Topic: Finno-Ugric Mythology

[Prometheus]

https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra41gray/page/n21




THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES


Volume IV

FINNO-UGRIC



PLATE I


Grave-Houses in Russian Karelia
(See page 32.)

Water-colour by V. Soldan-Brofeldt.













FINNO-UGRIC, SIBERIAN

BY

UNO HOLMBERG, PH.D.

DOCENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FINLAND, HELSINGFORS


VOLUME IV



ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
MARSHALL JONES COMPANY • BOSTON
M DCCCC XXVII


I


Copyright, 1927
By Marshall Jones Company

Copyrighted in Great Britain

All rights reserved

Printed January, 1927


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY
THE PLIMPTON PRESS • NORWOOD • MASSACHUSETTS


BOUND BY THE BOSTON BOOKBINDING COMPANY


EDITOR’S NOTE

I N place of a preface, Dr. Holmberg has asked me to say
that much in his account of Finno-Ugric and Siberian
Mythology is the result of personal acquaintance with various
tribes. In the summer of 1911 he lived among the heathen
Votiaks. In the summer of 1912 he travelled in Siberia (Dis-
trict Turuchansk) among the Siberian Arctic peoples. And in
the summer of 1913 he lived among the Cheremias.

J. A. MacCULLOCH

Editor



CONTENTS

FINNO-UGRIC PAGE

Editor’s Note v

Introduction xv

Chapter I The Belief in Souls 3

II Death and Burial 17

III Memorial Feasts for a Particular Dead

Person 37

IV General Memorial Feasts 60

V The Fife Beyond 72

VI Animal Worship 83

VII The Seides of the Lapps 100

VIII Family Gods 113

IX Heroes 139

X Household Spirits 159

XI Forest Spirits 175

XII Water Spirits 19 1

XIII Gods of Sky and Air 217

XIV Fire 235

XV Deities of the Earth and Vegetation . . . 239

XVI Deities of Birth 252

XVII Sacrifices to Nature Gods among the Volga

Finns 262

XVIII The Shaman 282

SIBERIAN

Introduction 299

Chapter I World Pictures 306

II The Origin of the Earth 313

III The Pillar of the World 333

IV The World Mountain 341


1 ^ 9 9 9

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CONTENTS


PAGE


viii

V The Tree of Life 349

VI Destruction of the World 361

VII The Creation of Man 371

VIII The Fall of Man 381

IX The Origin of the Mosquito 386

X The Heaven God 390

XI The Sons of God 402

XII The Great Mother 413

XIII The Stars 417

XIV Thunder 439

XV Fire 449

XVI The Wind 457

XVII The Earth 459

XVIII The “Masters” of Nature 463

XIX Dreams, Sickness and Death 472

XX The Realm of the Dead 483

XXI Shamanism and Totemism 496

Notes, Finno-Ugric 527

Notes, Siberian 545

Bibliography, Finno-Ugric 563

Bibliography, Siberian 581


ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

late facing page

I Grave-houses in Russian Karelia — Coloured . Frontispiece

II A Karsikko or Memorial Tree 26

III I. Lapp Grave 36

2. Graves of the Northern Ostiaks Erected over the

Ground 36

IV At the Grave. Ingermanland 56

V Sacrificial Tree of the Dead among the Eastern Votiaks

— Coloured 58

VI Bear Worship of the Voguls 84

VII Masker’s Frolic at the Vogul Bear Feast 96

VIII The Holy Rastekaise Mountain in Utsjoki — Coloured 104

IX 1. Lapp Seides Made of Tree-stumps or Posts, roughly

Carved in Human Form 1 10

2. The Rastekaise Mountain with two Sacred Stones 1 10
X 1. Samoyed Stone Family-god Clothed and Lifted on a

Tree Trunk 114

2. Family Gods of the Ostiaks 114

XI Votiak Kuala or Sanctuary of the Family-gods .... 118

XII 1. Votiak Case for the Vorsud or “ Luck-protector ” . 122

2. Votiak Village or Great Kuala 122

XIII Vorsud Case Venerated by the Votiaks — Coloured 126

XIV 1. Remains of an old Votiak Sacrificial Kuala .... 130

2. Vorsud Case of the Votiaks, with other Sacrificial

Apparatus 130

XV. I. The Little Kudo or Dwelling of the Kudo-spirit

within a Cheremiss Hut or “ Great Kudo ” . . 136

2. Cheremiss Kudo 136

XVI 1. Ostiak Holy Place with Images of Gods or Spirits 140

2. Ostiak Place of Sacrifice 140

XVII 1. Votiak Sacred Grove or Lud with Surrounding Fence

and Gate 146

2. Storehouse of the Ostiak Idols near Vasyagan ... 146


X ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE FACING PAGE

XVIII I. Votiak Lud-kuala, formerly a Storeplace for

Offerings, Sacrificial Vessels, etc. 150

2. Votiak Lud-kuala, Birsk District 150

XIX 1. The Image of the Samoyed “ Master of the For-
est ”, Carved on a Tree-trunk 156

