"Veteres Fenni superstitione sua et idololatria primùm ferebantur in res naturales præstantiores, utpote sensibus obvias, solem videlicet, lunam, stellas, terram, montes, maria, fontes, silvas et lapides; quibus, ob proprietates admirabiles phænomenaque singularia, vel ob usum ad se ex illis redundantem, Divinitatem quandam inesse putabant. Deinde etiam poeticâ quâdam fictione, ipsis phænomenis, quorum caussas non satis perspiciebant, cultum divinum tribuebant, atque in personas quasi peculiares commutabant, quod etiam morbis et morti ipsi, contigit. Hæc omnia ritibus quibusdam colebant et precibus sibi conciliare studebant. Significat hoc Agricola in memorato supra carmine, sic canens. Palweltin myös paljo muuta Kiwet, kannot, tähdet ja kuuta. Lapides, stipites, stellæ et luna." M. Rühs makes the following comment upon this testimony of Lencquist: "The old religion of the Finns was true Feticism, that is, each individual held the object which he first met for his god, and addressed to it his offerings and prayers: he changed the object as caprice or accident led him to doubt of its potency. The master of a house often established his fetish as a family god, and the chief of a tribe would sometimes exalt it to the rank of a national divinity. Thus the objects of general adoration acquired their popularity; and as the tribe improved in mental culture, the phenomena of nature were personified, which is the first step in the progress from feticism to mythology." It seems that the ancient Finns worshipped a plurality of gods under the name of Iumalat. This word is the plural form of Iumala, god, which thus appears not to be a proper name as some have supposed it to be. The Finns worshipped the sun; and the following is a translation given by Lencquist of the runot by which the rising sun was invoked: Affer veniens munera tua tecum, Affer plenam nobis salutem, Promove prædam ad captum, Fortunam ad hamum nostrum dirige, Optata ad pollicis nostri apicem. Among the stars the constellation of the Great Bear received peculiar honours. To mount on the shoulders of Otawainen or the Great Bear, means in the old songs "to be exalted to the highest heaven." Otawatar was the wife of Otawainen and the daughter of the sun she was invoked for the restoring of stolen goods, and for protection against nightly thieves. The earth, according to Lencquist, was worshipped by all the Finnish nations. Mountains and great stones were invoked both by the Finns and the Lappes. Of such sacred mountains several are known in Lapland under the name of Passevare, and there is in Finnland, on a promontory termed "Eräpyhä," the "very holy," a sacred place with four great stones erected in a square. Lakes, rivers, cataracts, fountains, were held sacred, and the offerings formerly presented in such spots to the "numen loci" are found in great numbers, Groves and even particular trees were likewise consecrated and worshipped. The winds also were invoked in the Finnish runot, particularly the south and north winds. Cold itself is addressed by deprecatory verses, which are characteristic of the style of these compositions.* Divinity was ascribed to diseases, and they were subject to a goddess who was styled the daughter of Death, and was invoked in times of danger. Death itself was a goddess, and named Tuoni or Murta: she ruled over Tuonala or Hades. There were other objects of worship among the Finns, the nature of which is not so obviously physical, and by some they *The following is the Latin version of these verses, of which the Finnish original is given by Lencquist: Packanen Puharin (puhurin) poika Kyll' on sulla kylmämistä ; By the following invocation: Frigas flaminis (Borea) fili Morbus Puella, mortis virgo, Morbos captivos factos includito In splendidam capsam. are supposed to have been deified mortals; but it is more probable that they are the creatures of the imagination. Among them was Ukko, that is Senex, to whom thunder belonged, and the domain of the firmament. He was invoked under the name of the Old Man. It is observed, however, that thunder and lightning are also ascribed in the runot to other gods, when the object is to flatter them and exalt their power. Caleva was a giant, or the father of twelve giants, among whom was Hièsi, the tamer of wild beasts. Tapio was the god of the woods, and an invocation runs thus: O! thou bee, smallest of birds, Bring me honey from the house of the woods, Sweet juice from the hall of Tapio. Ilmarinen, the god of the air and of fair weather, and Väinämöinen, the Apollo of the Finns, the author of verse and of music, were invoked together, and these are often accounted the chief divinities of the Finnic race. To them also thunder and lightning are ascribed: Excitavit ignem Ilmarinen Fulgaravit Väinämöinen. The poetical dialogue of Väinämöinen and Jouckavainen has so much analogy with some dialogues in the Edda, that we can hardly avoid suspecting the Finns to have derived some hints from the Northmen, their perpetual enemies and destroyers. Väinämöinen was the inventor of music and the lyre, and the author of all mental cultivation; he was said to have brought fire upon the earth, and to have been the chief benefactor of mortals; he taught the art of shipbuilding, instructed hunters and birdcatchers. Dwellers in the woods invoked him to play upon his harp, and allure game by the magical sound; fishermen to entice the inhabitants of the waters his girdle was composed of feathers and down. In heathen times he was accompanied by his younger brother Ilmarinen. In Catholic times he was made to share the dominion of the Blessed Virgin. A Karelian sorcerer, in answer to the question what deities were adored by his pagan forefathers, said, "The old Väinämöinen and the Virgin Mother." Ilmarinen had also the title of Säppä, or smith, and he appears to have been the god of metals and mining. Kekki or Köyri was the overseer of cattle, or perhaps of agriculture in general.