Estonian Mythology - Mythical Motifs in Folklore

Mythical Motifs in Folklore

Some traces of the oldest authentic myths may have survived in runic songs. There is a song about the birth of the world – a bird lays three eggs and starts to lay out the nestlings – one becomes Sun, one becomes Moon and one becomes the Earth. Other Finno-Ugric peoples have also myths according to which the world has emerged from an egg.

The world of the Estonians’ ancestors is believed to have turned around a pillar or a tree, to which the skies were nailed with North Star. Milky Way (Linnutee or Birds' Way in Estonian) was a branch of the World Tree (Ilmapuu) or the way by which birds moved (and took the souls of the deceased to the other world). These myths were based on animistic beliefs.

Changes occurred in proto-Estonian mythology as a result of the contacts with Baltic and Germanic tribes, as well as the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. Personifications of celestial bodies, sky and weather deities and fertility gods gained importance in the world of the farmers. There may have been a sky and thunder god called Uku or Ukko, also called Vanaisa (Grandfather) or Taevataat (Sky Father). Proto Estonian pre-Christian deities may also have included a sky-god by name Jumal, known also by other Finnic peoples as Jumala in Finnish and Jumo in Mari. Many recorded legends and myths depicting a supreme sky god are however probably of later origin and feature Christian and/or foreign influences.

Estonian legends about giants (Kalevipoeg, Suur Tõll, Leiger) may be a reflection of Germanic (especially Scandinavian) influences. There are numerous legends interpreting various natural objects and features as traces of Kalevipoeg's deeds. The giant has merged with Christian Devil, 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 motiffs from Estonian runic songs:

• a mighty oak grows into the sky, is then felled and turned into various mythical objects
• 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 the scarification of 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 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, among others by ethnologist and former president Lennart Meri, that a meteorite which passed dramatically over populated regions and landed on the island of Saaremaa 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. In the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, 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.