2. Cheremiss Horse-sacrifice to the Keremet-spirit

in Time of Sickness 156

XX The Aino Episode in Kalevala — Coloured . .. 192

XXI I. Votiak Sacrifice to the River Buj after the Break-
ing-up of the Ice 200

2. Votiak Sacrifice to the River Buj after the Break-

ing-up of the Ice 200

XXII The Eastern Votiaks Sacrifice a White Goose to the

Ilcaven God 204

XXIII Ostiak Sacrifice of a White Animal to the Heaven-

god 208

XXIV The “World-pillar” of the Lapps 212

XXV Sacrificial Meal among the Russian Karelians . . 216

XXVI Old Sacrificial Grotto of the Thunder-god among

the Finnish Lapps 220

XXVII Drawings on a Lapp Drum 224

XXVIII Drawings on a Torne-Lapp Drum 228

XXIX Ostiak Sacrifice 232

XXX Cheremiss Sacrifice to the Field-gods 242

XXXI The “Feeding” of the Sickle among the Chere-
miss — Coloured 248

XXXII The Sacrifice-grove among the Cheremiss — Col-
oured 262

XXXIII Cheremiss Sacrificial Loaves, Bowls and Coins at

the Festival to Nature-gods . 268

XXXIV Cheremiss Sacrificial Prayer 272

XXXV A Cheremiss Priest Praying to the Accompaniment

of a Stringed Instrument — Coloured . . 276

XXXVI Cheremiss Priests at the Festival to Nature-gods . . 280

XXXVII 1. Lapp Shaman’s Bowl-drum. Front, Back and

Side Views 284

2. Lapp Shaman’s Sieve-drum. Front, Back and

Side Views 284

XXXVIII The Living Sacrifice-tree Bound with the Sacrifice

Girdle — Coloured 288


ILLUSTRATIONS


xi

PLATE FACING PAGE

XXXIX Samoyed Shaman 294

XL An old Turkish Image and Memorial Stone in

North Mongolia 302

XLI Boat-gods and Boats of the Yenisei Ostiaks . . . 308

XLII Tortoise-shell Shaped Stone Representing the

World-bearing Tortoise 338

XLIII Old Turkish Memorial Image and Landscape in

North Mongolia 352

XLIV Old Turkish Memorial Image in North Mongolia 372

XLV Phallus before a Mongol Monastery 396

XLVI I. Dolgan Shaman Pillars Representing the Nine

Storeys of Heaven 400

2. Yakut Trees Representing the Storeys of Heaven 400

XLVII Hides of Buriat Offerings 410

XLVIII Shaman Drums from the Minusinsk District ... 432

XLIX Shaman Drums from the Minusinsk District . . . 444

L Mongol Shaman with his Drum 452

LI Mongol Stone Heap (obo) 458

LII Dress and Drum of a Mongol Shaman 462

LIII Shattered Tomb of a Yakut Shaman 466

LIV Mongol Seer Prophesying from a Shoulder-blade . 470

LV Yenisei Ostiak Shaman with Drum. Front and

Back Views 476

LVI Buriat Shaman-tomb and Ongons 482

LVII 1. Buriat Shaman with his Hobby-horses .... 488

2. Hides of Buriat Shaman-animals 488

LVIII Dress of a Yakut Shaman. Back View 494

LIX I. Breast Cloth of a Yakut Shaman 504

2. Lebed-Tatar Shaman 504

3. Drum of a Lebed-Tatar Shaman 504

LX 1. Dress of a Yakut Shaman (Bird Type). Front

View 508

2. Dress of a Yakut Shaman (Bird Type). Back

View 508

LXI Dress of a Tungus Shaman (Bird Type). Front

and Back Views 512

LXII Dress of a Yenisei Ostiak Shaman (Animal Type).

