePietism has started to penetrate deep into the life of the people...[s]inging folk songs and telling legends have become forbidden for the people; moreover, the last survivals ofpagan deities are being destroyed and there is no chance forhistorical research."[9]
Some constructed elements are loans fromFinnish mythology and may date back to the common Baltic-Finnic heritage.
Estonian mythological and literary mythological beings, deities and legendary heroes
Kalevipoeg, Kalevine, Sohni, Soini, Osmi – giant hero, mythical ancient king of Estonia
Kalm – grave; spirit of a dead person; ruler of the land of the dead
Kalmuneiu – Maiden of the Grave; a girl from the land of the dead
Katk – personification of plague
Kaval-Ants (Crafty/Sly Hans) – wicked farm hand who deceives his master Vanapagan – the Devil
Kodukäija – a restless visitant ghost
Koerakoonlane – a demonic warrior with a dog snout
Koit – personification of Dawn, a young man, eternal lover of Hämarik
Koll – bogey
Kolumats – bogeyman
Kratt, Pisuhänd, Tulihänd, Hännamees, Puuk – a demon who stole and brought food, money and other worldly goods to its maker and owner in the form of a whirlwind or meteor-like tail of fire, but would become dangerous and kill its "owner" unless outwitted[10]
Vanapagan ("The Old Heathen") Vanatühi, ("The Old Empty one"), Vanakuri ("The Old Evil One"), Vanapoiss ("The Old Boy"), Vanasarvik ("The Old Horned One") in some texts also Vanataat ("The Old Father") – The Devil
Varavedaja – loot carrier
Varjuline – shadowling
Veehaldjas – spirit of the water, the weaver of a spring Ahjualune
White Ship (valge laev) – mythical ship that brings freedom or takes people away to a better land. This myth was born around 1860 when a small sect led byJuhan Leinberg (also known asProphet Maltsvet) gathered near Tallinn to wait for a white ship to take them away.
Hat of fingernails (küüntest kübar) – makes the bearer (usuallyVanatühi) invisible.
Letter gloves (kirikindad) – were believed to have protective or magic powers, especially church letter gloves and the gloves that sailors wore. Letter gloves were (are) decorated with special geometric patterns and narrow red stripes; they have many whispers and spells in them because the crafter used to sing while making, dyeing and knitting yarn.
Letter Belt (kirivöö) – the belt had the most ancient and magical patterns of all the craft items, red woven belts and laces were a common item to sacrifice (they were tied to the branches of holy trees). The belt was tied around parts of body that were sick and, pulled tightly around the waist, to protect and give strength to the bearer.
Sacred stones – the last ice age has left a lot of great stones (erratics) in Estonia. Many of them were considered sacred and people came to them to sacrifice silver, blood, red ribbons and coins and ask for welfare and prosperity. Often, the stones have little holes in them, some of them probably used to place the sacrifice in. The meaning and function of the holes is however still disputed; according to paleoastronomer Heino Eelsalu they may have had a calendary function.
Travelling forests – when people are mean, greedy and cruel, the forests will leave those places. The most stories about travelling forests are found in coastal areas of Estonia.
Viires, A., (1990). "Pseudomythology in Estonian Publicity in the 19th and 20th Century". In:Ethnologia Europaea 21(1), pp. 135–143.doi:10.16995/ee.1289
