Synty

Synty ('origin, birth, aetiology', pl. synnyt) is an important concept in Finnish mythology. Syntysanat ('origin-words') or syntyloitsut ('origin-charms') provide an explanatory, mythical account of the origin of a phenomenon (such as an illness), material (such as iron), or species (such as a bear), and were an important part of traditional Finno-Karelian culture, particularly in healing rituals. Although much in the Finnish traditional charms is paralleled elsewhere, 'the role of aetiological and cosmogonic myths' in Finnic tradition 'appears exceptional in Eurasia'.[1] The major study remains that by Kaarle Krohn, published in 1917.[2]

Map showing the distribution of the Finnic languages, approximating the area where the synty tradition was found.

Meanings of synty

The term synty is used in this article and in a range of scholarship as a genre-label, but it had a wide variety of meanings.[3] Synty transparently derives from syntyä (‘come into existence, be born’) and means ‘birth’, ‘origin’, ‘aetiology’, and so forth. Its meanings can be literal and mundane (e.g. 'birth'), but it was also used in traditional poetry with a range of more numinous meanings, varying according to region, genre, and time. Thus in Kalevalaic poetry, synty can also denote the mystical power of a tietäjä (in which context it has been argued to refer to the origin of a tietäjä’s own powers and is more or less a synonym for the more frequent term luonto, perhaps being translated as 'fundamental essence'); it can be a synonym for 'god' or 'creator' (in the singular only, often in the collocation suuri synty, ‘great synty’); or it can denote other divine power whose source was more abstract.[4][5]:250–57

In Karelian lament poetry, the plural synnyt and more especially its diminutive dialect form syntyiset (usually given in the Karelian form syndyzet) were important terms, found used of divine powers, the abode of the dead, the dead themselves, and even icons.[4] It has been suggested that these usages are a loan-translation from Russian rod ('family') and roditeli ('parents'), which are used in similar ways and have an etymological connection with birth.[5]:255–56

The term synty is used with varying degrees of specificity to denote poems within a wider body of Finnic incantations, a poem within which might also be referred to as a 'formulas', luku ('passage'), sanat ('words'), or virsi ('verse').[5]:72

Use of synty-poems

Knowing synnyt was a characteristic branch of knowledge for traditional healers, known as tietäjät. It was believed that knowing the origin of things made it possible to exercise control over them. Healing spells might, for example, include words like Kyllä tunnen syntymäsi ('indeed I know your origin').

It was long thought that synnyt were primarily recited as prefaces to charms much like a historiola, to make the charm itself more effective, perhaps as part of a process of diagnosis.[6] More recent work, however, has suggested that, though often combined with other incantations, the synty element is in these cases usually central rather than preliminary, and not so much a diagnosis as a cure; their primary context of use seems instead to have been healing physical (as opposed to metaphysical) injuries and wounds where there was no illness agent (such as a witch) to conjure.[5]:86–90 Synnyt might also be used in, for example, hunting rituals.[7]

There is some debate over in what contexts synnyt were recited and in what contexts they were sung (and whether it is meaningful to distinguish between these modes). It appears that synnyt were recited in Western Finland by the eighteenth century but might still have been sung in the seventeenth. There is some evidence for synnyt or similar genres being performed by pairs of singers in the manner of epic poems, but not much. The poems themselves, however, give singing a prominent role. The tradition of performing synnyt has been compared with the North Germanic tradition of galdr, where a clear distinction between singing and speaking may not be appropriate.[5]:264–77

Early evidence

The first 24 lines of the second earliest attestation of the magical poem Raudan synty, from Finnish National Archives, Varsinaisten asioiden pöytäkirjat 1657-1658 (KO a:10), f. 609r l. 22.

The synnyt mostly survive in nineteenth-century folklore collections. However, the earliest are attested in documents of the 1650s: the minutes of the parliament of Vaasa for 26 August 1657 record aetiological poems for iron and fire.[8][9]:61,63 On 30 June 1658, court records for Vaasa record an aetiological poem for a magical shot (pistos)[10][9]:66 and on 5 July the same year in Isokyrö for cancer, iron, and fire.[11][12][9]:66,62,63

The earliest scholarly discussion of synnyt is in the fourth fascicule (published in 1778) of Henrik Gabriel Porthan's De poësi Fennica.[13][14]

Synty next makes a significant appearance as a genre term in Christianus Erici Lencqvist's dissertation De superstitione veterum Fennorum theoretica et practica, published in 1782.[15] Discussing the mythical figure Kaleva, Lencqvist mentioned Kaleva's sword, and noted that one mention of that appears ‘in his versibus ... quibus ortus serpentis mythice exponitur (Kärmen syndy)’ ('in these verses ... in which the origin of the serpent is mythically expounded (Kärmen synty)'), quoting the following lines with his Latin translation:[16]

Mist’ on kieli keitolaisen?