Back View 518

LXIII Drum of a Yakut Shaman, Showing Inner and

Outer Sides 522


ILLUSTRATIONS


xii


ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

FIGURE PAGE

1 Ostiak Grave-house with Coffin of the Deceased . . . . 31

2 Graveyard in Russian Karelia 33

3 Lapp Christmas Custom 67

4 Lapp Seide-stone 101

5 Lapp Sacrificial Posts 108

6 Sun Ring 225

7 Moon Ring 227

8 Lapp Sacrificial Board of the Thunder God 230

9 Drawing of Heaven on Shaman Drums 250

10 Sacrificial Bread 267

1 1 Sacrificial Accessories 274

12 Shaman Hammer 289

13 Dolgan Shaman-pillars with Figures of Birds . . . 334

14 Two-headed Birds of Iron which Hang on the Dress and

Drum of the Yenisei-Ostiak Shaman 335

15 A Kalmuck World-picture 347

16 Signs of a Twelve-divisioned Period 437

17 The Tungus Thunder-bird 439

18 North-Siberian Tombs 480

19 Koori and Bucu, Spirit-birds of a Golde Shaman . .. 509

20 Dolgan Shaman-attributes and the World-tree with the

Two-headed Lord of the World 51 1

21 Head-dress of a Yenisei-Ostiak Shaman (Reindeer or Stag

T ) ; P e ) 5 U

22 Head-dress of the Soyot Shaman (Bird Type) 513

23 Tungus Shaman-boot (Bird Type) 513

24 Tatar Shaman (Bird Type) in Minusinsk District ... 515

25 Left Boot of Yenisei-Ostiak Shaman (Bear Type) with all

the Bones of the Bear’s Left Legs 517

26 Shaman Drum with Bird-shaped Hand-grip 5 20

27 Hobby-horse of a Buriat Shaman 521

28 Relics of a Buriat Shaman Found in the Earth 521


MAP


Finno-Ugrians, Siberians


FACING PAGE
. . 2


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


BY

UNO HOLMBERG


DOCENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FINLAND, HELSINGFORS



INTRODUCTION


I N THE course of thousands of years the Finno-Ugric race,
which once possessed a common home and a single lan-
guage, was divided, for reasons which we no longer know, into
a number of smaller peoples} and these, intermingled with
alien stocks, and influenced by divergent civilizations, are found
as widely separated from each other as are the Baltic and the
River Ob, or as the Arctic Ocean and the Danube.

The nearest to the Finns, both in linguistic and in geographi-
cal aspects, are the Esthonians (about 1,250,000 in number),
who live south of the Gulf of Finland} the Livonians, an
almost extinct people who dwell on the northernmost point of
Courland and give Livonia its name} the Votes (about 1000)
and the Vepses (about 26,000), the former of whom inhabit
western Ingermanland (now part of the Russian Government
of Petrograd) in the vicinity of the city of Narva, while the
latter are to be found south-west of Lake Onega. Among the
Finns themselves, who number about 3,500,000, various lin-
guistic groups are distinguishable: Tavastlanders in the west,
Karelians in the east and along the Finno-Russian boundary,
between Lake Ladoga and the White Sea, the Russian Kare-
lians, the most northerly of whom seem to be mentioned in the
old Norse sagas under the name of Bjarmar} the Ingrians of
Ingermanland are also included among the Karelian stocks.
In the seventeenth century Finnish Karelian families migrated
as far as the Russian Governments of Novgorod and Tver}
and some of the Finns are found in Scandinavia. At the
beginning of our era all the peoples mentioned above — i.e.,
the so-called Baltic Finns — may still have spoken approxi-
mately the same language.


XVI


INTRODUCTION


From many borrowed words we may infer that at an early
period Finnish influence prevailed among the Lapps, who,
about 30,000 in number, inhabit a wide region which extends
from Trondhjem in Norway to the White Sea in the east, and
who thus belong to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
Anthropologically, however, the Lapps appear to belong to a
race different from the Finnish, although their language is
held to be Finno-Ugric. Of the remaining Finno-Ugric
peoples, those most nearly related to the Baltic Finns are the
Mordvins, who number about 1,400,000, and whose language
falls into two distinct dialects — Moksha and Erzya. The
Mordvins are divided into a multitude of small clans through-
out the vast region in inner and eastern Russia south of the
great curve of the Volga, and along that river and its tribu-
taries in the Governments of Tambov, Nizhniy-Novgorod,
Pensa, Simbirsk, Saratov, Kazan, Samara, Ufa, and Orenburg.
At an earlier date, however, the Mordvins appear to have in-
habited a more uniform region, and one which was so far to
the west that they were in contact with the Lithuanian peoples,
as is shown by the Lithuanian loan-words in their language.

Next to the Mordvins, the nearest kindred of the Finns
are the Cheremiss, who number about 400,000 and dwell for
the most part along the central Volga in the Governments of
Vyatka, Kazan, Nizhniy-Novgorod, and Kostroma. From
the character of the regions which they inhabit, the Russians
usually designate those living to the left of the Volga as
“ Meadow Cheremiss,” and those to its right as “ Hill
Cheremiss.” During the last century a portion of the Chere-
miss also colonized a large district to the east on the Kama in
the Governments of Ufa and Perm; and these are generally
termed “ Eastern Cheremiss.”

Near to the Volga Finns is the dwelling-place of the Votiaks
(about 450,000 in number), who, with their kinsfolk, the
Siryans (to the number of about 300,000), constitute the so-
called Permian linguistic stock. The former live chiefly in


INTRODUCTION


xvii

the Governments of Vyatka and Kazan, but have in part later
migrated across the Kama into the Governments of Perm, Ufa
and Samara. The latter dwell north of the Votiaks in the
vast expanse along the rivers and streams of north-eastern
Russia.

