170

rapping sound be heard in the house, it is regarded as a sign
of permission to do so. Similarly, when entering a room for
the first time that day, one must always remember to say:
“ Good morning, Ruler.” In this case, also, the answer is

17

a rap.

Every room with a roof-tree had its own Haltia, as this
last was supposed to live in the roof -tree. According to
another report, he took possession of the house as soon as
three logs had been crossed, and when the building was de-
molished and the logs laid in a pile, the Haltia cried with
fear lest he became homeless. But if even one log was taken
into use, he removed with this into the new house. “ In order
that the Haltia should not feel lonely in the new house,”
the ashes from all the hearths were taken over to the new
fireplaces . 18

According to the prevalent view, the Haltia could become
visible at times, but he appeared only before some misfortune.
In Ingria the Haltia is said to have appeared at such times in
the shape of a dog or a mottled or striped cat. This was a
sign of fire . 19 The Haltia of a house was also pictured as a
human being. According to a belief prevalent in Finland,
the person who died first in the house, or the one who lit the
first fire there, became the Haltia of the house. Especially
was it supposed to appear in the shape of the first departed
master or mistress of the house. As such, it was generally
kind to everyone, and had special care, in particular, of the
provisions. The male Haltia was of higher rank than the
female, just as in life the master had stood above the mistress;
but children grew up better where the Haltia was a woman.
Both the male and female Haltia were better at the tasks
which they had carried out while alive; under the care of a
male Haltia the horses flourished, and similarly, cows, sheep,
pigs and poultry under that of the female. Other buildings
also, and even vessels, had their Haltia. That of the latter
was intimately connected with the keel of the vessel. The


HOUSEHOLD SPIRITS


171

Haltia of a church was sometimes regarded as being of equal
height with the church . 20

The Baltic Finns have to a very great extent been under
the influence of the Scandinavians. The Finnish Haltia and
all the beliefs now connected therewith find their counterpart
in the Swedish Ra or Radare (“ ruler ”). Of Swedish origin,
as may be seen from its name, is the Finnish Tonttu (Swedish
Tomte) with human characteristics, concerning which Bishop
Agricola says, that he “ guided the house.” In some districts
a special, clean room was furnished for the Tonttu. The
room had to contain a table laid with untouched food, which
was renewed a few times each week. With the exception of
the person who looked after the food, no one was allowed to
live in this room . 21

Of the outhouses, the Tonttu occupied the bathhouse,
stables, mill, and above all, the threshing-barn. Every thresh-
ing-barn had its Riihitonttu (= Swedish Ritomte) who stole
grain from the neighbours’ fields and carried it to his own
threshing-barn. The threshing-barn Tonttu looked after the
threshing-barn, but if he was offended, he began to carry away
grain from the house or would soon burn up the whole thresh-
ing-barn. He was wished a good-morning in the mornings,
and in the evenings, when the fires were lit there, the Tonttu
was begged to keep an eye on them, and wished good-night.
Should one desire to stay overnight in the threshing-barn, one
had to request permission of the Tonttu, and on no account
could one lie down near the hearth. He appeared sometimes
in grey clothes and wearing a grey hat on his head. Porridge
and milk were offered up to him behind the threshing-barn
fireplace.

According to some beliefs, the threshing-barn Tonttu was
born of the last sheaf of grain that was cut in the fields. The
sheaf was placed on the rafters of the barn for the whole
year. At times, it was left for many years ; and “ during this
period the spirit was supposed to come forth.” When it was


172


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


desired to ask on Christmas Eve what the next year’s harvest
would be like, the master of the house had to proceed to the
threshing-barn and ask: “ Good Tonttu, say what kind of year
we may expect.” If the threshing-barn creaked in reply, a
good year might be hoped for."

Among the household spirits may also be included a being,
which gathers all kinds of good things from other places for its
owner. The Votiaks, who perhaps have appropriated this spirit
from the Russians, call it the “ Bearer.” It is said to resemble
a cat, and assists its owner by bearing grain to him from other
people’s granaries. The animistic character of this being is
shewn by the belief that if the “ cat ” is killed, the owner of
the same dies likewise . 23

The Finns call this spirit the Para, after the Swedish Bjara
or Bara (“Bearer”). In Ingria there are Money-, Bread-,
and Milk-Paras. In some districts in Finland also, the Para
has brought its owner money and rye, and even, at times,
manure from the fields of neighbours. Generally, however,
the Para is regarded as the bearer of milk, cream and butter.
As such, it was usually believed to have the shape of a cat . 24
The “ Butter-cat ” of the Scandinavians is identical with the
Smierragatto of the Lapps . 25 Anyone who desired to own
such a spirit, could, according to the Finns, create one for
himself. Its material body was fashioned, for example, out
of cast-off female garments, the head of a thread-ball, and the
foot of a spindle. Each of these objects had to be stolen.
The milk, or other commodities brought by the Para to the
house, was carried by it either in its mouth or in its intestines.
If the door of the milk-closet was left open during the night,
empty milk and butter dishes would be found full in the
morning. The Seed-Para left a narrow track through the
fields from which it had stolen grain . 25

The same spirit is called Puuk by the Esthonians (Platt-
deutsch Puk; Latvian Puhkis). The Money-Para of the
Ingrians, which flies through the air like a meteor, is identical


HOUSEHOLD SPIRITS


173


with the Esthonian’s Tulihand (“ fire-tail ”), or Kratt (ancient
Scandinavian skratti , “ ghost”). The Esthonian Kratt, which,
like the Finnish Para, could be manufactured of certain ma-
terials, carried money, etc., in a sack. Food was offered up to
it — generally porridge and milk. If, during its flight through
the air, one succeeded in unloosing all the bindings and buttons
of one’s garments, the Kratt fell down upon the ground with
all its treasures . 27 In Finland also the Kratti was known,
where, as Bishop Agricola relates, it “ had the care over
property.”

A spirit flying through the air like a “ fire-worm ” — a
meteor — the Votiaks call by a Tatar name, Ubyr. It is en-
tirely evil in its ways, drinking the blood of sleeping persons ;
where this has happened blue marks are left on the body.
The Ubyr may be either the soul of a living sorcerer, or that
of an evil dead person. It can be brought to the ground in
the same way as the Kratt of the Esthonians . 28

On the boundary between the property of two neighbours,
dwelt, according to the Finns, Raja-aija (“ Boundary man ”).
In West Finland they have a saying: “ shouts like the Bound-
ary man.” It is believed that when the “ Boundary man ”
shouts, there is no echo in response, and that he appears when
boundary lines are dishonestly moved. In East Finland, ac-
cording to ancient report, the people sacrificed on the boundary
stones . 29

The treasures hidden away in the earth had also their
“ Ruler ” (Finnish Aarnion Haltia), and over them, on cer-
tain holyday nights, Midsummer’s Eve in particular, one
could see blue flames . 30

All the above mentioned beliefs have their counterpart
among the Teutons and Slavs.

The Esthonians in Krasna, who have continuously wor-
shipped their old “ land gods,” sacrifice to the a Father of
the home ” (Kodojeza) in a corner of their orchards. This
holy or “ purified ” spot could be entered by women once


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


174

only in their lives, i.e., after their wedding ceremony. It
was the duty of the master of the house to look after the place
and offer up sacrifices there, choosing as assistant a “ pure ”
person. Besides occasional offerings for some reason or other,
the ceremony of the “ family-beer ” ( 'perekahi ) was per-
formed every autumn. A portion of all the flesh cooked in
the house from sacrifices, would be taken over to the “ puri-
fied spot.” 31

In order to understand the genesis of the “ pure spot ” of
the Esthonians, it is necessary to glance at a similar custom
among peoples related to them. The Votiaks, who no longer
possess their older dwelling-house, kuala , have the same sacri-
fices in a corner of their yards as the other Votiaks in their
kuala. The site of the old kudo is also regarded as “holy”
by the Hill Cheremiss . 32 May one assume that the family-
sacrifice of the Krasna Esthonians to the “ father of the
home ” (a “ village god,” Kiilajumal, is also known) is
identical with the autumn sacrifices of the Volga Finns to their
family gods? In that case one could understand also the Finns’
habit of offering up all kinds of first-fruits at the root of a
holy tree or a holy stone in the vicinity of the home. Old
sacrificial ceremonies often continue to exist under changed
circumstances.

In the offerings to household spirits by the Finno-Ugric
peoples it would appear that they most of all felt the need of
appeasing the underground spirits. Traces of an old Indo-
European custom of sacrificing a human victim under certain
buildings, are to be found among the Volga Finns, who sacri-
ficed children under a new watermill . 33 The Mordvins are
said to have expressed the following wish at this ceremony:
“Be the Ruler of the mill, the Mill mother! ” 34 But from
this the conclusion can by no means be drawn that the house-
hold spirits of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the majority of which
spirits are direct loans from neighbouring peoples, were
originally human beings sacrificed under their buildings.


CHAPTER XI


FOREST SPIRITS

A S IN olden days, hunting was one of the chief means
of existence of the Finno-Ugrian tribes, it is but natu-
ral that they should have peopled the forests with all kinds of
spirits.

Missionaries relate that the Scandinavian Lapps worshipped
a Forest spirit, which was called Leib-olmai (“ Alder man ”).
The Lapps honoured him “ in order that he might give them
luck in hunting.” The following description by Randulf
shows that the above mentioned spirit was especially the pro-
tector of bears: “ Leib-olmai is a bear-man or bear-god, who
protects the bear, the holy animal, and who also presents it
to the Lapps when they pray and call to him for it.” He re-
lates further that where the Lapps had not asked for the as-
sistance of Leib-olmai, they not only lost their prey, but in
addition the god might help the bear, when it would rush
upon its assailants. Therefore the Lapps consult their magic
drums before hunting the bear and pray the spirit not to
take the bear’s part . 1

The older sources of information do not mention actual
offerings to Leib-olmai nor anything about the manner of
offering. Randulf only states that hunting equipment, bows
and arrows, were offered up to him. According to J. Kildal,
Leib-olmai looks down on the female sex. A woman may not
walk round a tent where there is a gun, this being regarded
as in some way connected with the Forest spirit. Forbus says
further, that the custom of sprinkling extract of alder-bark
on the hunters’ faces at the bear-feasts, was carried out in
Leib-olmai’s honour . 2 The name of the Forest god, “ the


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


176

Aider man,” has probably been derived from this magic cus-
tom. Judging by this, “ Leib-olmai ” would seem to be neither
more nor less than the genius or race-soul of the bear.

According to Charuzin the Russian Lapps worship a Forest
spirit which they call Luot-hozjik {hozjik = Russian choz-
yaika , “hostess”). She looks after the reindeer when
they wander in freedom in the forests in the summer, keeping
them together, showing them good pastures, and protecting
them from beasts of prey. From human beings she cannot,
however, protect the flocks. She helps the hunters to catch
the wild reindeer and the Lapps are not afraid of her. When
they drive their reindeer out to pasture in the spring, they
pray to this Forest spirit — “Luot-hozjik, protect our rein-
deer.” And in the autumn, should they recover all their
flock, they say: “We thank thee, Luot-hozjik for protecting
our reindeer.” This Forest spirit, which lives on a mountain
covered with lichen, resembles a human being in having a
human face and walking on human feet, but the body is hairy
all over like a reindeer’s . 3

The same Forest spirit may be the one spoken of by Genetz,
Mintys. In one tale a being named Mientus appears which
at times is like a male reindeer, but by casting off its horns is
turned into a human being . 4 Originally Mientus meant
“ wild reindeer,” and is probably their genius as Leib-olmai
is that of the bear. Their reindeer spirit the Russian Lapps
call Pots-hozjin (“ Reindeer-master ”) and Pots-hozjik
(“ Reindeer-mistress ”), who have the same duties as Luot-
hozjik . 5

The Russian Lapps also speak about the tutelary genius of
the wolf} by treating a wolf very roughly, one could scare
this spirit into keeping its wards in check.

Among the Western Lapps the tutelary genius of the migra-
tory birds is the Barbmo-akka {akka = “ old woman”} cf.
barbmolodde , “ migratory bird”), who brings back the birds
to the northern countries from the warm south. Further, the


FOREST SPIRITS


177

protecting spirit of birds is called “ Loddis-edne (“ Bird-
mother ”). 6

A Forest spirit resembling the Russian Lesiy is the Eastern
Lapps’ Miehts-hozjin (“ the Master of the forest ”) who
according to Genetz is also called Vare-jielle (“Forest-
dweller ”). He is a black being with a tail, and does not do
any harm to human beings unless provoked. When anyone
shouts, sings or makes a noise in the forest, he becomes of-
fended, and bewilders the culprit so that he cannot find his
way out of the forest. The “ Master of the forest ” loves
silence above all . 7

The Western Lapps’ belief in “ Forest people ” has been
influenced by that of the Scandinavians. Leem mentions a
Ganis (according to Friis, Lexicon Lapponica, = “ echo,”
“ daemon montanus ”) which is probably the same being whom
Randulf, in his records, names Gidne (Pite Lapp Kinej Lule
Lapp Kani). This appears in the forest, and seen from the
front resembles a beautiful maiden, but has a long tail behind.
The Forest maiden serves the Lapps, bringing the reindeer
together when they are spread among the hills and assisting
in the milking of reindeer-cows. Sometimes she will even
wish for sexual intercourse with a Lapp . 8 In appearance and
conduct she reminds one of the Scandinavian “ Forest maiden.”

Alien already in name is the Gufittar of the Scandinavian
Lapps, an underground dwarfish being, who lives in the forest
or on the mountains. At times he appears on the earth with
fine herds of cattle. He will at such times hang a bell round
the necks of the cattle, when one can easily hear where he
wanders. One must then go boldly towards him without
glancing to either side and show him a piece of iron, or else
throw the iron over the cattle, when the Forest spirit will at
once disappear under the earth and the cattle become the
property of the enterprising person. The Lapp Gufittar
corresponds to the Norwegian Go (d) vetter (“a good spirit ”). 9

The Uldda of the Scandinavian Lapps is a similar un-


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


178

derground being, which also appears on the earth with its
cattle. It is said to change children left alone and in va-
rious ways to disturb people who have settled on its ter-
ritory. The Lapps generally pour a drink-offering on the
ground for it, either coffee or spirits. The name Uldda shows
it to be identical with the Swedish Huldra . 10

It is uncertain whether the Forest spirits of the Lapps were
the object of a special sacrificial cult. Their custom of pre-
serving the bones of certain kinds of game by burying them
in the earth or hanging them in trees, cannot truly be de-
scribed as being of the nature of an offering. On the other
hand the Lapps made offerings to their Seides to secure good
luck in hunting.

