The Gods Of Finnish and Lapp Mythology

Introduction

Despite being a sparsely populated place, thick with forests and littered with lakes, Finland has been amazingly persistent and creative with its mythology.

For a mythology based on word-of-mouth tale-telling, Finland has better Godly documentation than some other places we could mention. The rambling epics of VAINAMOINEN, the Finnish folk hero, and the publishing of Kalevala, the Finnish folk bible, give intriguing glimpses of a mythology centered around trees, animals, natural forces... and more trees.

The Gods of Finland, although thin on the ground, are firm folksy favourites with spinners of spooky tales. When Christianity came and spread, Finnish mythology didn't turn a hair. It just mixed the two together with extra tales around the fire.

Note: Due to horrendously complicated issues with our database, the Finnish spellings are missing accented characters (such as Ä and Ö). We know this is wrong, we are deeply ashamed, but we're doing our best to fix it.

Also, at no extra charge, we include the Gods of Lapland aka Sápmi aka Saamiland.

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REGIONS COVERED: Finland and Lapland. But you knew that already.

Many Gods are spread across different regions, cultures and tribes. We've tried to pin them down to a particular area if possible. But amendments and corrections are always welcome, especially from people with first-hand knowledge. So if you live in the region and would like to comment, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us here.

TRIBES, CULTURES AND PEOPLES COVERED: The Finns and the Sami (aka Lapps). Or should that be the Finlanders and the Saami (aka Laplanders)?

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The Gods told us to do it.