Miekasta Kalewan pojan, h. e.

Unde lingua coquinarii? (Serpentis, qui venenum in ore gignat et quasi coquat?)

E gladio Calevæ filii (h. e. formidolosissimo?).

Whence is Keitolainen’s[17] tongue?

From the sword of Kaleva’s boy, i. e.

Whence the tongue of cooking-boy? (Of the serpent, who produces venom in its mouth and, as it were, cooks it?)

From the sword of Kaleva's son (i. e. ‘from the most terrifying sword’?)

Soon after, Cristfried Ganander included an entry for synnyt in his Mythologia fennica, defining them thus: ‘Synnyt, Archæologier öfver elden, ormen, sten, alla trän; läses öfver skador och sår af vidskeplige' (‘Synnyt: ancient histories of fire, the snake, stone, all trees; spoken over injuries and wounds by the superstitious').[18]

Example

The Birth of Iron, Joseph Alanen, 1910–1912

The most widely attested subject for synnyt, according to the Suomen kansan vanhat runot, is the origin of iron. One example of such a synty, as edited by Lönnrot and translated by Abercromby, is:[19]

Kyllä tieän rauan synnyn,
Arvoan alun teräksen:
Toisin ennen tuulet tuuli,
Toisin ennen säät sävisi,
Maata kuokki koivun latvat,
Peltoja petäjän kerkät.
Tuuli silloin kuusi vuotta,
Seurui seitsemän keseä,
Tuuli taittoi tammen latvat,
Rutaisi ruhevat raiat,
Maasta mättähän mäkäisi,
Tuopa myöstihe merelle,
Siitä saari siunautui
Meren selvälle selälle,
Saarelle salo sorea,
Salohon sileä nurmi,
Siihen kasvoi kaksi neittä,
Koko kolme morsianta.
Niinpä neiet astunevi
Niitylle nimettömälle,
Istuivat itähän rinnoin,
Etelähän päin elivät,
Lypsit maalle maitoansa,
Niitylle nitusiansa.
Läksi maiot vieremähän,
Vieri soita, vieri maita,
Vieri auhtoja ahoja,
Vieri suolle mättähäsen,
Metisehen mättähäsen,
Kultaisehen turpehesen.
Siitä syntyi rauta raukka,
Siitä syntyi ja sikesi,
Suon sisällä, maan navalla,
Maalla keskikorkealla,
Kasvoi rautaiset orahat,
Miehen peukalon pituiset.
Vaka vanha Väinämöinen,
Tietäjä ijän ikuinen,
Oli teitensä käviä,
Matkojensa mitteliä,
Löysi rautaiset orahat,
Teräksiset touvon taimet,
Katselevi, kääntelevi,
Sanan virkkoi, noin nimesi:
‘Mitkä nää on toukojansa,
Ja kutka orahiansa?
Jotain noistaki tulisi,
Luona taitavan takojan.’
Kokosi ne knottihinsa,
Kantavi sepon kätehen;
Tuop’ on seppo Ilmarinen
Etsivi pajan sijoa,
Löysi maata pikkuruisen,
Notkoa ani vähäisen,
Johon painoi palkehensa,
Johon ahjonsa asetti,
Vaan ei kasva rauta raukka,
Sukeu suku teräksen,
Pajassa ovettomassa,
Ahjolla tulettomalla;
Puita puuttui pauan seppä,
Tulta rautojen takoja.
Saapi puita, tuopi tulta,
Vaan ei vielä rauta synny,
Kun ei liene lietsojata,
Palkehella painajata.
Otti orjan lietsomahan,
Palkkalaisen painamahan,
Katsoi ahjonsa alusta,
Lietsimensä liepehiä,
Jopa syntyi rauan synty,
Sikesi suku teräksen.