All the Samoyed stocks also know of a Forest spirit, gen-
erally called “ the Master of the forest.” According to Don-
ner the Ostiak Samoyeds sacrifice, among other things,
peculiarly shaped arrows to the Forest spirit. A human-like
image, often carved on an old tree, is made of the “ Master
of the forest.” When an offering of anything eatable is made,
the food is rubbed into the mouth of this image . 11 That there
was some connection between the “ Master of the forest ” and
the spirit of the “ holy places ” appears from the notes made
by Lehtisalo among the .Yuraks. “ The Samoyed may wander
freely in the forest, but when passing a holy place, he must
sacrifice something, as otherwise the ‘ Master of the forest 5
will be offended.”

The Ostiaks call the Forest spirit Unt-tongk (“Wood
spirit ”), which resembles a human being but is said to be
hairy like a wild animal. A spirit of this kind lives in every
forest. He gives game to those who remember him with
offerings. The usual time for these is in the autumn or in
the early spring, at the beginning of the two hunting periods.
At Vasyugan an image of the Wood spirit is made. The
Northern Ostiaks do not seem to have made offerings to him.
In tales the family and daughters of the Forest spirit are


FOREST SPIRITS


179

spoken of, the latter being able to marry human beings . 12 The
Mis-khum ( khum , “man”) of the Voguls can appear as tall
as a tree} he leads wanderers astray in the forest . 13 A more
evil spirit is Mengk, known to both these related stocks. Of
these there are many, both male and female, in the forests.
Their way of living resembles ours, and they are often re-
garded as people from older times, while tales are told of
their strength . 14 Over a wide territory and also among the
Yuraks the evil Parne is known, dwelling deep in the fast-
nesses of the forest, and said to have three fingers on each
hand, and on each foot three toes with sharp nails . 16

Further light is thrown upon the lud cult of the Votiaks by
the corresponding sacrificial cult of the Cheremiss. Like the
Chuvashes, the Cheremiss call their fenced-in sanctuaries
keremet. Contrary to their attitude towards the groves of the
Nature gods, in which they say sacrifices are made “ upward,”
or “ towards the sun,” sacrifices are here made “ downward,”
or “ towards the night.” The Cheremiss display great dread of
the groves of the “ lower spirits,” in which, where possible,
coniferous trees must grow. A peculiar feature is that in the
keremet no foreign tongue may be spoken, as the spirit dwelling
there “ hates foreign tongues.” They often give to their
sanctuaries names such as “ the keremet of our clan.” The
same person may, however, belong to two different keremet-
clans. In such cases, the keremet groves are generally con-
secrated to different spirits. At Kurmanaeva (Birsk District)
there is a so-called Suita n-keremet, in the sacrifices of which
the people of about twenty-five villages take part. Some vil-
lages have no keremet at all, while in some places a keremet
may belong to a few separate families only. In the Urzhum
District, where this cult has better preserved its original fea-
tures than among the Eastern Cheremiss, one may see several
sacrifice-trees in the same gloomy fir forest, by each of which
the different families offer up their sacrifices.

Where there is only one keremet in a village this is generally
called after the village. At times, the keremet may be called
after its founder, or after the place in which it is situated.
Every clan takes care of its sanctuary, where the collective
sacrifices are offered up by a member of the clan chosen for
the purpose, but where any single member also may make offer-


HEROES


153


ings on his own account. The Cheremiss make their offerings
late in the evenings, as after a sacrifice one may neither go out
to visit anyone, nor receive visitors. On the way to the grove,
one must, as far as possible, avoid meeting people. The most
usual sacrifice nowadays is a foal or a black sheep, but earlier
it was very often a black bull.

Like the Votiaks, the Cheremiss at times make only a
promise of sacrifice. The usual method is that money, flour,
honey, or a little loaf prepared specially for the occasion, are
placed in a little bundle, and the worshipper prays to the
keremet - spirit to be appeased and to soothe the agony of the
sick; binding himself to carry out the offering on a suitable
occasion. The bundle may be hung up either at home on the
wall of the storeroom, or in the keremet on the branches of the
sacrifice-tree; when the promise is redeemed, the bundle is
burned up. Often the promise is accompanied by the hang-
ing-up of the garments of the sick, or the thrusting in of
some iron implement, an axe, a sickle, or a knife in the wall
of the storeroom, from which they are removed after the
promised animal has been sacrificed. When the Cheremiss
promise a sheep or a bull, they take a little wool or hair from
the promised animal into the grove. If a horse has been
promised, they prepare harness of bark, and hang this on the
sacrifice tree as a guarantee to the spirit. At the same time
a few sticks of wood are piled against the tree. Some who
make promises of sacrifice hang up a wax candle with the
objects already mentioned. The promised sacrifice is
slaughtered, like the others, in the evening, as “ should anyone
meet the sacrificer, he would immediately fall ill.” By
means of all the objects that follow the making of a promise
of sacrifice, the Cheremiss attempt to assure the spirit that he
need not wait very long for the redemption of the promise . 29

Where a poorer Cheremiss cannot in due time fulfil his
promise of sacrifice, he must “ renew ” the promise by sacri-
ficing some lesser object. Very usual is the sacrificing of a


i54


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


goose, a duck, or a hare, in the place of a horse. In the Birsk
District the author had the opportunity of seeing how the
population of a village offered up a smaller sacrifice to the
keremet on account of a cattle-plague. Into the sanctuary
only the sacrificing priest and three assistants entered. These
had first to take a bath and clothe themselves in clean garments.
Immediately when they had arrived at the grove, the assist-
ants made a fire, using for this purpose glowing cinders brought
in a pan from the village. Sacrifice bread was kneaded on
the spot and baked on a wooden fork over this fire. When
the loaf, on which two “ noses ” had been impressed by three
fingers held together, was ready, it was placed at the root of
the sacrifice tree. The candles were then made and placed in
hollows in the bark of the tree. The actual sacrifice, a duck,
lay with feet bound together near the tree. Swinging a burn-
ing branch and striking the knife against the blade of the axe,
the “ priests ” prayed side by side, while the others killed
the duck by cutting its throat. The sacrificing priest poured
a little of the warm blood into the fire, imploring the keremet
to accept the sacrifice, free the cattle from the plague, and
wait until the autumn for the promised horse. When the
flesh of the duck was cooked the sacrificing priest carried it
to the tree, where he cut off small pieces of the heart, liver,
windpipe, neck, breast, back, wings and feet into two bowls,
the contents of one being given through the fire to the kere-
met , of the other to the medium of the sacrifice, “ the Fire-
mother.” In each bowl was also laid one of the cut-off
“ noses ” of the sacrifice bread. Before this ceremony, more
prayers had been read before the tree, accompanied by the
swinging of torches and the clang of the knife against the
axe. After the sacrifice of the contents of the bowls, the rest
of the meat was eaten ; the remnants were thrown into the fire.

At the sacrifices, one hears the Cheremiss in the Urzhum
District refer to the keremet - spirit as the u Old man,” the
“ Great man,” or the “ Prince.” The best known is a spirit


HEROES


i55


called the “ Old Man of the Hill ” or as he is also called,
after his dwelling-place, Nemda, “ the Old man of the Nemda
Hill ” or “ the Prince of the Nemda Hill.” Of this worship,
Olearius relates in the first half of the seventeenth century
that the Cheremiss made pilgrimages to the Nemda brook
and sacrificed there. This holy place, he says, is feared greatly
by them: “ Any one going there without an offering, perishes,
as the devil is believed to have his habitation there.” 30

The sacred place mentioned by Olearius, situated in the
Yaransk District, is spoken of also in certain accounts dating
from the former half of the last century. As the Russian
priests exerted much pressure on the Cheremiss at that time
on account of their pagan religion, they knew that these were
in the habit of making sacrifices at a stone, lying on the bank
of the Nemda near the village Tshembulatova, and, therefore,
they destroyed the stone. The spirit worshipped by the Chere-
miss at the stone, was called by them Tshembulat, from which
the village had derived its name.

Nowadays the people no longer gather at the actual dwell-
ing-place of this spirit, but have prepared groves in his name
at different places. Thus, the same spirit may be worshipped
in the groves of many villages. In the neighbourhoods where
tales of the “ Nemda Old man ” have been best preserved,
it is said that he lived by the Nemda brook over which a
“ bridge ” led. Besides a wife he had also officials: a “ book-
keeper,” an “ interpreter,” a “ guardian of the gate,” and a
“ bridge man,” whose office it was to watch over the bridge.
To each of these it was usual to make a separate offering, a
horse to the Prince himself, a cow to his wife, and to the
others some smaller animal.

Many tales go to prove that this “ great man ” was a former
Cheremiss chief. He is said to have ridden a white stallion
and fought against enemies: “When he finally succeeded
in re-establishing peace on earth, he called together the Chere-
miss to a stone, and proclaimed the peace to them. He then


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


156

lifted up the stone, and placed himself under it, saying to his
people: ‘ Should war break out again, some one must bestride
a white stallion, and ride three times round the stone, shout-
ing: “ Arise, Chief, there is war on the earth! ”’ A Cheremiss
did this once out of curiosity, shouted out the necessary words,
and immediately the chief arose, sat himself on his horse and
rode out to the east and west, to the north and the south,
but nowhere could he see signs of war. Then, calling the
Cheremiss together again, he said: ‘As you have fooled me
and called me without cause, you are hereafter my slaves,
and must sacrifice a foal to me annually.’ ”

In some districts he is called “ the Northern Ruler ” and
is said to have command over an invisible army. When sick-
ness is rife among the cattle, the people say: “The Northern
Ruler has sent his warriors to cut down our cattle.” Even
now he is said to ride through the land of the Cheremiss at
times, to see how these are progressing. Should anyone meet
him without knowing who he is, and thus not get out of his
way, an immediate illness is the result, and a horse must be
sacrificed to the spirit. The people even speak of his green
cloak and his red head-dress. He is specially sacrificed to in
times of war.

Besides the widely-known and everywhere highly respected
“ Nemda Prince ” the Cheremiss have other local keremet-
spirits, the fame of which is not so widely spread. The ma-
jority of these have become the objects of worship through
their heroic deeds. The Cheremiss remember their feats even
today. There are many local heroes, especially in the old
dwelling-places of the people. Thus, they make offerings to
“ the Old man of the castle-hill ” and to the “ Hero Aren,”
who fought against the Tatars, but met his death before a
gate, ever afterwards called the “ Hero gate.” At his death
the hero said: “ Remember me, give me a good horse with me
in the grave, and continue the war by slinging stones! ” The
Cheremiss did as their leader had advised. The stones, di-















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PLATE XIX


1. The image of the Samoyed, “ Master of the
Forest,” carved on a tree-trunk. (See page 178.)

After photograph by K. Donner.

2. Cheremiss horse-sacrifice to the keremet-spirit
in time of sickness. (See page 157.)

After photograph by U. Holmberg.





HEROES


157

rected by the dead hero himself through the air, whistled in
a peculiar manner and destroyed the enemy. On the place
where the hero had died, a keremet was established, in which
the Cheremiss sacrifice a foal in cases of sickness, even today.
A strange inherited custom is connected with this sacrifice as
a memory of those times of war: a stone is cast in the air in
the name of the sick person, and by the whining sound it
makes, the possibilities of recovery are made known.

Together with their own heroes, who “ hate foreign
tongues,” the Cheremiss, like the Votiaks, sacrifice to a spirit
called Sultan. The last named has his own special sanctuaries,
as according to the people’s view, he cannot be worshipped in
the same place as a Cheremiss chief. This may be a relic
from the period of power of the Bolgars, when the independ-
ence of the Cheremiss first began to waver. In any case the
keremet cult already described, corresponding with the lud-
sacrifices of the Votiaks, proves that the Finnish stocks on the
Volga have had their own princes at one time in history, the
memory of whom they have been able to preserve through
the centuries.

Under the alien name of keremet the Mordvins also wor-
shipped their heroes and the dwelling-places of these. Their
keremet also seems to have been a fenced-in forest-grove.
Even sacrifice store-houses {kudo) and probably also images
were kept by them in their sacred places . 31

That the Mordvins, like the Votiaks and Cheremiss, sacri-
ficed also to the spirits of alien rulers, is shown by the name
mentioned earlier, Soltan, or Salhta. The hero cult of the
Mordvins is further described by Paasonen as follows:
“ Among the Erza in the Kazan and Samara Governments,
we find a deity called Staka Pas (“ the heavy god ”), who is
honoured with special sacrifices, and entreated not to launch
“ his heaviness ” (evil generally) upon the people. In some
parts, a divine couple, popularly supposed to be husband and
wife, and bearing many names — e.g., Onto and Bonto —


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


158

are invoked by the epithet of Staka Pas, while elsewhere the
“ heavy god ” is addressed in sacrificial prayers as Kan Pas,
Kuvan Pas, and regarded as living “ in the black earth.”
The word Kan , the signification of which is now unknown to
the people themselves, is simply the Tatar Kan (“ prince ”),
so that Kan Pas means “ god-prince ”j Kuvan again is most
probably derived from the Turkish title kagan y which in Chu-
vash or Bolgar would be pronounced kugan , and in Mordvin
may easily have become kuvan. The Mordvins having been
at one time under the rule of the Volga Bolgars, of whom the
present day Chuvash are a descendant people, it is quite prob-
able that “ the heavy god ” was originally the spirit of some
Turkish ruler. Similarly, the other heavy gods, Onto and
Bonto, etc., are perhaps the rulers of an earlier age. 32

Of a corresponding sacrificial cult among the Baltic Finns
we have no reliable information. We need not doubt, how-
ever, that they also had their heroes whom they worshipped.
The Esthonians and the Finns have preserved a common name
hiisi, which originally meant “ forest ” but later also “ sacri-
ficial grove.” Hiisi, as the spirit dwelling within these was
also called, is generally regarded as an evil spirit, like the lud
of the Votiaks. An old tale has been recorded in Esthonia,
according to which the “ Thunder god ” thrived best in a
forest of leaf-trees, but Hiisi best among coniferous trees.
Here the same difference is made between the worship of
the Nature god and the underground spirits, as the Cheremiss
observe today. The old folk-traditions relate further, that
groves of this description among the Baltic Finns were fenced
in. That they even possessed sacrifice buildings in their sanc-
tuaries, is shown by the Papal Bull of Pope Gregory IX in
the year 1229, in which he allows Bishop Thomas to accept
the sacrificial groves and image-houses ( lucos et delubra),
presented to him by the converted heathen. 33

Doubtless also among the ancient heroes of Finnish song
were many who at one time were worshipped.


