Kalma (goddess)

Kalma is the Finnish goddess of death and decay, her name meaning "The Stench of Corpses".[1] Her favorite places to linger are graveyards and cemeteries; in fact, one Finnish word for graveyard is kalmisto, derived from her name. Some sources state that she moves on a vehicle of odors, much like a puff of smoke.[1]

Her father is Tuoni and her mother Tuonetar. Kalma may also have several sisters, Kipu-Tyttö, Kivutar, Loviatar, and Vammatar, all of whom live in the Finnish underworld realm of Tuonela. Kalma is accompanied and protected by Surma, a dog-like creature whose name literally means "death" (though the word surma is usually used to refer to someone being killed, as opposed to dying of natural causes).[2]

Their stories are recited in the Finnish national epic Kalevala.

Her name may have come from various Uralic language words associated with the dead, such as the word for 'grave'.