Full well I know the iron's genesis,
I remember the origin of steel.
Of old the winds blew otherwise,
of old storms whistled otherwise,
the head of a birch tore up the ground,
the young shoots of a fir the fields.
Then it blew six years,
seven summers it inflicted harm,
the wind broke off the heads of oaks,
smashed branching [v. huge] sallow trees,
knocked a hillock from the ground
and conveyed it to the sea;
an isle was formed by spells from it
on the clear and open sea
on the island was a lovely wood,
in the wood meadow smooth,
on this two girls grew up,
a triplet of brides.
Well, the three maidens walked
along to a meadow without a name,
sat down with their breasts to the east,
with their heads to the south,
milked their milk upon the ground,
their paps upon the mead.
The milk began to flow,
flowed over swamps, flowed over lands,
flowed over sandy fields run wild,
flowed to a hillock on a swamp,
to a honeyed knoll,
into golden turf.
Hence did poor iron originate,
then it was born and was produced,
in a swamp, on an earthy knoll,
on ground of medium height
iron sprouts grew up
as high as the thumb of a man.
Trusty old Väinämöinen,
the soothsayer old as time,
was wending his way,
was pursuing his course;
he found the iron sprouts
the growing shoots of steel,
he looked about, turned round,
uttered a speech and thus he spoke:--
What sort of growing corn is this
and what these sprouting shoots?
Something would result from them
at a skilful hammerer's.'
Into his pouch he gathered them,
to a smith's hands he carried them.
The smith Ilmarinen
sought a place for his forge,
found a tiny bit of ground,
a very tiny dell
where he put his bellows up,
where he set up his forge,
but wretched iron is not produced (F. grows not)
and steel does not originate
in a smithy without a door,
in a forge without a fire;
the blacksmith had lack of wood,
the forger in iron—of fire.
He got some wood and fire he fetched,
but still iron is not made (F. born)
unless there be a bellowsman,
a man to press the bellows down.
He took a servant to blow,
a hireling to press them down,
he looked underneath the forge,
along the bellows' outer edge,
iron was already made (F. born)
and steel produced.

Topics of recorded synnyt

The Suomen kansan vanhat runot editions list around 131 topics for synty texts, 114 of them categorised as syntyloitsut ('synty-charms'), in a total of around 6900 individual records.[20]:119 Its categorisation of charms is based on a F. A. Hästesko's 1918 study of the genre.[21][22]:26 The ten most popular subjects among the synnyt categorised in the SKVR as incantations (loitsut) are, in declining order, rauta ('iron', 862 examples), käärme ('snake', 714), tuli ('fire', 690), niukahdus ('sprain', 539), käärmeen purema ('snakebite', 290), pistos ('stabbing pain', 260), puu ('tree', 219), koi ('cancer', 180), voide ('ointment', 175), ähky ('colic', 137), riisi ('rickets', 135), läävämato (literally 'cowshed-snake', 125), and löyly ('sauna steam', 108).[20]:119

Of the other categories of synnyt, the most important are those classified as epic texts, pre-eminently the maailma ('world', 455) and kantele (371). These overall patterns of popularity are consistent with the earliest attested synnyt, recorded in trial-records from Ostrobothnia in the 1650s (where the synty tradition had been lost by the nineteenth century): these are all on topics which were later in the top ten (cancer, stabbing pain, fire, and iron).[20]:119

The following table lists all the SKVR topics of synnyt.