CHAPTER X


HOUSEHOLD SPIRITS

T HE anthropomorphic household spirit of many Euro-
pean peoples was unknown to the forefathers of the
Finno-Ugric race. Even now it is rare or unknown among the
Ostiaks and Voguls. A later spirit is the Russian Lapland
Kyode jielle (“the One who dwells in the tent”) or Port
hozjin (“Household ruler”). Of this latter, it is related
that he lives under the fireplace, and may sometimes appear
in the shape of a dog. To appease him the Lapps offer up
sacrifices to him and are glad when he leaves the house. By
the fireside where he dwells, there is a spot where women are
afraid to go or to step over. This household spirit is without
doubt borrowed from the Russians ( horzjin = Russian hoz-
yain). Through the Finns, the Lapps have made the ac-
quaintance of the Tonto (Finnish Tonttu = Swedish Tomte ). 1

The spirit dwelling in the house is called by the Votiaks
Korka-murt (“ House man ”) or Korka-kuzo (“ House
ruler ”). His chief dwelling-place is under the floor, for which
reason he is sometimes called “ the Ruler dwelling under
the floor.” As may be concluded already from the word murt
(“ man ”) this spirit has the outward form of a man. The
“ House man ” shows himself very seldom ; when this happens,
it is a forewarning of death or other misfortunes. When he
does appear he resembles sometimes the master of the house.
Generally speaking, he is a kindly and useful spirit, pro-
tecting the inhabitants of the house from strange spirits and in
every way looking after the interests of the house. He may
even at times take part in the household duties. The Votiaks


i6o FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

relate that he sometimes spins in the night, if for some reason
or other, the womenfolk have been hindered from finishing
their day’s task. When the “ House man ” is given cause
for anger, he annoys sleepers in the form of the nightmare,
tangles hair and beards in the night, and hinders the success-
ful conclusion of tasks. Little children are never left alone in
the house, as it is believed that the “ House man ” can substitute
changelings for them. 2

Whenever the “ House man ” in one way or another shows
signs of being offended, he must be appeased by sacrifices.
The sacrifice, which with the Votiaks generally takes the form
of a black sheep, must be killed under the floor, where the
spirit dwells. In the ceremony, in which the master of the
house plays the part of the sacrificing priest, only members of
the family may take part, as the flesh of a sacrifice may not
be offered to strangers. Pieces of the meat and the bones
of the sacrificed animal are buried in a hole dug under the
floor, into which the victim’s blood is also allowed to run
during the slaughtering. The flesh of the sacrifice is cooked
and eaten, as a rule, in the house itself. Besides occasional
offerings, regular sacrifices are made at certain times to the
“ House man.” Usually, the Votiaks sacrifice to him in the
autumn, after the conclusion of agricultural work, a goose or
duck and also porridge} the bones of the bird together with
the porridge and a spoon are placed under the floor. The
person carrying out the sacrifice reads out the following prayer:
“ Thus do I sacrifice to Thee, O Spirit dwelling under the
floor, a goose. Do not frighten us. Be pleased to accept the
sacrifice offered. Give to me and my family and dependants
peace and happiness.” In some places offerings are also made
during the summer, at the time when the sheep are driven in
to be clipped. Where a suitable victim is not to be found in
the flock, the ceremony is postponed to a later date, and at
the time a promise only is given along with the porridge,
part of which must be buried under the floor. 3

been preserved to the same extent as among the Votiaks. Many
of them do not even use the old building, although it bears a
name common among all the tribes of these peoples. Remains
of the kuala cult, have, however, been preserved among the
Cheremiss, amongst whom we may still see, in some parts, in
the background of the hut {kudo) a time-darkened case which
these, like the Votiaks, regard as the dwelling of the kudo-
spirit. Nowadays we see there, besides offerings, only dried
birch leaves which are not even always renewed on the occasion
of sacrificing. Most frequently, however, we no longer find
a sacrifice case in a Cheremiss kudo , but in its former place,
the corner shelf continues to be held sacred. No stranger is
allowed to approach the sacrifice shelf, as the kudo - spirit
{kudo-V odyz) may take it amiss, nor does it befit women to
approach it, and even the children are afraid of it and avoid
it. In order to shield the sacred back part of the sanctuary
from injurious contact, the Cheremiss in some parts of the
country used to divide the house by a partition . 24 In the Dis-
trict of Urzhum I heard the back part called “ the little kudo”
At times only one or the other back-corner is separated by
means of a partition of boards. The “little kudo” which is
reached from the “ great ” one through a small door, is, ac-
cording to the Cheremiss, more sacred than the other parts of
the building. Only grown up men may enter there, and not
even these unnecessarily. In bygone days there were kept in
“ the little kudo ” besides the sacrificial objects necessary at
divine service, also arms and implements of the chase. Here
were made, besides, their vows of sacrifice, by bringing in the
firewood necessary when sacrificing in the forest, and the pan
in which the victim was to be boiled. Where there is no
longer any kudo y the sacrifice case is kept in the storehouse in
the entrance to the bathhouse.

The kudo -\ odyz of the Cheremiss, when requiring sacrifice,
also appears in human form in the dreams of the family mem-
bers. The offering is then placed in the above named case,


136 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

or on the sacred corner shelf. According to the earliest ac-
counts, the Cheremiss slaughtered a black sheep for their god. 25
Nowadays they bring for the most part only small sacrifices,
such as hens and ducks, for occasional reasons, mostly on ac-
count of a certain eye disease (trachoma). At first the sacrificial
vow is fulfilled in such manner that a little meal, some honey,
and cakes or other eatables, are placed on the sacrifice shelf.
The sacrifice itself is not executed until after the lapse of some
time. Then the flour and honey used at the sacrificial vow
are mixed into a dough, of which sacrificial bread is made for
all the members of the family. In the sacrificial meal, which
is prepared and consumed in the kudo , only members of the
family partake, strangers not being allowed the tiniest bit.
When beginning the meal, pieces of food are placed on the
sacrifice shelf, near which the head of the family prays, asking
for forgiveness on behalf of the sinner and on that of the
whole family, should any one, unconsciously, in one way or
another, have happened to offend the kudo- spirit, and implor-
ing him to protect and keep the family and home. In some dis-
tricts it is customary to offer up a sacrifice to him at a fixed time,
in the autumn. The bones of the victim are not burnt, but
buried in the earth under the building 5 a portion from every
part of the body of the sheep used for this being placed on the
sacrifice shelf. In the District of Urzhum a curious custom has
been retained of taking the household god to one’s neighbours,
when the spirit, by sending an illness, seems to require a sacrifice.
When not inclined to sacrifice to it, they say: “ Do not require
any thing of us, we have boiled the last already; we will take
thee to our neighbour’s; there is a silver-horned bull and a fine
woolly sheep, there thou shalt have a treat.” Thus speaking,
the Cheremiss takes dust from the “ kudo-s'pwxds ” case and
sets out for his neighbour’s. If he is asked to take a seat there,
and is offered bread and salt, all is well, as then “ the spirit ”
has been kindly received. Unnoticed, the guest throws the
dust from his hand into the corner and goes away without






PLATE XV


1. The little kudo or dwelling of the kudo - spirit
within a Cheremiss hut, or great kudo. (See page

I35-)

2. Cheremiss kudo. (See page 135.)

After photographs by U. Holmberg.





FAMILY GODS


137

saying good-bye or asking his neighbour to come and see him.
Also among the Hill Cheremiss, amongst whom one very rarely
comes across a kudo , the belief has been preserved that the
kudo-V odyz. continues to live in the place of the former kudo y
and that he who quarrels in the said place or besmirches it, will
undoubtedly fall ill . 26

After marriage, the Cheremiss woman still goes at first for
some time to the kudo of her old home to sacrifice, should she
meet with illness or any other misfortune declared by the sor-
cerer to have been caused by the spirits of the “ old place.”
Similarly the scattered younger families turn when necessary to
the spirits of older kudo. Thus, the “ little family ” remains
always dependent on the “ great family ” in some way or
other . 27

Georgi speaks also about a material image of the family god,
stating that “ in many houses, perhaps in every house, there is
in a corner in a case, a coarse little doll of wood, dressed in
male attire.” When describing the wedding ceremonies of the
Cheremiss, he further relates that “ when everything is ready
in the wedding house, the family god is placed on the table
and the sacrificing priest {kart) of the village prays in front
of it.” Considering that the Cheremiss have not been in the
habit of keeping the sacrifice case in the dwelling-house, there
is reason to suppose that the family god mentioned by Georgi
is the ^«<io-Vodyz . 28

A similar family cult doubtless existed among the Mordvins,
and even among the Baltic Finns. Among the Esthonians,
remains of it seem to have been preserved, through alien in-
fluence, until modern times. The Vorsud case of the Votiaks
corresponds, with them, to the “ Tonni vakk ” {vakk =
“case”). On Tonni or Antony ’s-day (January seventeenth)
one must brew beer or slaughter some animal — the latter
being generally a sheep, though a bull is sometimes mentioned.
At nightfall, the Tonni vakk was taken from its recess, candles
were lighted on the rims of the case, and it was carried all


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


138

round the dwelling house, the cattle sheds, and the yard.
From each part of the carcase of the sacrificial animal a piece
of meat was cut as a sacrifice to Tonni, and of the gravy a little
was also sprinkled on the nearest paths. Lastly the people
sat down to eat.

Tbnni’s case, which had to be made by the sorcerer, was kept
in a place known only by the master, generally in the attic of
the storehouse. In this were placed all the year round, for one
reason or another, various offerings: — when the corn was
threshed, when beer was brewed, when milking a cow that had
lately calved, when shearing the sheep, and when spinning yarn
or weaving cloth. When slaughtering, they sacrificed meat,
blood or fat. The case had to be particularly remembered on
the occasion of illness among either human beings or animals.
Falling ill was considered to be a consequence of the case hav-
ing been damaged or of some one, when passing, having made
a noise, or because the people had forgotten to sacrifice to it.
There is a report even, that the case used to contain a doll-like
image. That the Esthonians also had known both a lesser
family spirit and a greater one, is shown by a tradition, accord-
ing to which not only every family but also every village had its
common sacrifice case . 29

There are no reliable statements regarding the corresponding
family worship of the Finns. Yet, in the social life of the
Karelians there are indications that these belonged to two dif-
ferent families, a smaller and a larger one, the chieftainship
of the last named — where its head was not chosen by election
— descending from a father to the eldest son of the eldest
branch of the family. A result of the worship of the fore-
fathers of the family was most likely the alien position of the
wife in her husband’s home, for, as with the Votiaks, the women
in Finnish Karelia kept their own family name even after
their marriage . 30


CHAPTER IX


HEROES

T HERE is every reason to believe that those Lapp Seides,
which were worshipped by a larger following, were dedi-
cated to the spirit of some more famous man, the founder of a
family, a shaman, etc. Such people were worshipped also
among other Finno-Ugric peoples and the Samoyeds. Ven-
iamin relates of the Yuraks that certain of their stone or
wooden gods, the latter having a head coming to a point, were
worshipped by a great tribe, spread over a wide area, others
again by only a very scant congregation. The former are
generally situated in the neighbourhood of such places as the
Yuraks are accustomed to gather at, to hunt or fish or to seek
food for their reindeer. He mentions two such ancient sacred
places, visited by great numbers, of which one was situated
on the holy island Vajgats. At these meetings the Samoyeds
sacrifice reindeer and dogs to their tutelary spirits, besmearing
the mouths of the idols with the blood and fat of the sacrifice,
and having eaten the flesh, hanging up the head, and even
at times, the hide, on a holy tree . 1 Of later origin is possibly
a custom of the Eastern Samoyeds of throwing pieces of the
flesh of the sacrifice into the fire. Bloodless sacrifices are per-
formed among the Ostiak Samoyeds. These sometimes do
not slaughter the sacrificial deer, but content themselves with
cutting out the face of the god or other strange figures on its
back. After a ceremony of this description the animal is re-
garded as holy, and may not be used for any purpose or
eaten . 2

The “sacred places” of the Yuraks are not fenced in,
neither are buildings to be found on them, the idols standing al-


140


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


ways under the open sky . 3 On the other hand, special buildings
for their idols are met with among the Ostiak Samoyeds. A
building of this kind, hidden away in the forest, is described
by Donner in the following words: “As the dwelling-place
of the gods they use here a building standing on four high
supports, resembling greatly the average barns by the River
Ob. In the fore-wall there was a little opening and against
the back wall stood the god, made of wood and resembling
a human being, together with his marital partner. The face
was very clumsily carved, the eyes formed of two large blue
glass-pearls, imparting a very quaint expression to the old
man. The images were dressed in fine furs and had around
them a number of weapons made of pewter with which to
protect themselves j and, fashioned of the same material,
swans, geese, snakes, reindeer and other animals, by the help
of which they were supposed to be able to flee on the approach
of an unconquerable enemy. Near the door was posted a
little man dressed as a Russian policeman, holding a wooden
sabre in one hand, while in the other he swung a great sword.
The dwelling-place of the gods was furnished with gaudy
cloths and expensive furs, and before the image of the ancestor
the most varying objects lay on the floor, among other things
a great deal of money, of which many coins were a couple of
hundred years old. In the branches of the holy trees sur-
rounding the building garments, horns of animals, hides, etc.,
were hung.” 4

Similar spirits, bound to certain fixed places, are also pos-
sessed by the Ostiaks and Voguls in great numbers. The
mightiest of these are honoured by a great circle extended
over a wide area, others again only by a small one, or merely
by the population of a single village. “ All places dedicated
to idols,” says Pallas, “ the boundaries of which are exactly
defined by rivers, brooks, or other marks, are spared by the
Ostiaks, who neither cut down trees nor mow grass, neither
hunt nor fish, abstaining even from drinking the water within




PLATE XVI


1. Ostiak Holy Place, with images of gods or
spirits.

According to Finsch.

2. Ostiak place of sacrifice.

After photograph by Rabot.

(See page 141 and compare pages 139-140.
Yurak.)