* The Finns had also many goddesses, chiefly the wives of the gods. Rauni, wife of Ukko, was the goddess of thunder, and when, like Juno, she quarrelled with her husband, thunderstorms were the result of their conjugal strife. Veden-Emä, or the Water Mother, was a sea goddess. Pohjolan Emändä, the Mother of the North, had sons all ugly and deformed or maimed. Tapiolan Emändä, mistress of the forest, wife of Tapio, was invoked by hunters of small game and birds. Sakkamieli, the goddess of love, softened the hearts of prudish maidens. All these were in general, when not offended, benevolent genii; but the Finns had likewise some ill-natured gods, though they never rose to the conception of an evil principle, like the ancient Persian Ahriman. Perkele was the author of bodily ailments. Stojätär was a slow consumer. Lieckio and Aiattara were evil genii of the woods, who led men astray and frightened them by uttering various sounds. Besides all these there were inferior orders of spirits, Haldia, genii locorum et domuum; Tontu, corresponding to the Roman Lares; Maahiset, who resembled the Elfwor or Elfs of the Swedes, the Erdmängen of the Germans, and the Barstucci of the Wends, little subterranean men, to whom offerings were made when beer was brewed or bread baked; they were remembered at feasts and banquets, and the housewife who expected good luck with her cattle was obliged to give them a share of the milk; Kapeet, devourers of everything eatable, who sometimes caught hold of the moon and occasioned eclipses; Menningaiset, wandering spectres of hills and dales. Some of their inferior spirits, as M. Rühs observes, appear to have been the creatures of the fancy in later times, as Egres, who had the care of flax and garden fruits, productions unknown to the Finns of the ages of old pagan barbarism. The Finns are said to have believed in a future life, which they imagined to be nearly like the present, when men will carry on their usual occupations, and require food and clothing just as here, and will enjoy all their worldly pleasures.† The *Lencquist, p. 32. Rühs, op. cit. + Lencquist, p. 55. Rühs, ubi supra. kingdom of the dead, or Tuonala, contains barley, game, fishes. They buried with the dead, after the custom of other savage tribes, their bows and arrows, and offered to them food and drink, because they believed that the soul after death has a particular love for the places where they have chiefly resided in their life. There are also in Finnland giant-graves covered with immense stones, in which have often been found single vessels of gold, silver, and other metals, as well as a number of bones of birds, and skulls of small wild animals. The Finnlanders, like the ancient Germans, had no figures of their gods; not because their ideas were too lofty or sublime, but because they possessed no materials, instruments, or any facilities for working. They were not in a condition to build temples or consecrate altars to their gods, nor did they set apart any particular order of priests: for all these ideas they have no expressions in their native language. Every father of a family performed himself the service of the gods, which was carried on in particular places in the woods consecrated for that purpose, of which kind there were some to be found in all Finnish countries. But soothsayers, astrologers, mountebanks, and sorcerers are not to be confounded with priests; such deceivers, who believed that they could discover all secrets, and were called Tietägät, Indomiehat, Welhot, Noidat, were to be found among the Finnlanders, and even at this present time they have not entirely lost their faith in wise men of this description. Some days were more sacred to them than others, and were solemnise with certain ceremonies, and different kinds of amusement; for example, the day on which the seed is sown in the spring. At the end of harvest they lived more freely than usual, and killed and consumed a lamb which had been left unshorn since the spring, with certain superstitious ceremonies. When all was brought in well, and the slaughtering is performed, they have a harvest-feast, as a testimony of their joy for the good products of the year. The Bear-feast (Konnwonpeälliset) was solemnised with many ceremonies, with carousing and noise of cups: the neighbours make a mixture of corn and eatables for their banquet. All the guests were clothed in festive apparel; a youth and a maiden were chosen in full ornament for |