Editorial category Subject Number of variants in SKVR SKVR categorisation
Ailahan synty 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ajettuman synty swelling 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ammuksen synty ammunition 33 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ampiaisen synty wasp 20 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Eläinten puremien historioloita animal bites historioloita 7 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Erilaisia syntyjä various aetiologies 12 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Etanan synty snail 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hammastaudin synty dental disease 42 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Haukan synty hawk 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Herhiläisen tai mehiläisen synty hornet or bee 10 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hevosen synty horse 31 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hien synty sweat 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hiiren synty mouse 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hirven synty moose 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hylkeen synty seal 26 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hä'än synty ?smoke 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Härän synty ox 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ihmisen synty human 20 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Jään synty ice 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kalman synty death 7 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Karhun synty bear 94 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Keihään synty spear 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kipujen synty pain 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kissan synty cat 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kiven kasvamattomuuden historiola historiola of the stone's lack of growth 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kiven synty stone 38 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kohtauksen historiola historiola of seizure 47 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kohtauksen synty seizure 14 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koin historiola historiola of cancer 180 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koin synty cancer 9 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koiran synty dog 62 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Korpin synty raven 16 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koskeman synty an abscess or boil 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kurkkutaudin synty throat disease 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kuvun synty swelling on the neck 7 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kärpän synty fly 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kärpäsen synty fly 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Käärmeen pureman historiola historiola of snakebite 290 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Käärmeen synty serpent 714 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Lampaan synty sheep 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Lehmän synty cow 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Leinin historiola historiola of rheumatism 16 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Leinin synty rheumatism 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Letyn synty a kind of disease 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Loukkauksen synty insults 5 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Läävämadon synty cow-house snake 125 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Löylyn synty sauna steam 108 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Maahisen synty gnome/rash 22 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Matajaisen synty spavin or swelling in humans or horses, or the supernatural being responsible for it in Finnish folk healing tradition 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Muurahaisen synty ant 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Naurismadon synty turnip-worm 5 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Niukahduksen historiola sprain historiola 539 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Noidan synty witch 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Noidannuolten synty witch's arrows' 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Nuotan synty seine 8 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pahkan synty gnarl 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Painajaisen synty nightmare 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Paiseen synty abscess 14 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pakkasen synty frost 70 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Paran synty a being created to bring milk or butter to its creator 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pirtin synty cottage's 6 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pirun synty devil 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pistoksen synty stitch or pleurisy 260 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Poron synty reindeer 5 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pukin synty billygoat 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Purun synty sawdust 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Puun synty tree 219 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pyssyn synty gun 5 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pässin synty ram 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Päästäisen synty shrew 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Raanin synty cancer 34 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ranskan synty leprosy 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Raudan synty iron 862 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Riiden synty rickets 135 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ruosteen synty rust 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ruton synty blight 11 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ruusun synty erysipelas 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ruven synty scab 27 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Räähkän synty a kind of disease 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Sammakon synty frog 29 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Saunan synty sauna 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Sian synty pig 10 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Siikasen synty chaff (in the eye) 11 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Silmien synty eyes 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Sisiliskon synty lizard 111 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Suden synty wolf 41 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Suolan synty salt 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Syyhyn synty scabies 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Syöpäläisten synty lice 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Syövän synty cancer 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tautien ja vammojen historiolta diseases' and injuries' histories 38 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tautien synty diseases 71 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tervan synty tar 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tietäjän apurin synty the tietäjä's helper 17 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tietäjän varusteiden synty the tietäjä's equipment 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tulen synty fire 690 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tuohen synty birch bark 4 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tuohuksen synty candle 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tuulen synty wind 9 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Tuuliaisen synty 16 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ukkosen synty thunder 9 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vamman synty injury 3 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vasken synty brass 8 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vatsataudin synty stomach disease 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Veden synty water 20 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Veren synty blood 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vesihiiden synty water demon 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vesikauhun synty rabies 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Viljan synty grain 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vilutaudin synty cold disease 1 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Vitun synty vagina 24 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Voiteen synty ointment 175 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Yskän synty pneumonia 2 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ähkyn synty colic 137 loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kalojen synty täistä fish 3 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Kanteleen synty kantele 371 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Maailman syntyruno the world 455 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Oluen synty ale 14 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Tanssin synty dance 4 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Tuohuksen synty candle 2 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Viinan synty alcoholic drink 2 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Väinämöisen syntymä Väinämöinen 3 kertovat runot ➜ epiikka
Pyhäkosken nimen synty the name of Pyhäkoski 1 kertovat runot ➜ proosakertomuksiin liittyvät säkeet
Saarten synty islands 1 kertovat runot ➜ proosakertomuksiin liittyvät säkeet
Virren synty hymn 2 lyriikka ➜ laulut laulusta
Tupakan synty tobacco 11 häärunot ➜ ennen hitä ➜ kihlajaiset
Ei tuli kivettä synny 1 loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Maa kiven kovaksi laati 9 loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Tiijän tiaisen synnyn 7 loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Vesi vanhin veljeksistä water, the oldest of brothers 206 loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Vuoresta veden synty water from a mountain 65 loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt

Elias Lönnrot's 1880 edition selects synnyt on the following fifty-one topics:

Lönnrot number subtypes Abercromby number Lönnrot title Abercromby title
1 183 Ampiaisen synty Wasps
2 184 Etanan synty Snails
3 a–g 185 Hammasmadon synty Tooth-worm
4 186 Hauvin synty Pike
5 187 Hevosen synty Horse
6 188 Hirven synty Elk
7 189 Horkan synty Ague
8 190 Hylkeen synty Seal
9 191 Ihmisen synty Man
10 192 Kaalimadon synty Cabbage worm
11 a–c 193 Karhun synty Bear
12 194 Keräjäin synty Courts of law (folk-moots)
13 195 Kissan synty Cat
14 a–b 196 Kiven synty Stone
15 197 Koin synty Cancer (whitlow)
16 a–b 198 Koiran synty Dog
17 199 Koivun synty Birch
18 a–b 200 Korpin synty Raven
19 201 Kuvun synty Swelling on the neck
20 a–b 202 Kyykäärmeen synty Viper
21 a–g 203 Käärmeen synty Snake
22 a–c 204 Liinan synty Flax
23 a–f 205 Läävämadon synty Cow-house snake
24 a–b 206 Maahisen synty Earth elf (skin eruption)
25 a–b 207 Noidan synty Sorcerer
26 a–b 208 Nuolien synty Arrows
27 a–b 209 Oluen synty Ale
28 a–c 210 Pakkasen synty Sharp frost
29 a–d 211 Pistoksen synty Stitch or pleurisy
30 a–i 212 Puiden synty Trees
31 213 Raanin synty Cancer
32 a–f 214 Raudan synty Iron
33 215 Riiden synty Rickets, atrophy
34 a–e 216 Rikkeitten synty Injuries caused by spells
35 217 Ruosteen synty Rust in corn
36 218 Rupien synty Scab
37 219 Sian synty Pig
38 220 Siikasen synty Particles of chaff in the eye
39 a–e 221 Sisiliskon synty Lizard
40 a–c 222 Suden synty Wolf
41 223 Suolan synty Salt
42 a–e 224 Tammen synty Oak
43 225 Tijasen synty Titmouse
44 a–f 226 Tulen synty Fire
45 a–b 227 Vasken synty Copper
46 a–d 228 Veden synty Water
47 229 Veneen synty Boat
48 a–c 230 Verkon synty Net
49 231 Viinan synty Brandy
50 a–g 232 Voiteen synty Salves
51 a–c 233 Ähkyn synty Gripes (colic, constipation)

Literary adaptations

Literary adaptations of the synnyt appear in the Kalevala, for example the origin of oak and arrows in Runo II, flax in Runo IV, iron in Runo IX (an account which influenced oral tradition in turn),[23] and the serpent in Runo XXVI.[20]:119

Editions and translations

The first substantial, scholarly collection of synty poems was Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, ed. by Elias Lönnrot (Helsinki: Suomen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48751. A very large part of this was translated into English by John Abercromby, The pre- and proto-historic Finns, both Eastern and Western: with the magic songs of the west Finns, Grimm Library, 9-10, 2 vols (London: Nutt, 1898), vol. 1, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 2. Lönnrot adapted his sources extensively, however, such that this edition should be viewed, like the Kalevala, more as a literary work by Lönnrot than as a direct representation of oral traditions.[20]:120–21

Further texts, closely representing the field records of folklore collectors, were published in the Suomen kansan vanhat runot series.[24]