— JL


HEROES


141

their boundaries, for fear of offending the gods. Should they
be obliged to traverse these waters by boat, they are careful
not to approach too closely to the shores or to touch them
with their oars, and if the way through them is very long,
they supply themselves with water before reaching the holy
place, as they would sooner suffer the worst tortures from
thirst than drink of the holy water.” 0 These holy places,
however, have not definite boundaries, still less are they fenced
in, but especially in the southern districts there is a little build-
ing resembling a storehouse, intended for the preservation of
offerings and the images. Like their house gods, the spirits
living at fixed holy places of the Ostiaks and Voguls have all
been materialised into images. Most often they have been
shaped as wooden figures resembling human beings, at times
as rag-dolls made out of stuffed sacks or natural stones ; fur-
ther, they have also been formed of bronze, copper, lead, or
even of bones. As assistants these have often images resem-
bling various animals. The storehouses for offerings are gen-
erally under the care of a special person, who then also
carries out the sacrificial ceremonies and receives the offerings,
money, skins, etc. Very often this occupation is hereditary in
the same family . 6

That these powerful and dreaded spirits, regarded as being
able to visit people with sickness, were originally human,
has not been forgotten by the people. A part of them are said
to have been former rulers or heroes, whose mighty deeds
are extolled in songs, others are expressly said to be the
founders of the clans. Those again that are furnished with
images of animals were probably famous shamans. An example
of how a powerful spirit is believed to develop out of a man
of mark after death is given by an Ostiak folk-poem, in
which a Vasyugan hero displays an uncommon nobility of
character by burying the body of a dead enemy-hero, erecting
his sword on the grave, and consoling him by saying: “ In
the times of coming daughters, in the times of coming sons,


142


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


thou shalt be called to life, and thou shalt become an offering-
spirit accepting offerings.” 7

At times one may see many images in the same offering-
house. Two hundred years ago, Novitskiy visited a “ great ”
god-house, containing five wooden images resembling human
beings wrapped round with “ clothes.” Around this chief
building were smaller square store-rooms on posts about the
height of a man; in these were preserved the objects used at
the slaughter of a sacrifice ; axes, knives, etc. Separated from
these was another little store-room filled with bones. 8

The sacrifices of the Ostiaks and Voguls, which may be
either annual or occasional, do not materially differ from the
corresponding uses of the Samoyeds. According to the oldest
sources, the mouths of the images were besmeared with blood
and fat, and the hides of the animals, with horns and hoofs
attached, hung up in trees. The use of fire as a means of
transmitting the offerings, met with also among the Ostiak
Samoyeds, is most probably of later origin. Like these last
mentioned, the more Eastern Ostiaks have the custom of occa-
sionally offering up so-called bloodless sacrifices, that is to
say, sacrifices in which the animal is not killed, its “ soul ”
only being made over to the god. Even children may thus
be consecrated to some spirit ; the child thus consecrated has
to fulfil certain duties during his lifetime, as, for example,
to marry a wife, or a husband, from the direction of the com-
pass in which the spirit dwells. 9

The worshipping of heroes among the Siryans, at the pres-
ent time totally forgotten by them, is described in the Life of
St. Stephen (d. 1396) in the following words: “ In Perm
many kinds of idols were to be found: some large, some small,
others again, of medium size; some were famous and very
fine, others were legion; a part were worshipped only by
few and were shown little honour, but others again were wor-
shipped by people dwelling far and wide. They have certain
idols to whom they travel long distances, bringing them gifts


HEROES


143

from afar, even from districts three or four days’ or a week’s

• 55 10

journey away."

The brother-tribe of the Siryans, the Votiaks, have even
today forest copses, consecrated to their ancient heroes, and
called lud by them. In earlier times these holy places were
hidden in the forests. The oldest authors to mention the
Votiaks say that these lud were generally in forests of fir . 11
Nowadays, as the forests in East Russia have diminished to a
very great degree, having even become quite scarce in some
districts, these consecrated groves have become visible, standing
out on the open plains as memorials of the former forests.
Thus, in the vicinity of the pagan Votiak villages flourish
luxurious sacrificial groves, the tall trees of which have been
held sacred from generation to generation.

Wherever these lud may happen to be, in the forests or
open plains, they are always fenced in. In this respect they
differ from the holy places of the Samoyeds and the other
northern peoples. But common to them all is the super-
stitious fear felt by the people for them. The Votiaks have
nothing else that they hold so sacred as these lud. No one
enters them without due reason, not even on holy days, with-
out taking an offering there. Cattle may not enter them,
branches may not be broken off, not even a stick may be
taken away; all disturbance is forbidden, and game seeking
shelter there may not be shot at by the hunters. Women and
children avoid them altogether ; in passing them they turn
their heads aside, still less would they ever set foot in them.
Neither may a stranger enter the sacred area. The spirit,
when angered, vents its wrath relentlessly by causing a severe
sickness. Most fear-inspiring, however, is the lud in the
twilight.

The fence surrounding the sacred grove is either of sticks
or boards, or sometimes of plaited branches. As in appear-
ance, so also in height, do they vary in the different districts.
A little gate of boards, swinging on wooden hinges, generally


H4


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

Of “ great kualas ” there is, on the other hand, only one,
if the village is a family village, as are most of the old Votiak
villages. If, as often happens when founding a new village,
people descended from different families are included in the
population, there will be as many kualas in the village as there
are families. Every “ great kuala ” is called after its respec-
tive family: mozga kuala , utsa kuala y etc. The worshippers of
the kuala are likewise called after their family: mozga pijos
i 11 mozga sons”), utsa pijos , etc. From the number of the
great kualas one can thus easily find out how many families
there are in a village. Especially among the Eastern Votiaks,
there are villages formed of several different families which
have moved to strange parts as settlers. Where there are
several great kualas in a village, these are generally to be
found in the houses of their guardians} they differ in no way
from a private kuala and are also used like the last named as
store-rooms for household utensils. Should, however, the
village be inhabited by one family only, there being conse-
quently only one “ great kuala” the latter attains an entirely
different position from the other kualas. In its capacity of
the common property of the village, the “ great kuala ” or
“ village kuala ” is generally situated in the garden of its
guardian, or in a particular enclosure either in the village or



PLATE XI

Votiak Kuala or Sanctuary of the
Family-Gods

(See page 1 14.)

After photograph by U. Holmberg.





FAMILY GODS


119

near it. As a village sanctuary,, the kuala has attained an ex-
clusively religious significance, being sometimes considered so
sacred that, for instance, no women are allowed to enter it.
Thus, among the Votiaks, it has generally developed into a
kind of temple, which development, in the southern parts, at
least, has evidently been influenced by the Mohammedan
prayer-houses of the Tatar villages.

In the family kuala , as in the village kuala , the sacrifice
shelf is generally situated on the back wall, most often in the
left-hand corner there. On holy days, offerings are placed
on the shelf, but, generally, it is for the most part empty,
when not occupied by articles necessary for the sacrifices.
In some instances, there is, under the sacrifice shelf, a cup-
board about a yard high, in which are kept, besides the sacrifice
utensils, smaller offerings. The Votiaks believe that the
“ Luck-protector,” Vorsud, lives near the sacrifice shelf.
Formerly, there was, on the sacrifice shelf, a little case with a
lid to it made of linden bark, which is still to be found in some
parts, e.g., in the Government of Kazan. The size and form
of the sacrifice case vary somewhat in different places. For
the most part, they are round, but very often we also find
oblong and square ones. A sacrifice case may sometimes be
found to be very old and darkened by the smoke in the kuala y
having been handed down as a sacred heirloom from father
to son for generations.

In our time, the Vorsud case, in both family and village
kualas , is generally empty. But can it be possible that a re-
ceptacle regarded with such superstitious awe, forbidden to
women and strangers to approach, was always thus empty?
Several authorities, for the most part among the very oldest,
relate that they have seen many different objects in these
cases: ancient coins, the bones of birds, gaily coloured feathers,
squirrel skins, sheep’s wool, etc. But again, could these trifles,
possessing obviously more the nature of sacrifices than of ob-
jects of worship, have been venerated by the Votiaks? When


120 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

one compares the sacred background of the kuala with the
corner of the bothies regarded as holy by both the Ostiaks and
the Voguls, and the sacrifice case with the god-chest of the
latter, which is not empty, but among these more primitive
peoples contains images of their tutelary genii, is it not more
likely that the Votiaks’ sacrifice case was also in former days
a similar home for their family gods? In our days, there are
certainly no images to be found among them. Even in the
oldest sources we find it written that the Votiaks possess
neither pictured nor carven images. But the memory of gods
who formerly dwelt in these cases has not altogether died out,
and the Christian Votiaks place even today a picture of a
saint on the same shelf that, earlier, held their spirit offerings.

The scanty traditions, however, give no clear idea of the
images of the Votiak family spirits. Assuming that the sacri-
fice cases, the circumference of which is, on an average, about
one hundred and twenty centimeters, and the height about
thirty centimeters, have not become very much altered in the
course of time, we may conclude that the images were not
very large. Most likely they were just such clumsy, dressed
wooden dolls as the Votiaks still make for themselves during
severe illnesses, in order to remove the illness from the patient
to the doll. Such would also seem to have been the images
of the Siryans, judging from the fact that in the life of St.
Stephen, their apostle, it is stated that their images resembled
human beings, had noses, mouths and even feet, and that they
were either carved, or hollowed out. As they were made of
wood, St. Stephen was able to chop them into pieces with an
axe and burn them. There was a great number of them “ both
in the villages and dwelling houses.” 4

When beginning their sacrifice, the Votiaks place fresh
green twigs on the corner shelf of the kuala , under the sacri-
fice case. In autumn or in spring, or, generally during the
time when the trees are leafless, they use, when sacrificing,
twigs of the silver pine ( Pinus fichta or sibirica ), but in the


FAMILY GODS


1 21


summer birch twigs. The use of green twigs certainly origi-
nates from very ancient times, for this custom has also been
observed among the Lapps, of whom missionaries relate that
they placed birch twigs under their images in the summer,
and fir twigs in the winter.

This custom of laying green twigs on the sacrifice shelf,
which, together with the sacrificing, belongs to the most im-
portant duties of the kuala guardians, has, curiously enough,
been kept up even in parts where the sacrifice cases, not to
speak of images, are no longer to be found. This is particu-
larly the case among the Eastern Votiaks. Among these we
seldom find sacrifice cases, but on the other hand we may see,
even in our days, on every sacrifice shelf, whether there be
sacrifice vessels there or not, twigs more or less faded, accord-
ing to the time that has passed since the sacrifice. In several
places, these twigs, which originally were of quite a secondary
importance compared with the images, are regarded with the
same superstitious awe as the latter. Only the officiating
priest, who on holy days burns the old twigs and places fresh
ones in their stead, is allowed to touch them. Certain investi-
gators have supposed that these same twigs have been objects
of worship . 5 This is, however, a mistake, though the twigs
have at times had the high honour of being removed from
their place under the “ case ” to the “ case ” itself, and in
this way the original idea became confused. That the kuala
cult is concentrated around the sacrifice shelf and the “ case,”
is proved, above all, by the custom of the sacrificing priest’s
standing, ’while praying, with his face turned towards the
sacrifice shelf.

We have stated earlier that not every Votiak kuala is used
as a sanctuary. This it may become only by means of particu-
lar inaugural ceremonies, generally performed in the summer.
On a day fixed beforehand, the person who intends to obtain
for himself a Vorsud of his own, invites a few guests, gen-
erally two men and two women. The guests having arrived,


122


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


the young master and mistress, with their guests, proceed to
the head of the family who is at the same time the guardian
of the Vorsud kuala , taking bread and gin with them.
On arriving, they begin to feast in the house of the chief.
The latter invites one of his neighbours and his wife, and these
officiate as host and hostess, the host of the feast entertaining
the men, and the hostess the women. When the guests have
been sufficiently entertained, the host and his wife begin
singing wedding songs, in which those present also join.
Lastly, the guests go to their neighbours for more hospitality
and return to the kuala guardian in the evening. On their
return, porridge is cooked by the guardian of the family kuala.
The one who intends to secure a Vorsud for himself, now
goes to the kuala , takes some ashes from the fireplace, and
wraps them in a clean white cloth, saying: “ I take the smaller
and leave the greater.” He then places the bundle of ashes
on the shelf of the kuala and sits down to the sacrificial por-
ridge together with the other guests. After the meal he goes
back to the kuala y takes the ashes from the shelf, and sets
out for home with his guests. During the journey home, the
escort of the Vorsud play and sing, the mistress of the new
kuala meanwhile keeping a copper coin in her mouth until they
arrive at the homestead. When starting out into the street,
on the way home, and on arrival, she dances to the music of a
stringed instrument. The ashes conveyed in this manner are
now placed on the shelf of the new kuala , the master saying:
“ I, thy master, have brought thee here with reverential
ceremonies, be not angry therefore, and when we pray to thee,
hear our prayers.”

In some places, the feast is held, according to an older cus-
tom, in the kuala itself, where a functionary, with a loaf
received from the guardian of the old kuala , turns to the
Vorsud with the following words: “ Vorsud, come with us to
another place; do not take offence, old ones, deceased ones.”
Later, he does the same thing with a loaf from the son,




PLATE XII


1. Votiak case for the Vorsud or “ Luck-pro-
tector ” with offerings on the sacrifice shelf. (See
page 1 19.)

After photograph by Y. Wichmann.

2. Votiak village or Great Kuala . (See page

1 18.)

After photograph by U. Holmberg.




FAMILY GODS


123

afterwards handing the father’s loaf to the son, and the son’s
to the father. When the son who has separated from the
home of his father, has received the bread, he reverently
carves a chip from the pot hanger of wood suspended from the
ceiling. He takes, further, ashes from the hearth, and conveys
these with the chip to the newly founded kuala of his new
home . 6

A curious statement is that he who carries the Vorsud must
not put his foot on the bare ground, but must walk all the time
on planks laid on the ground.

Many circumstances in the above descriptions recall the
customs followed at a Votiak wedding. The very tunes
played on this occasion are wedding tunes. In some places,
it is further customary to distribute presents at the kuala
feast, as at a wedding. In the District of Mamadysh a custom
recalling a wedding is connected with the above mentioned
ceremonies, namely, that the Vorsud is taken to the new home
like a bride in a sleigh with two horses and tinkling bells, the
women being dressed in wedding costume. That the Votiaks
themselves consider the Vorsud feast to be a wedding festivity
is seen from the name of this feast, mudor suan (“ mudor
wedding ”). Among the Votiaks, certain ceremonies recalling
those of the mudor wedding are now observed at the inaugura-
tion of the modern huts used in these days. They also call
this festivity “ hut wedding ” ( korka suan), on which occasion
as at a wedding a “ host ” (lord) officiates. As the Indo-Euro-
pean races observe similar customs, we may assume that the
Volga Finns acquired theirs through a foreign culture. The
fact, however, that the above named ceremonies refer to a
time when the Votiaks were still living in the old kuala , in-
dicates that they date from a comparatively distant time.

The very word mudor, which phonetically corresponds to
the Finnish mantere (“ earth foundation ”), recalls a different
kind of removing ceremony, described by Aminoff. w When
leaving his father’s home to found a household of his own,


124


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


the son descends under the floor of the hut, takes a little earth
from there, and also fire from the hearth of the hut and then
prays to the son of the family spirit to accompany him to the
new home.” 7 A similar custom, when removing, seems to
have been known also among the Siryans in former times.
This appears from the following statement by Nalimov: “ Even
in our days, everyone, on leaving home for a long journey,
takes with him a handful of earth from under the earth foun-
dation of his home. This earth protects him from accidents
and nostalgia.” 8 Similar beliefs are to be found among the
Baltic Finns. Among the Ingrians a custom has been found of
giving to a bride who is going to a strange neighbourhood, a
bundle containing earth from the earth foundation under the
floor of her native hut, to protect her from nostalgia. Like-
wise, they believe that a domestic animal removed to another
farm, will not miss its former home, if, when removing it,
some earth is also brought from the outhouse where the animal
was kept before . 9

In the earliest times, the founder of a new family, when
parting from the home of his fathers, seems to have received
one or several images of his family spirits, to take with him,
the Lapps believing these to descend as an inheritance from
father to son, like any other property. On account of the fact
that the Votiaks have not, for a long time, used images, no
exact statements concerning this custom are to be found. Only
a few traditions and customs point back to this distant time.
Wichmann relates about the District Urzhum, that on leaving
his father’s home, a son was given also a part of the contents
of the sacrifice case . 10 Another writer mentions that the
sacrifice case of the new kuala must be made in the old kuala ,
and before being removed, it must have lain for some time on
the sacrifice shelf of the old kuala . 11 This may be the origin
of the words in the above mentioned custom among the Votiaks
when removing the Vorsudj “ I take the smaller and leave
the greater.” To receive a Vorsud from his native home is


FAMILY GODS


125

of such great importance to the son that if for one reason or
another the father quarrels with his son and refuses to give
him a Vorsud, the son must procure it by robbery. If the son
who is angry with his father says, when taking the Vorsud:
“ I leave the smaller, I take the greater,” the consequence,
according to the interpretation of the magicians, is that the
son gets the older Vorsud, and, in a religious sense, stands
higher than his father. If, after this, any of his younger
brothers is in want of a Vorsud, he must apply to his brother
with his request and not to his father . 12

After the mudor wedding, the kuala, is a sanctuary ; the
Vorsud lives in it, and from that day, worship is carried out
there. To keep up this is the sacred duty not only of that
generation, but also of the following, for according to the
beliefs of the Votiaks, the sacrifices in a building consecrated
as a sanctuary must never be interrupted. He who does not
observe this rule, will meet with some great accident. The
people tell with terror how such persons have lost their prop-
erty, have gone mad, etc. If, for instance at the change of
guardians, the kuala should be removed from one place to
another, the building is pulled down, and the timber of the
walls is placed in the same order when built anew. The
ashes of the hearth, the stones, and the Vorsud case are taken
with ceremony to the new place, together with the timber.
Besides being removed when changing a guardian, the kuala
may also be taken away for some other reason. Thus, for in-
stance, it once happened that a sacrificial bull, when about to
be killed, broke loose and ran away from a “ great kuala ”
the sacrificers, in the midst of their devotions, having to leave
off and pursue it. The place where the animal was at last
caught, was considered to be so pleasing to the kuala spirit
that the whole building was removed there . 13 If, from any
cause, people are obliged to destroy a kuala , the sacrifice case
and the stones of the hearth may not on any account be lost.
As an instance of the superstition of the Votiaks the following


126


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


legend is mentioned: A man destroyed his kuala and built in
its stead a barn, leaving the sacrifice case and the stones under
the hearth. Once, some young men who had gone there to
sleep were awakened suddenly by groans from under the barn,
like the wailing of a sick man. The next night the same wail-
ing was heard. At last, the master himself went to sleep there,
and found that it was none other than the Vorsud who was
moaning. He then promised to remove the stones and the
case into a new kuala , which he did, and thenceforward there
was silence in the barn . 14

Considering that the name of Vorsud, at the sacrifice meet-
ings of the Votiaks, is generally used in the singular, most
frequently in connection with the kuala family’s name, as
“ mozga Vorsud,” “ utsa Vorsud,” etc., it would seem as if
every Votiak kuala had possessed only one family spirit. This
was, however, not so in olden times, as is proved by the cir-
cumstance that the Votiaks consider themselves able to dis-
tribute them among their descendants. In one prayer the
name of Vorsud is also used in the plural . 15 The idea of
several spirits in one kuala appears, moreover, in the follow-
ing legend: A certain Votiak became a Christian and re-
nounced the ancient customs of sacrifice, but did not destroy
his kuala. After some time the spirits began annoying him;
when lying in bed, he seemed to feel a heavy stone pressing
on his breast; when he went to the barn to sleep, the spirits
came there, too, to annoy him. At last, the man made up his
mind to shoot them, and one night he walked about, gun in
hand, waiting for them. At midnight three persons in white
came out of the kuala> the first a beardless youth, the second
also young but with the beginnings of a beard, the third, a
woman. The man fired, and the vision vanished at once.
After that they did not show themselves any more, but re-
moved to another place, sending the man a severe illness as a
punishment . 16

The above story, showing that in one and the same kuala

In these circumstances the preservation of those parts of
the bodies of useful animals which were supposed to contain
the soul or the soul-force cannot originally have been a sacri-
ficial act, but had behind it purely practical motives. Not until
the original conception had paled could these actions have be-
come incorporated in a cult. Then in the throwing of fish
bones by the fisherman into the water, it was easy to see an
act of sacrifice to the Water god, and in the burial of animal
bones in the forest, a sacrifice to the Forest god.


CHAPTER VII


THE SEIDES OF THE LAPPS

A LREADY in the sixteenth century the stone gods of the
Lapps are mentioned in literature. Such gods of stone
were kept by the Fell Lapps on the mountains, by the Fisher
Lapps on the shores of the fiords, on capes reaching into the
sea, on islands, or near rivers and rapids. These stones, called
“ Seides ” by the Lapps, were to be found everywhere in
Lapland.

According to accounts by missionaries these Seides had not
been fashioned by human hands, but were natural stones,
often hollowed out by water, having, as such, often a peculiar
form, resembling human beings or animals. Those regarded
as the most valuable were the stones resembling human beings.
In some places, many Seide stones were placed together in the
same sacred place and were then believed to represent a family.
Even immovable rocks were at times regarded as Seides. As
late as the summer of 1908, a holy place was discovered at
Lulea (Vidjakuoika), containing several small mounds about
a foot in height, and around these ten Seide stones. When
the stones had been put back in their places, it was seen that
each mound had had one larger stone on it and several smaller
ones around it. These small ones were sometimes not more
than two decimetres in height. 1 The Seides of the Fisher
Lapps might, at times, be stones altogether surrounded by
water. 2

The Lapps gave a devoted attention to these sacred stones.
Wherever possible they were placed on green ground, where
the grass grew thick and lush in the summer-time. In addition,


THE SEIDES OF THE LAPPS


IOI


the place where the Seide stood was decorated in the summer
with birch-leaves and in the winter with branches of fir. The
foundation on which the Seide was placed had always to be
kept green, and whenever the leaves
or pine-needles withered, they had to
be renewed . 3

When the Lapp wished to ask for
something from his stone god, or to
inquire into the future, he went to the
holy place, and baring his head, took
the god in his hand and spoke to it.

While he was relating all kinds of
wishes, he would keep on attempting
to lift the stone. If this proved im-
possible, and the stone grew steadily heavier, it was regarded
as an answer in the negative. Even the very smallest stone,
said the Lapps, became heavy when the god was not willing to
give a positive answer. When the Lapp received what he had
wished for, he made an offering as a sign of thankfulness to
the stone, the nature of the offering being inquired after also
in the above-mentioned manner . 4

This method of turning to the gods was, however, not pos-
sible when the Seide was a great rock or a stone embedded in
the earth. Consulting these, the Lapp laid his hand on the
rock and began his questions in the unshakable belief that
his hand would stick to it and not be loosened until he chanced
to hit on the exact event that would happen to him . 6

The place where the Seide stood and its nearest surround-
ings were “ holy ” (passe) to the Lapps. The mountain on
which the stone gods were placed, was called in general “ the
Holy Mountain ” (Passe- vara). In the same way, the Fisher
Lapps called the rivers and lakes by which their Seides stood,
“the Holy River” or “the Holy Lake.” Names such as
these are met with in Lapmark even today.

The fear felt for these holy places forced the Lapps to



102


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


observe great caution. According to Leem, they only ap-
proached them clad in their festival clothes, beginning to make
genuflections at a distance, as they walked. Every year they
journeyed to them, and if it was impossible to make new
offerings, the bones of former offerings had, at least, to be
moved. Dwellings were erected very unwillingly near these
places, for fear of disturbing the gods by the crying of chil-
dren or other noises. When they travelled by a holy moun-
tain they dared not fall asleep as that was regarded as a sign
of irreverence. Neither would they speak loudly or shoot
birds or any other game within their precincts. If they were
wearing anything blue in colour, they would remove this as
they approached a holy place. Women had to hide their faces
or turn their heads in passing them. Even men were not
allowed to wear any garment that had been at some time worn
by a woman, not even foot-wear that had lain in the same
soaking-vessel as the women’s moccasins . 6 Hogstrom adds
that it was dangerous for a woman, even at a distance, to go
round a holy place. If during any journey she had passed to
the right of one of these places, she had, on returning, to
pass by on the same side, though it might mean a detour of sev-
eral leagues . 7 Mallmer relates further, that when a Lapp went
aside to make an offering, he tied up all his dogs very care-
fully, as should one of these cross his track, misfortune might
befall him; the wolves, for example, might worry his reindeer
to death. When coming out of or going into his tent on
these errands, the Lapps never used their ordinary doors,
but crept in through a little backdoor which was regarded as
so holy that no woman might either leave or enter through it . 8

Even today these beliefs persist in the more remote dis-
tricts. In Kola Lapmark there is a holy place, situated near
the Finnish frontier and composed of the narrow and steep
spur of a mountain, which is the object of the Lapps’ super-
stitious reverence. When rowing past the place in the sum-
mer-time, one must be careful to make as little noise as possible,


THE SEIDES OF THE LAPPS


103

wetting the rowlocks lest these should creak. In the winter
one drives by, step by step. One may not glance aside,
but must look straight ahead. Having reached a spot about
three hundred yards past the place, one must get up out of
the sleigh, and — at least when passing that way for the first
time — drink spirits in the god’s honour 5 earlier, one should
also have spilt a little on the ice as an offering. Not until
then may one let one’s reindeer run. Should one neglect
these precautions or in any other way insult the god, he would
cause a fateful blizzard to arise as a punishment, or, as has
sometimes happened, bind the culprit with his reindeer and
everything to the place so that he was unable to stir from the
spot. 9

By the Mutenia River in the Finnish Lapmark there is
also a Seide, of which the people relate that in earlier times,
when passing this holy stone, women were not allowed to sit
in the boats, but must travel by it along the shore on foot.
Near the stone they had in addition to dress themselves in
trousers. 10 The Russian Lapps believed, that women on near-
ing the holy places invariably were stricken with “ a certain
illness ” by means of which, even in strange districts, they
could tell the nearness of such places. 11

One of the best known holy mountains in Finnish Lapmark
is the Rastekaise in Utsjoki, on the top of which there are two
large stones, and which even today is regarded by the super-
stitious people with awe. When a storm arises on the moun-
tain they regard it as a sign of the wrath of the god. 12 Travel-
lers relate that the Lapps say this mountain will not willingly
show itself to strangers, hiding itself instead in mists.

The Lapp turns to his Seides in all his different needs, for
good luck on his journeys, to obtain plentiful fish or game, to
ensure the health and increase of his reindeer, but especially
when sickness or other misfortunes befall him. At first prom-
ises are made of offerings, the promises being then redeemed
when the sick become well again. If, in addition, one re-


i04


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


members that the Seides had the power of raising storms, one
can understand how powerful and many sided these spirits
were.

Whence arose the power of these dumb Seide stones, spread-
ing as it did a reflection of awe even over the ground on which
they stood? The Lapps themselves hardly longer knew at
the close of their pagan period. Signs are to be found, how-
ever, that the Seide-cult has its root in the worship of ancestors.
A significant feature is that the Seide is the protecting spirit
of a certain family or clan. A report made use of by Schefferus
says that “ every family and clan has in the land wherein it
moves and dwells,” its own Seide . 13 A Seide worshipped by
a larger clan seems to have been mightier than the Seide of
a separate family. Hogstrom relates concerning this, that
“ the power of these stones is adjudged according to the
number worshipping and offering up to them.” In another
place, he tells of a Seide that had “ long been worshipped by
a whole village.” 14 Family worship — for the Lapp-villages
were family-villages — is also pointed to in an account by the
missionary Tornaeus: “So many households, one can almost
say so many as there were Lapps, so many gods were there to be
found, situated in different places by the sea. But one was
always the highest and mightiest, and this alone was wor-
shipped by the whole population of a village. It was situated
on some hill, or other high place, so that it could be well seen
of all, and honoured j but other house and family gods were
placed in lower places.” 16 The duty of making offerings was
bequeathed by father to son. The missionary S. Kildal says,
that “ when the parents died, the children inherited the holy
mountains and the mountain gods.” 16

Among the Scandinavian Lapps, this Seide-cult is connected
with their beliefs in holy mountains with underground in-
habitants, as described in another chapter. Jessen says ex-
pressly that sacrifices to the Saivo spirits were made near a
stone . 17 But these spirits were originally the ancestors wor-













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PLATE VIII

The holy Rastekaise mountain in Utsjoki in Fin-
nish Lapland, on the top of which there are two
large stones. Even today it is regarded with awe
by the superstitious. (See page 103.)

Water-colour by V. Soldan-Brofeldt.