References

  1. Frog, 'Shamans, Christians, and Things in Between: From Finnic-Germanic Contacts to the Conversion of Karelia', in Conversions: Looking for Ideological Change in the Early Middle Ages, ed. by Leszek Słupecki and Rudolf Simek, Studia Mediaevalia Septentrionalia, 23 (Vienna: Fassbaender, 2013), pp. 53–97 (p. 62), https://www.academia.edu/4049431.
  2. Kaarle Krohn, Suomalaiset syntyloitsut: Vertaileva tutkimus [Finnish Origin-Incantations: A Comparative Study], Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia, 157 (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1917); Magische Ursprungsrunen der Finnen, trans. by Arno Bussenius (Kerava: Keravan Kirjapainossa, 1924).
  3. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Nykysuomen sanakirja, 6 vols (Helsinki: Söderström, 1953--61), s.vv.; Erkki Itkonen et al., Suomen sanojen alkuperä: Etymologinen sanakirja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1992-), s.vv.
  4. Eila Stepanova, 'Mythic Elements of Karelian Laments: The Case of Syndyzet and Spuassuzet', in Mythic Discourses: Studies in Uralic Traditions, ed. by Frog, Anna-Leena –, and Eila Stepanova, Studia Fennica Folkloristica, 20 (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjasuuden Seura, 2012), pp. 257-87.
  5. Anna-Leena Siikala, Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry, FF Communication, 280 (Helsinki: Suomen Tiedakatemia, 2002).
  6. Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967); cf. Lotte Tarkka, 'Interpretation at a distance (Review): Thomas A. DuBois, Finnish Folk Poetry and the Kalevala. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995. 328 pp.', Folklore Fellows Network, 15 (April 1998), 22-28, http://www.folklorefellows.fi/?page_id=776.
  7. Matti Sarmela, 'Karhu ihmisen ympäristössä', Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja, 71 (1991), 209–50, http://www.kolumbus.fi/matti.sarmela/karhu.pdf.
  8. Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967), pp. 367, 369; Suomen kansan vanhat runot vol. XI nos 1570 and 1797.
  9. Raphael Hertzberg, Vidskepelsen i Finland på 1600 talet: Bidrag till Finlands kulturhistoria (Helsingfors: Hufvudstadsbl. Nya Tryckeri, 1889).
  10. Suomen kansan vanhat runot vol. XI no 992.
  11. Suomen kansan vanhat runot vol. XI nos 826, 1586, 1587, 1801.
  12. Kihlakunnanoikeuksien renovoidut tuomiokirjat > Pohjanmaan tuomiokunnan renovoidut tuomiokirjat > Varsinaisten asioiden pöytäkirjat > Varsinaisten asioiden pöytäkirjat 1657-1658 (KO a:10) f. 609r l. 22-v l. 6 (Raudan synty), 609v, ll. 7ff. (Pistoksen synty), 609v ll. 17-21 (Tulen synty).
  13. Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967), pp. 342-43.
  14. Henricus Gabriel Porthan, Dissertationis de poësi Fennica, issued in 5 parts (Åbo: Frenckell, 1766-78), pp. 87-88; fascicule 1; fascicule 2; fascicule 4; fascicule 5.
  15. Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967), pp. 342-43.
  16. Christianus Erici Lencqvist, Specimen academicum de superstitione veterum fennorum theoretica et practica, 2 vols (Åbo: Frenckell, 1782), I 27 n. u.
  17. Keitolainen is the name of a demon, but is misunderstood by Lencquist as having something to do with the verb keittää 'to cook'.
  18. Christfrid Ganander, Mythologia fennica, eller förklaring öfver de nomina propria deastrorum, idolorum, locorum, virorum, &c. eller afgudar och afgudinnor, forntidens märkelige personar, offer och offer-ställen, gamla sedvänjor, jätter, trol, skogs- sjö och bergs-rån m. m. Som förekomma i de äldre finska troll-runor, synnyt, sanat, sadut, arwotuxet &c. samt än brukas och nämnas i dagligt tal; til deras tjenst, som vela is grund förstå det finska språket, och hafva smak för finska historien och poëin, af gamla runor samlad och uttydd (Åbo: Frenckell, 1789), p. 88.
  19. Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, ed. by Elias Lönnrot (Helsinki: Suomen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), pp. 317-18 (no. 32b), http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48751; John Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern and Western: With the Magic Songs of the West Finns, Grimm Library, 9-10, 2 vols (London: Nutt, 1898), pp. 351-52 vol. 1, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 2.
  20. Alaric Hall, 'On the Origins of Things: Finnic Syntyloitsut and Cultural Constructions of the Material World', in Pre-Print Papers of the 18th International Saga Conference: Sagas and the Circum-Baltic Arena, Helsinki and Tallinn, 7th-14th August 2022, ed. by Frog, Joonas Ahola, Jesse Barber and Karolina Kouvola (Helsinki: Folklore Studies, Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki, 2022), pp. 118-22.
  21. Frans Aleksi Hästesko, Länsisuomalainen loitsurunous (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 1918).
  22. Tuukka Karlsson, '"Come here, you are needed": Registers in Viena Karelian Communicative Incantations' (PhD thesis, Helsinki University, 2022).
  23. Thomas A. Dubois, Finnish Folk Poetry and the ‘Kalevala’, New Perspectives in Folklore, 1/Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, 1895 (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 184-201.
  24. SVRK online.
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