THE SEIDES OF THE LAPPS


105

shipped by the Lapp families or clans as guardian-spirits.
That also in the Swedish Lapmark a dim idea of the origin
of the Seide-cult has remained behind, is shown by the follow-
ing words of the missionary Rheen: “These stones were set
up on the mountains, in clefts between the rocks, or by rivers
and seas, on places where they at some time or other had heard
ghostly noises.” 18 The Finnish Lapps have also preserved
certain interesting knowledge. A man, who happened to sleep
the night near a holy place, saw in his dreams “ all kinds of
ghosts, animals and human beings.” It is also worth mention-
ing, that near these places one must never speak ill of the
dead, as otherwise those underground become angry . 19

The Lapps believe also that the Seide can appear to its
worshipper in human form. In the account of a sacrifice in
the eighteenth century, it is stated: “Then a being in human
form, like a great ruler, extremely good to look at, dressed in
expensive garments and trinkets, appears and sits down to take
part in their meal, speaks with them and teaches them new arts,
and says that he lives in the stone or mountain to which they
sacrifice.” 20 To the Lule Lapps the Seide appeared in the
form of a well-built, tall man, dressed in black like a gentle-
man, with a gun in his hand . 21 Also among the Finnish
Lapps Fellman heard a story about a man who was about to
destroy his Seide because of his poor luck at fishing, but de-
sisted when it appeared before him in human form . 22

The matter is still further illustrated by the belief that the
Seide is a human being turned to stone . 23 The following
account was written down in Russian Lapmark. Near the
Puljarvi Lake lived an old woman, whose husband, after his
death, would visit her in the night. The old woman, who
would have nothing to do with the dead, locked her door
and smoked out her house, but got no peace from the deceased
in spite of these precautions. She related her troubles to a
shaman who happened to visit her house. He tried to soothe
her, promising to remain overnight. In the evening he tidied


10 6 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

the bothie, placing all the woman’s belongings on one side
and sweeping the other side clean ; in the corner he placed a
few fish-bones. Soon, both heard the deceased examining the
fishing-net outside, after which he came into the bothie, plac-
ing himself on the place that had been swept clean, where he
commenced to gnaw at the fish-bones. Then the shaman got
up and taking the dead by the hand, led him into the yard.
Having remained for some time outside, the shaman came
back, telling the woman that the deceased would no longer
trouble her. “ Look up at the sky tomorrow morning,” he
said when he had finished, and went away. When the woman
went out into the yard the next day, she saw something black
moving in the sky, and sinking down to the opposite shore of
the Puljarvi Lake. The visits of the deceased ceased from
that day, but at a slight distance from Puljarvi a Seide had
appeared. 24

The Russian Lapps have generally speaking had the same
views of their Seides as of their dead. According to their
ideas, they live a similar life to the Lapps, keeping reindeer
and dogs, building houses, preparing sleighs, etc. The Lapps
say they have heard how the Seide spirits hunt, how their
dogs bark and how the snow creaks as they travel on their
Lapp sleighs. They believe that the Seides are born and die,
and even, at times, celebrate weddings. 25 They are invisible
spirits, but have the power, like the dead, of appearing in
animal form, especially as birds. Thus, they relate how a
Seide often flew up out of a chasm in the mountains in the
shape of a raven. With this view of the Russian Lapps may
be compared the similar one of the Swedish Lapps that the
Seide is a bird, turned into stone as it sank down out of the
air; on this account one could often make out the general
outlines of a bird in these stones. 20

If we, finally, remember that many of these Seides might
be found together, forming a family, we need not be at all
uncertain as to the origin of this ancient cult. It is possible


THE SEIDES OF THE LAPPS


107


that some of these Seide places were former dwelling or
burial places, but that this is not always the case appears, for
example, from the following account from the Swedish Lap-
mark: “ They believe that the Seide spirits live in some places,
to which on account of the height of the mountain they can-
not reach } they, therefore, smear a stone with the blood of the
reindeer sacrificed in honour of the Seide and throw the stone
high up on the mountain, where the Seide spirit dwells.” 27

How closely connected were the “ spirit ” and the stone,
one may see from the belief of the Lapps, that the Seide
stone could move about and that it was dangerous for a human
being to pass over the “ wander-path ” of the holy stone.
The stone was also supposed to be impressionable and capable
of feeling} when necessary it could be punished by striking it
or by hammering out pieces from it. If it began to be re-
garded as a dangerous neighbour, the Lapps would destroy
it altogether by shattering, burning, or throwing it into the
water. This was the death of the Seide . 28

According to an inherited tradition, the Lapps near the
Sompio Lake were “ so modest and easily satisfied in the
choice of their gods, that they worshipped that which first met
their glance on going out from the tent — a stone, or the
stump of a tree. The next morning the Lapp would have a
new god should his first glance in the morning happen to fall
on some other object.” 29 According to this report, the only
one of its kind, the Lapps thus also worshipped the so-called
u accidental gods,” which certain investigators believe that they
have found among a few primitive peoples.

Besides the Seides of stone, the Lapps had also wooden
ones. They were either tree-stumps embedded in the ground,
or posts driven into it. The wooden Seides do not appear to
have possessed any definite shape. It is stated, however,
that on an island in the foaming Darra rapids in the Tarne
River certain posts resembling human beings have been
found. They stood in a line one after another, the first of the


108 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

height of a man, the other four somewhat smaller; each had
something resembling a hat on its head. 30 Among the Finnish
Lapps the method of preparing Seides of wood has been pre-
served. A growing tree was chopped off about a yard or two
yards from the ground; the upper end was then shaped into
the resemblance of a funnel, and covered with a slab of stone;
in this way the tree was prevented from rotting. Pillars of
this description are said to have been formed by the Lapps
“ to the honour of the water,” near waters rich in fish. 31



Fig. 5. Lapp Sacrificial Posts
According to Appelgren


The “ sacrifice-stumps ” of the Swedish Lapps were from
two to three yards high. They were shaped roughly to re-
semble a human being, with “ head and neck,” which were
then smeared over with blood. The “ sacrifice-stump ” was
used only once, but “ in spite of this, it was never destroyed.”
For this reason, a missionary might at one and the same place
see “ a legion of wooden gods.” The relations between these
and the stone gods is made clear in a note by Hogstrom: “ Un-
doubtedly, they make some definite difference between the
times of sacrifice to the different gods; but this I have not
been able to ascertain. However, as far as I do know, they


THE SEIDES OF THE LAPPS


109

worship the stone gods when in the neighbourhood of these,
but otherwise gods of wood.” 32 It would appear, therefore,
that the wooden pillars were set up only as occasion arose,
perhaps to represent some spirit dwelling in a more distant
place. The stone Seides were regarded by the Lapps, accord-
ing to Hogstrom, as being much more holy than those of
wood . 33 These wooden Seides are not, however, to be con-
founded with the wooden images fashioned to represent
Nature gods.

Sacrifices to the Seides were naturally not offered up in pre-
cisely the same manner over the whole of the wide Lapland
area, but one may observe general main forms of an archaic
kind among them.

The Esthonians also see in the Northern Lights a heavenly
war, “ Virmalised taplevad” (“Virmalised fight”). On the
island of Osel they say that during the holy nights when the
heavens open, one may see two armed fighting-men, eager
to give battle to one another, but God will not allow it, and
separates them . 26 Most probably the Finns also possessed a
similar belief ; in certain Karelian magic songs Pohjola is
sometimes mentioned as the residence of those who “ were
killed without sickness ” and where the inhabitants are
said to have “ blood-dripping garments.” 27 In a variation


82


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


on the “ song of the Great Oak ” that grows so high that
neither the sun nor the moon could shine on the earth, and
was therefore chopped down “ with its crown towards the
south and its trunk towards the north,” it is further re-
lated that the giant tree fell “ straight across Pohj ola’s
river ” as “ an everlasting bridge ” for those “ killed without
sickness.” 28 The author is inclined to believe that in this last
we meet again the idea of the Milky Way, regarded by some
Arctic tribes as being the trunk of a great tree, along which
those killed in battle wander. To the same folk-belief may
ultimately be traced the Scandinavian belief in Valhall, where
the souls of the dead in battle dwell, and, according to Gyl-
faginningy “ take on their accoutrements, go out into the yard
and fight and kill one another.” Other Arctic peoples also
have had similar ideas of the Aurora Borealis. The Chukchee
in the north-east corner of Asia believe that “the Northern
Lights is a dwelling chiefly for those who have died a violent
death,” 29 and even the Tlingits in North America, according
to Veniaminov, the Russian missionary, believe that the souls
of the dead dwell, not only in the “ underworld ” far away
in the north, but also up in the sky, where only the souls of
those killed in battle may go, and where, as the flames of the
Northern Lights, they battle with one another, predicting
bloodshed on the earth . 30

All the dead, however, do not attain to the Life Beyond,
wherever this may be regarded as being situated. The souls,
especially, of little children, killed and hidden by their
mothers, remain as ghosts in the worlds of the living. The
Lapps called these Apparas (Finnish ap'dr'd , “bastard”) and
the Ostiaks Vylep or Patshak. The Finnish Liekkio (“ the
flaming one ”) was probably originally a similar spirit, who,
according to Agricola, “ ruled over grass, roots and trees.”
All those lost in forests or drowned in the water, and who
were therefore denied the opportunity of resting peacefully
in a grave, became similar homeless, restless spirits.


CHAPTER VI
ANIMAL WORSHIP


L IKE many other primitive peoples the Finno-Ugric
stocks regard the fruits of the chase and of fishing as
holy. While engaged in either of these two occupations their
actions, having a significance beyond those needed in ordinary
tasks, follow closely certain rules. Their words for game are
used with meanings differing from those in everyday use.
The bear, especially, has many secret names. The Lapps call
him “ master of the forest,” “ the old man of the mountains,”
“ the wise man,” “ the holy animal,” “ the dog of God.”
The Ostiaks have names such as “ the fur man,” “ the dweller
in the wilds,” for him; the Finns speak of him as “honey-
paw,” “ great forest,” etc. They believe that were the actual
name of the prey to be used, it might hear it and become
angry. On hunting trips and at bear feasts even the different
parts of the bear and the hunting gear are given special names.
Similarly, on fishing expeditions, a special language is used.
The Livonians, for example, when out at sea, retain even to
this day the habit of speaking of their fishing gear in strange,
mysterious terms.

Cleanliness was essential in both hunting and fishing. Of
this, traces can be observed even to-day amongst all the Finno-
Ugric peoples. The most general methods of purification,
used both for people and for the implements of the hunter
or fisher, were smoking over a fire, jumping over fire, washing
in water, or being besprinkled with water. The opinion of
the Siryans that hunting is a “ pure ” occupation, animals lov-
ing only “ pure ” people , 1 is common to all the Finno-Ugric


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


84

stocks. The Ostiaks regard it as improper even for those who
stay at home to engage in any dirty work, such as scrubbing
floors, or washing clothes, on the day when they know that
the hunters have reached the lair of the bear . 2 The Samoyeds
do not hunt or fish or even cross the stream when there is a
corpse in the village ; they also avoid intercourse with women
at hunting or fishing times . 3

In earlier times, when the hunters or fishers among the
Lapps set out on an expedition, they did not use the ordinary
outlet when leaving their tents, but instead, a special opening
in the back of the tent that was regarded as holy and was
never used by womenfolk. This opening was called varr-lyps
(“ the bloody backdoor ”) by the Russian Lapps, the name
originating from the fact that the bleeding corpses of the
prey were always brought in by it . 4 Missionaries relate that
the Lapps threw in by this opening “ both the gifts of the
forest, viz, birds and animals, and of the sea, viz, fish.” 5
Traces of this custom can be observed among the Ostiaks, who,
on returning from the forest, carry in the head of the bear
through the window and, after the feast-night, carry it out
the same way to the storehouse . 6 Of similar origin is likewise
a custom among the Finns, whose hunters, when going out in
pursuit of a bear, lift the door from its bottom hinges and
pass through the opening between the door and the door-
post on the side where the hinges are . 7 One had also to set
forth with due secrecy on hunting or fishing trips and without
meeting anyone, women in particular. A very old custom
decrees that no woman may take part in hunting trips, but
instead must prepare to meet the returning hunters with spe-
cial ceremonies, obviously in order thus to avoid dangerous
contact. This was especially necessary when the prey was
some large animal. When the Lapp brought in the meat of
some fallen wild reindeer through the “ holy ” backdoor, his
wife had to have in readiness a liquid prepared from alder-
bark, with which the Lapp washed his face while being be-






? . t , '











PLATE VI

Bear Worship of the Voguls

The eyes and nose of the bear are covered over as
a protective measure, in the same way as those of the
corpse in burial rites. (See page 95.)

After photograph by J. A. Kannisto.





ANIMAL WORSHIP


85

sprinkled by his wife, believing that by this ceremony he
could assure himself of better luck among the wild reindeer . 8
Besides the special animals caught in or near the “ holy ”
places, a woman, according to the Lapps, was not allowed to
eat of every part of even birds, squirrels, hares, wild reindeer,
bears, in short, of any forest animal . 9 It is also to be noted
that slaughtering and the cooking of the meat were always
left to the men. The more northern stocks, the Lapps and
Samoyeds, do their slaughtering for the home-sacrifices also,
behind the back of the tent, where women are not allowed to
tread . 10

The bear has always been regarded among the Finno-Ugric
peoples as being the most holy of all wild animals. At least
the Lapps, Finns, Ostiaks and Voguls held feasts in its honour.
Among the Volga peoples, relics of these feasts are no longer
found, though many of the beliefs appertaining to the
bear are still general among them all. The bear is more in-
telligent and stronger than a man, say the Votiaks. It under-
stands the speech of men though it cannot talk ; when they
meet “ the old man ” in the forest they bare their heads, as
is fit and proper, before the master of the forest. Sometimes
they bow to it, go down on their knees, etc., as they believe
that if one shows due respect to a bear, it will not do them any
harm. Enemies are recognized by the bear even after its
death, and persecuted by him. For this reason it is unwise
to laugh near the body of a bear.

In the life of the community, among the more northern
peoples, the bear would seem also to have had some part.
The Samoyeds, Ostiaks and Voguls swore their oaths by the
bear. A delinquent would bite the hair of the animal, or its
nose, claws or teeth, saying: “ If I am wrong, so bite me as
I now bite thee .” 11

The festival ceremonies of the “ holy animal ” have been
preserved in their most original form among the Lapps ; Pehr
Fjellstrom and another unknown author having left us com-


86


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


plete accounts . 12 Both descriptions date from the eighteenth
century, and were made in the Swedish Lapp territory.

In the autumn the Lapps track the bears and seek their
hiding-places for the winter. When they have discovered one
of these spots they leave the bear there in peace until it has
snowed so much that it is difficult for the animal to move
freely. Often the bear is not awakened until March or April,
when the Lapp invites his nearest relations and friends to a
bear-killing. This is not, however, proceeded with at once,
the magic drum having first to be consulted as to whether
the hunt will succeed or not. When this matter is clear the
hunters arrange themselves in a fighting-line, and march one
after the other in a certain order to the winter-quarters of
the bear. As first man, marches the one who tracked the bear.
To the end of a pole which he bears in his hands a brass ring
must without fail be attached. After him comes the inter-
preter of the message of the magic drum, who in turn is
followed by the bravest of the company, their duty being to
fell the bear, and lastly the crowd according to rank. Each
of them has his own fixed duties in the bear feast ceremonies,
one having to cook the flesh, another to carry water, a third
to make the fire, and so on. When this procession finally
arrives at the lair, the bear is attacked with spear and gun, and
having been killed, is dragged out of its hiding-place. To
the accompaniment of much merry singing, it is then begged
for forgiveness that its sleep was disturbed, and thanked for
the little trouble it gave the hunters and that none of the
staves or spears was broken.

In all this, the Lapps follow many curious customs handed
down from their ancestors. They whip the bear with slender
twigs as soon as it has been dragged from its lair, or they lay
their skis against it as a token of their victory. It is also cus-
tomary to weave a ring of fir-twigs round the lower jaw of
the animal, to which ring the highest in rank among the crowd
fastens his belt and, accompanied by the merry singing of


ANIMAL WORSHIP


87

the others, drags the fallen bear a little way from its place.
The Lapps also indicate their bravery by swinging their spears
threateningly against the dead enemy as though it were still
alive. After this play the carcass is covered with branches of
fir and left lying there until the next day.

When the hunters approach their home after a successful
hunt, they indicate their success by a merry traditional singing
at the first sound of which the women in the tent begin to array
themselves in festive garments, answering meanwhile the sing-
ing of the heroes by a similar singing. According to Fjell-
strom the leader of the crowd usually plaits a twig of fir
( soive-rise ), at the end of which he forms a little ring.
With this twig he strikes three times at the backdoor of the
tent, saying: “ Soive-olmai,” if the prey be a male animal,
and “ Soive-neida ” if it be a female. The same name was
afterwards given to the hunter and his wife. From another
source we learn that the wife of the hunter or some other
person gives him a twig of birch, plaited solely for this occa-
sion, to which the womenfolk have to fasten copper rings . 13
According to Randulf, the slayer of the bear informs those at
home of his arrival by pushing an alder-branch under the wall
of the tent. When the wife notices this, she tries to take
hold of the branch, but the man draws it out again, repeating
this manoeuvre three times, from which the wife understands
that “ the holy hound of God ” has been felled. Before the
hunters enter the tent they sing for a while outside, until the
women are ready to receive them . 14

The women, who on no account may go near the bear, or
take part in its slaughtering, have now, as the men enter
through the sacred backdoor, to cover their faces with a cloth.
Should they wish it, they are allowed to cast a glance through
a copper ring at those entering ; but at the same time, according
to an old custom, they must spit the juice of chewed alder-
bark in the faces of the hunters, from which the men’s faces
become quite red. The same thing is done to the dogs which


88


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


have taken part in the hunt. Sometimes both men and women
paint their bodies with alder-bark juice — a ring round the
arms, lines on the breast and a cross on the forehead. The
women also sometimes paint their faces red . 15 It is further
the custom for women to decorate their husbands with brass
rings and chains, which are hung on the neck and, under the
garments, round one hand and foot. The twig described above
is now given into the care of the bear-killer’s wife; she wraps
it in a piece of linen and keeps it until the tail of the bear has
been cooked and eaten. The news of the killing of the bear
having thus been spread, the Lapps feast in honour of the
day on all the delicacies they can command, men and women,
however, eating in separate groups. Nothing else is even at-
tempted to be done on this day. Everyone goes to sleep in
the evening in the finery which has during the day fallen to
their lot, the husbands forsaking their usual couches with their
wives and sleeping, like the women, with their own sex only.

The next day measures are taken for the transport of the
bear. All the men do not go out for this purpose, some of
the hunters remaining behind to prepare a temporary dwelling-
place for the bear. This is formed of hewn boards and is
covered with branches of fir. Rooms of this description for
the cutting-up and cooking of the bear are built where the
bear, as, for example, at Jockmock, is not carried to the holy
back-compartment of the tent . 16 Most of the men, however,
go out to bring in the bear, all of them being, like the reindeer
detailed for the work, decorated with rings and chains of brass,
those of the reindeer being hung round its neck. It is also
usual to draw a ring with alder-bark juice on the neck of the
reindeer and a cross on its forehead, sometimes also other
figures. On the way the men sing merrily, and pray to the
bear not to send bad weather to inconvenience them. During
the whole time care must be taken not to cross over the track
of any woman. Neither is it advisable for a woman, for the
period, at least, of the ceremonies, to pass over the track left


ANIMAL WORSHIP


89

behind by the bear, and even the use of the reindeer which
has dragged in the bear is forbidden to women for a whole
year.

As the brave men near their home with their burden they
sing arrogantly: “Here come men from Sweden, Germany,
England and from all lands”; to which the women reply:
“ Welcome, ye noble men from Sweden, Germany, England
and all lands, ye who have felled the bear.” 17

The bear, brought thus ceremoniously from the forest, is
now placed in the cutting-up tent, generally built a stone’s
throw from the holy backdoor of the dwelling-tent, and often
decorated with garlands of hay in honour of the event. Here
the carcass is laid down outstretched, alder-bark juice is
sprinkled on it, and a small receptacle made of bark and filled
with this liquid is set before the bear’s nose. The knives are
decorated with rings of brass, which, like alder-bark, are used
on these occasions for magic protective purposes. Similarly,
all vessels used in the ceremonies are decorated. Round the
neck of the “ holy ” animal itself brass rings and chains are
bound. The children, who are allowed to be present on these
occasions, run frequently into the house to tell the women what
they have seen and heard.

During the whole time of the cutting-up the men sing their
varying moods, trying to guess the home district of the bear,
thanking it for its fur, or pointing out how great an honour
has fallen to its part. Further, they beg the bear to tell the
other bears of the honour shown it, so that these may more
willingly surrender themselves to their hunters. In songs
the men also try to guess what the women are doing in the
tent, and should they guess correctly, which can easily be
ascertained from the children running between the two tents,
this is regarded as a good omen.

When the animal has been skinned, the flesh is cut up very
carefully lest even the smallest bone should be damaged, or
some artery or muscle be broken. The whole of the flesh is


90


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


cooked at once, the women’s part separately. The blood is
cooked first and mixed with fat; this is devoured at once as
the greatest delicacy. With the blood of the bear, which is
believed by the Lapps to possess magical qualities, the hunters
also sometimes besmear their bodies, and in some districts they
even smear their wives and children and the door and the logs
bearing up the tent. The head of the animal with the wind-
pipe and all the entrails hanging from it is left untouched
until all the flesh has been cooked. It is skinned last, at which
operation the thin, hairless region of the mouth is cut out;
the person skinning the head is permitted the honour of bear-
ing this skin before his face for a time. The head is cooked,
with all its hanging burden of entrails, which are perfunctorily
cleaned but not detached from the skull.

While the flesh is being cooked the hunters sit on each side
of the fire according to their rank and position. First sits the
one who tracked the bear, then the interpreter of the magic
drum, the bear-killers, etc., all according to the importance of
the duty which they have had to do during the kill. The
vessel in which the flesh is cooked must be of brass, or at the
very least, ornamented with brass rings. It must be carefully
watched during the cooking, as the running-over of the tiniest
trifle of gravy into the fire is regarded as a very bad omen.
Should the gravy commence to boil too violently it is not
regulated by adding water or thinning out the fire, but one
of the men must go to the tent to see whether any of the
women has caused the trouble by unsuitable behaviour.
Should nothing blameworthy be found there, the chief person
of the gathering tries to stop the gravy from boiling over by
the customary singing.

GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS 69

when many insects and larvae have appeared in the fields,
hindering the growth of the crops. The guests put on their
holiday attire, and the ceremonies, which resemble those at a
wedding, are led by a host, who is called the “ head of the
wedding.” The “ wedding-women ” also appear, wearing
round their shoulders beautiful shawls embroidered with silk,
and also the “ wedding-dancers,” who are commanded by a
leader with a whip to which a bell is fixed. Further par-
ticipants in the festivity are a drummer and a bagpiper. As
in a wedding-procession — only without a bride and bride-
groom — the villagers, carrying with them pancakes, bread,
beer and brandy, with the functionaries and pipers at their
head, go to the corn-field, round which they drive or walk
three times, following the sun. Every now and then the
procession stops, a wax-taper is lighted and the festival food
is tasted, part of which is also sacrificed to the dead. All the
time music is played and wedding-songs sung. In the mean-
time the old people have started for the burial-ground, where
a black ox is to be sacrificed to the Utumo. The killing, the
cooking of the sacrifice-meat, and the eating of it take place
by the burial-ground, outside its enclosure. Having marched
or driven round all the corn-fields of the village, the wedding-
procession also arrives at the graveyard. Thinking of the
Utum5, everyone places a wax-taper on the fence. A prayer
noted down by the author in the District of Birsk runs thus:
“Utum man, Utum woman, protect our fields from larvae,
from butterflies! A large ox has been killed, come with your
family and eat. Do not touch the corn!” After the meal
the ox-hide is cut into one narrow strip, long enough to sur-
round the whole of the burial-ground. The bones of the ox
and certain parts of the meat are buried in the earth. The
sacrifice is, however, not often performed immediately; fre-
quently it is enough to make only a promise, which is done
in this way: — a bast-rope is wound by the old people of the
village round the tree dedicated to the Utumo in the grave-


70


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


yard. If the rope is wound one, three, five or seven times
round the tree, this means that the sacrifice will be per-
formed after so many years. The number must always be an
odd one. The old promise-rope is not burnt till the sacrifice
is performed. On account of its similarity with the wedding-
ceremonies, this memorial feast is called “ Utum-wedding.”

At times a single family must also perform an Utum-sacri-
fice. If there are many mice in the store-house, it is, accord-
ing to the Cheremiss, a sign that the Utumo claim a memorial
feast. It is generally not celebrated at once, but the father
of the family goes to the forest and hunts up as large a piece
of lime-bark as possible, which he then twists into a rope and
winds nine times round the aforesaid tree. Thus they need
not perform the sacrifice till nine years later. In the wedding
ceremonies only the members of the family participate. This
time they do not go to the corn-field, but instead wander three
times round the farm-yard, going into the store-house, the
larder and the cow-house. The sacrifice, which also now
consists of a black ox, is performed, cooked and eaten at the
burial-place . 16

Only a few of the innumerable dead can, in the long run,
avoid the fate of the Utumo, the identity of which becomes in
time quite effaced from the memory of the living. Castren
says of the Samoyeds that only their shamans remain “ im-
mortal.” However, some other remarkable persons, such as
famous ancestors, princes, heroes, etc., may be retained for a
longer time in the memory of their survivors and be wor-
shipped as household-gods and heroes.

The importance of ancestor worship in the social life of
the Finno-Ugric races will be further seen from their belief
that their deceased ancestors did not only create their customs
and found their religion, but even now protect and watch
over them. The Votiaks say that if the present people begin
to neglect the customs and usages of their ancestors, they will
be punished with diseases and years of famine.


GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS


7i

The near connexion between the worship of ancestors and
an instinctive nationalistic feeling, is very vividly described
by the Norwegian missionary Isaac Olsen (f 1730) in his
account of the Lapp’s belief in his underground spirits, whose
dwellings, clothes and language are perfectly similar to those
of the Lapps living above ground. The underground people
exhort the Lapps to “ have just such dwellings, ceremonies
and customs, clothes and language and other things as the
living have seen among the dead, impressing this especially
upon the shamans, whose duty it is to instruct the others and
educate them by a wise discipline. They speak the Lapp
tongue with them, as this language is the best of all, and warn
them not to speak any other language than that spoken by
their gods, which was created by their first shamans, the spirit-
folk, and other ancient beings. This they must do, if they
wish to live long and happily, to have success in their trades,
and to keep themselves and their cattle in good health.” 17


CHAPTER V

THE LIFE BEYOND


T HE MANNER in which life beyond the grave was
regarded appears plainly from the burial ceremonies.
The Lapps say that they fit out the dead with provisions and
various implements “ so that these may satisfy their hunger,
go fishing, or chop wood, as they did before, while alive.” 1
The “ ancient Cheremiss ” till and sow their fields over there,
practise cattle-raising, hunt, fish, keep bees, marry and go
visiting each other. As in their former life, the dead can
suffer from cold and hunger . 2 To help protect them from
cold, the Voguls, when they have warmed themselves in the
open at a fire of logs, leave a few pieces of wood behind in
order that the dead may also be able to warm themselves . 3
The dead may even find themselves in situations of mortal
danger in the life beyond. The Mordvins and Cheremiss
believed that the dead, having lived for a certain period in the
underworld, could die a second time . 4

A general belief is that the life beyond is lived under the
earth. The passage occurs in a Vogul song: “ The dead
people go to the land below ”j also, in Ostiak folk-poetry we
read: “We arrive at the sea belonging to the man living in
the underworld.” 5 In its nature this underworld resembles
the world we live in in everything, with the exception that,
seen with our eyes, everything there would appear inside out
or upside down. The Lapps believe that the dead walk
there with the soles of their feet against ours. According to
the Samoyeds the same rivers and streams exist there, but
flow in opposite directions. The tops of trees there grow


THE LIFE BEYOND


73

downward; the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. The
life of those over there runs also contrary to ours; they be-
come younger and grow smaller with the years, until they
disappear and become nothing or are born into the family
again as children. In this way, the “ shade ” lives as long in
the underworld as its predecessor on the earth . 6 The Ostiaks
say that the dead dwindle in the end to a little beetle . 7

The belief that everything is topsy-turvy in the under-
world, appears also in the worship of the dead. From this
springs the custom of washing the dead, or sacrificing to them,
with the left hand. When the Mordvins reap the portion
of the dead, they hold the sickle by the blade, throwing it
backwards over their heads . 8 To sacrifice backwards, contrary
to the sun’s motion, with clothes inside-out, or to place the
offering upside-down on graves, is characteristic of the Finno-
Ugrian cult of the departed. The idea of an inverted world
seems to have been derived from the reflection seen in the
water.

Just as the villages were formerly family-villages and the
graveyards contained only members of the same family in
their ground, it is believed that the dead live together in
villages, the coffin of each of their inhabitants forming their
private “ houses.” The Volga Finns call the first one to be
buried “ the graveyard ruler he is supposed to keep order
in the graveyard-community, and at commemoration feasts
a special candle is lit for him and food is sacrificed. That
discipline is actually upheld in the underground village is
shown by the Votiaks’ belief that the dead receive very un-
willingly into their ranks newcomers who have been noted
in life for evil ways and quarrelsomeness . 9 To meet with
death in a strange district is regarded as a great calamity, be-
cause the “ shade ” of the dead one, according to a prevalent
belief, is forced to dwell where the body lies, or at any rate
in its immediate neighbourhood, and is therefore prevented
from joining its relatives. When such a death occurs, certain


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


74

tribes, including the Voguls, perform a mock burial to entice
the dead to the burial-place of its home. 10

The Finns called the “ world beyond ” under the earth
Manala (orig. maan-ala = “ underground ” ) or Tuonela
(“ the home of Tuoni ” ). Tuoni, which occurs also in the
language of the Norwegian Lapps as Duodna, means “ the
dead one,” later, also “ death ” and the “ life beyond,” and is
probably a Scandinavian loan-word (cf . Swedish dana-arf , u an
inheritance falling to the State” ). In Tuonela everyone has
his own “ house,” as pictured by a Finnish folk-song in the
following words: “ Of the finest turf the roof, of fine sand
the floor is made, a fathom long is each side-wall, the hinder
one a yard in length.” That this “ house ” in Tuonela is the
grave itself appears plainly from lines in which the “ house ”
is described as being “ carpeted with women’s hair, supported
by men’s bones.” In an Ingrian weeping song “ Manalan
vanhimmat ” (“ the elders of the underworld ” ) are men-
tioned, which “ elders ” appear to hold some governing rank,
as they were not always inclined to permit the dead to pay visits
to the world of the living. 11

In folk-poetry Tuonela seems to be regarded as a common
underworld for all. On the way there, one had to cross the
“ black river ” of Tuonela, on which neither sun nor moon
shines and over which leads “ a bridge ” (Tuonen or Manalan
silta). These beliefs, probably of later origin, remind one
of the Scandinavian river of death, over which one also crossed
by means of a bridge. It is probable that they are part of the
mediaeval views met with also in the literature of the time.
Gregory the Great relates how a person being near to death,
saw a bridge under which a gloomy, black stream flowed.
On this bridge a judgment took place 5 should any of the un-
righteous attempt to pass over it, they fell down into the
dark evil-smelling waters. Besides the Christian peoples, the
Mohammedans also are acquainted with this originally Persian
idea 5 from these it has reached the Volga Finns. The Chere-


THE LIFE BEYOND


IS

miss believe that the poor dead, in order to reach “ the place
of light,” must travel slowly along a narrow pole over “ the
place of darkness,” also called the “ resin-cauldron,” as there
the souls of the wicked are tortured in burning resin. Only
the righteous come luckily over with the help of the “ Prince
of Death,” Kiyamat-tora (Arabic kiamat , “ the resurrection of
the dead”} tora , “judge”) or Tamek-vui (Turco-Tatar
tamyk , “ the world beyond ”} Cheremiss vui, “ head ”) and his
assistant Kiyamat-saus . 12

A more widely-spread idea in Finnish folk-poetry is, how-
ever, that the dead are transported over the river of Tuonela
in a boat. In one song, it is related that, when Wainamoinen
was on his way to the underworld, the daughter of Tuoni came
with a boat and ferried him over the river. Among the folk-
beliefs the view is expressed that the evil one makes a boat
out of finger-nails clipped on Sundays, in which he carries
the dead off with him to his own place. An identical boat
was called the “ corpse-boat ” by the Icelanders. Doubtless
all these beliefs about the crossing of a river of death in a
boat are derived from Greek mythology. The furiously-
barking Manalan-rakki (“the underworld’s hound”) re-
minds one of the Greek Cerberos. To the mediaeval ideas
belong also Tuonen-portti (“ the underworld’s gate ”) which
corresponds to the Helgrindr in Icelandic poetry.

The common dwelling-place of the dead is called Yabme-
aimo (“ the home of the dead ”) by the Scandinavian Lapps,
and is governed by Yabme-akka (“ Old woman of the dead ”).
The Lapps sacrifice to her, and to the dead in general, black
animals, which must be buried alive in the earth. The most
common are said to have been black cats or cockerels. During
the Christian period they believed that the dead, according
to their deeds, could come from Yabme-aimo to God in
Heaven (Radien-aimo, the “ Ruler’s home ”) or to the
“ gloomy ” Rut-aimo or Ruta-aimo, where the evil Rutu or
Rota tortured the dead. This Rutu was not originally re-


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


76

garded as a devil, as it was often the custom to make offerings
to him, especially during epidemics. The sacrificial animal
itself, a slaughtered horse, buried entire within the earth or in a
fissure among the rocks, points to a borrowing from the
Scandinavian. According to Randulf, Rutu appeared some-
times to the Lapps as a man dressed in blue. The wolf was
called “ Rutu’s hound.” Originally Rota or Rutu (from Old
Scandinavian throte , “ an ulcer ”) may have been the spirit
of the plague . 13

A mutual belief of both Scandinavians and the Lapps living
as their neighbours is, further, the idea that the dead dwelt in
certain u holy mountains,” 14 where, according to the Lapps,
they existed happily, living in tents, keeping themselves in
the same way and speaking the same language as the Lapps.
They describe the inhabitants of the mountain, who seem to
have composed a closed family, and paid visits to one another,
riding from mountain to mountain with reindeer, which were
sacrificed to them by the Lapps. These “ mountain spirits ”
were the protectors of the living; the Lapps having often
many such mountains to which they came when in need.
Forbus says that these mountains were not equal in regard
to the assistance they could give, “ one holy mountain might
be of greater help than another, its inhabitants more ready to
listen and quicker to act than those of the other.” 15 The
Lapps inherited these tutelary spirits from their forefathers,
or came into possession of them through marriage, and could
even raise them themselves by offerings, becoming the more
powerful and respected as the number of their “ spirits ” grew.
These spirits would sometimes attempt to take life; by calling
the “ soul ” of a Lapp to themselves before his time had come,
they caused sicknesses that could be cured only by the shaman
appeasing the “ spirits,” and leading the sick one’s “ soul ”
back to his body again. Leem relates that while a shaman lay
in a fit, those present tried to guess which “ holy mountain ”
his soul was at the moment visiting . 16 After death, the Lapps


THE LIFE BEYOND


77


hoped they would be received into the mountain, the inmates
of which had protected them most during life. “ There they
became spirits themselves, and could keep death away from
their relatives and friends for some time.” 17 In the more
southern districts, these “ mountain spirits,” there called
“ Saivo man ” and “ Saivo maiden ” (originally a loan-word
from Old Scandinavian sjo) , have borrowed their character-
istics from the Huldre-folk of their southern neighbours . 18

In West Finland, also, traces of a belief in “ mountains of
the dead ” may be found. In certain districts the people tell
how the gods have borne away the dead man from the grave
to an adjacent forest-hill, in which he must reside as a penance
for some crime committed during his life. This belief is found
lurking in some Finnish magic-songs, in which the name him
(originally “ forest ” and “ hill ”) appears with apparently
the same meaning, for example: “ I call for help from hiisi,
I seek for folk from the hill.” Hiiden vaki (“ Hiisi’s folk ”)
means often the same as the Swedish Huldre-folk.

The night being the time chosen by most spirits for moving
about in, the thought arises easily, that the underground world
of the dead lies towards the sunset, or towards the dark north.
In these directions offerings are generally made to the dead.
The Northern Ostiaks and the Voguls are of the opinion, like
many other North Siberian tribes, that the land of the dead
lies hidden somewhere in the Northern Arctic Ocean. Accord-
ing to the Voguls, the land of the dead is under the earth, but
the entrance to it lies far away in the north, where the waters
of the River Ob flow into the sea. Arrived at the entrance,
the road divides itself into three branches, at the mouth of
each of which are signposts, telling which way, according to
the deeds done in life, each soul must take. The ruler of
the land of the dead, who is greatly feared, is called Khul-
ater (“the Ruler of the dead ”). In the same place is situ-
ated the underworld of the Northern Ostiaks, in which there
are three storeys ; in the lowest, said to be of the height of a

Similar ideas and customs are observed also among the
Mordvins. The dead man is fetched from the graveyard by
the horse promised him for sacrifice. The one who has dressed
himself in the clothes of the deceased relates his experiences
and describes the work of the dead, saying, among other things,
that such and such a person has fine horses, another walks in
the forest, this one has lost his property, that one has married,
such a one keeps bees, etc. Among other curious customs
occurring at funeral festivities, it may be mentioned here
that the Mordvins even make the “ dead man ” fell trees, if
he wishes it. They place the man who has dressed himself
in the clothes of the deceased on a chair provided with a
cushion, put a big knife into his hand and then carry him
sitting on the chair out of the hut to the drying-kiln, where,
beforehand, they have stuck a twig into the ground. The
dead man begins to chop it down with all his might. The
“ tree ” having been felled, the deceased is carried back to
the hut, taking the “ tree ” with him. At dawn the repre-
sentative of the dead man is taken to the graveyard, where
he is carried from the waggon on the cushion on which he has
been sitting, and seated on the grave of the deceased with his
back to the east. At his feet the others lay pancakes, mutton,
etc., asking the dead man to eat together with them for the
last time. Then, having eaten, they say good-bye to the de-
ceased, asking him to come again at harvest-time, when also
his portion is to be reaped. The deputy bows and hastily
steps from the grave . 46

Of the Siryans it is related that at the memorial feast of a
deceased female a woman appears as the principal guest of
the feast, and, at that of a male, a man, who, at the close
of the feast is the first to go out of the hut, attended by the
others with candles in their hands, for, according to their


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


56

ideas, the deceased withdraws from the hut in the person of
his deputy. In some places the latter is accompanied as far
as the first cross-road. 4 '

In Ingria the people used to go with food to the grave at
the “ six weeks ” festival, in order to invite the deceased to
the feast. Having returned home, they put the food on the
table with a spoon in it, which no one was allowed to touch.
Moreover, the eldest member of the family scattered some
salt, peas and slices of egg on the table for the benefit of the
dead. During the repast, a woman in the entrance sang a
“ weeping-song,” in which the deceased were implored to join
the circle of relations. After the repast these went, in the
order in which they left the table, out of the door into the
village street, turning their faces in the direction of the grave-
yard. At the same time each one stuck a fire-stick or a twig
into the ground, as a walking-stick for the dead man . 48

In Russian Karelia it was customary, when the relations
were going to the graveyard to invite the deceased to the feast,
to take with them, besides the other horses, one that was with-
out a driver and harnessed to an empty sleigh over which
was spread a white cloth, for the purpose of conveying the
deceased to his former home . 49

In some districts, among the Siryans and the Volga races,
there seems to have been the custom to celebrate also the
anniversary with a farewell feast.

According to the Eastern Votiaks the deceased then first
leaves his own people, among whom his “ soul ” ( urt ) has
up to that time lived and thriven. To accompany the deceased
all the relations arrive \ a sheep or a cow is killed for the feast,
and some of the food is taken to the grave. The white piece
of cloth which on the funeral day had been fixed to a rafter,
is also taken there and solemnly buried in the grave. After
that day the clothes of the dead man, which up to then had
been carefully kept and only produced on the occasion of
great memorial feasts, could be given away to the poor . 50



PLATE IV


At the Grave. Ingermanland
(See page 56.)

After photograph by J. Lukkarinen.




MEMORIAL FEASTS


57


According to one report the Votiaks believe that if they do
not celebrate a memorial feast then, the dead will not give the
new-comer a place in their community, but will make him
continue to wander about the village, as the deceased had done
in the course of the year . 51

The anniversary is celebrated by the Eastern Cheremiss,
in the District of Birsk, in such a manner that all the clothes
of the deceased are hung upon his favourite horse, which is
then taken to the grave and led three times round it. They
light a three-branched candle on the grave, saying at the same
time to the dead man that the anniversary has arrived and
promising to kill the horse in his honour. Having arrived at
the homestead, the horse is killed at once and a memorial
meal prepared of its flesh. While sacrificing, the relations
say to the deceased: “ Eat what we have prepared for thee;
we have not harnessed thy horse, we have not used it, now
take it with thee.” At the end of the feast, the bones of the
horse are taken to the graveyard, where they are hung in a
tree, but the hide is sold for the benefit of the poor and the
fatherless . 52

In honour of particular persons the Votiaks further cele-
brate a remarkable memorial feast, which, however, does not
take place at a specially fixed time, but sometimes a year or
several years after death.

This festivity, which is generally celebrated late in autumn,
is called by the Votiaks a “ horse-wedding ” or “ the wedding
of the dead,” these names being derived from the fact that
it is, above all, a cheerful feast with wedding-songs and wed-
ding-presents. The sacrificial animal, which is generally
killed in the yard, must be a horse, if the deceased in question
is a man, but a cow, if a woman. In some places where the
memorial feast is celebrated the first year after death, the
animal which the deceased liked best and which he used in his
lifetime, is generally sacrificed to him. All his relations are
invited, these alone partaking of the sacrificial meal, as it is


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


58

against custom to invite strangers. The most important per-
formance consists of the taking of the animal’s bones in the
evening, by candle-light, with music and singing, to the grave-
yard, where they are hung upon a tree . 53

A curious custom among the Mordvins is the “ harvest of
the dead.” Already when sowing in spring they pray to the
Lord to let the corn grow for the welfare of the living and
the dead. During the harvest-festival the relatives of the
deceased also reap the portion of the dead man, each of them
cutting only a few straws. The chief part is played by the
widow, who all day wears a belt of straw made by herself.
Cattle are slaughtered for this feast . 54 Among the Siryans,
traces of a memorial feast in the harvest-field have also been
found . 55

Besides feasts decided on beforehand, particular memorial
feasts are occasionally celebrated for some special reason. Ac-
cording to a general idea, the dead may remind the living in
in a dream, or by all kinds of signs, of their wishes. Memorial
feasts are chiefly celebrated in such cases of illness as have
been declared by a wise man to originate from some one among
the dead. Among the Mordvins, the patient must then creep
on all fours to the grave of the deceased to ask his forgive-
ness . 56 Should an animal — a horse or a cow — disappear
from the pasture-land, or go astray in the forest, one of the
dead relations, according to the Votiaks, has hidden away
the animal. Wax-tapers are then lighted, and just as at the
memorial feasts, food is sacrificed to the dead, in the hope that
they will not keep the animal, but drive it home. Even little
adversities, such as a failure in distilling brandy, or the loosen-
ing of a wheel on a journey, the restlessness of a baby, etc.,
may become reasons for preparing a memorial feast . 57 A
widow, at least, must always be on the lookout. If the
Cheremiss woman’s back aches, she believes that her deceased
husband has had sexual connexion with her during the night.
Then she must light a wax-taper and sacrifice to the dead