All the peoples whom we have thus far mentioned form a
single great linguistic group, from which the so-called Ugrian
stock seems to have separated at an early date. To them
belong the Voguls (about 5000 in number) on both sides of
the Ural in the Governments of Perm and Tobolsk, and also
the Ostiaks (of whom there are about 19,000) on the Ob and
its tributaries. Their nearest congeners are the Hungarians,
or Magyars, who number about 10,500,000, and who, break-
ing off from the parent stock in the migrations of the peoples,
wandered to their present land of Hungary toward the close
of the ninth century.

Of all these Finno-Ugric peoples only the Hungarians, the
Finns, and the Esthonians have been in a position to attain a
superior degree of civilization. Some — especially the Lapps,
the Ostiaks, and the Voguls — who live principally by fishing
and the chase, or else are nomads wholly dependent on the
reindeer for food and raiment, stand on the humble level of
primitive folk. The same statement holds true of the Samo-
yeds, whose vast territory lies on the tundras along the Arctic
Ocean, stretching from the region of Archangel in the west to
Cape Chelyuskin, the northern-most promontory of Siberia, in
the east. As their language clearly shows, they have been in
closest relation to the Finno-Ugric peoples. In conformity
with their principal dialects, several groups of Samoyeds are
usually distinguished, the most numerous being the Yuraks, of
whom there are about 12,000, and who dwell furthest to the
west, between Archangel and the mouth of the Yenisei. East
of them are the Yenisei Samoyeds and the Awam Samoyeds,
who are but few in number and are a dying race. The tundras
between the Ob and the Yenisei, as well as the forest regions


INTRODUCTION


xviii

in the northern part of the Government of Tomsk and the ad-
joining portions of the Governments of Tobolsk and Yenisei,
are the home of the so-called Ostiak Samoyeds, of whom there
are about 4000 ; and the northern slopes of the lofty Sayan
Mountains are the habitat of the scanty remnants of the Ka-
mass stock, which, though once so numerous, is gradually be-
coming either extinct or Tatarized.

Of the remaining Finno-Ugric peoples only the northern
Siryans are nomads relying upon the reindeer for support;
for all the others agriculture constitutes the principal means
of livelihood, even though it is very primitive in many places.

In different regions and at various periods the Finno-Ugric
stocks have been subject to heterogeneous civilizing influences,
as is shown, among other evidences, by their language. The
eastern branches have long lived in contact with the Turco-
Tatars, the chief focus of civilization in the east having ap-
parently been the Bolgar kingdom on the Volga, for the
Turkish people which established itself on the central por-
tion of that river about 600 a.d. sustained far-reaching con-
nexions with all the nations that dwelt about it. Their de-
scendants are the Chuvashes, the greater part of whom inhabit
the Governments of Kazan, Simbirsk, Ufa, Saratov, etc.; and
among them the investigator may find traces of the relatively
high pagan civilization of the Volga Bolgars, as well as of
their ancient religious concepts and customs. In 922 the Bol-
gars embraced Islam; but in 1236 the Tatars put an end to
their power and for a time remained the ruling race in eastern
Russia. Through this people Arabo-Muhammadan civiliza-
tion made its way in some measure among the eastern Finno-
Ugric stocks; but despite this, the ancient paganism of the
Bolgars has left deep traces, particularly as regards the reli-
gious concepts and customs of the Cheremiss. At a later
period Russian folk-belief also penetrated everywhere side
by side with Russian colonization.

The Baltic Finns and Lapps, on the other hand, received


INTRODUCTION


xix


their deepest impress from the Teutonic race; and the Scan-
dinavian Lapps, in particular, borrowed from their neighbours
a host of religious beliefs and usages which actually cast light
on the ancient Scandinavian religion as well. The Baltic
Finns, moreover, came in close contact with the Lithuanians,
traces of whose language, as already noted, are likewise found
among the Mordvins; and these latter, at a time subsequent
to that of their separation from the Baltic Finns, were influ-
enced by some Indo-European people from whom they actu-
ally received their name for “ God ” (Pas, Pavas; cf. Sanskrit
Bhagas, Old Persian Baga, Old Church Slavic Bogu). The
ancestors of the Finno-Ugric peoples, however, were in con-
tact with the forefathers of the Indo-European stocks at a very
remote period, as is shown also by certain mythological desig-
nations; while numerous borrowed words demonstrate that
the Magyars have been subjected to Turco-Tatar, Slavic, and
(later) Teutonic influences.

Though all the Finno-Ugric peoples have now come into
contact with Christianity, this religion is held only superficially
in many places among the stocks that live in Russia. The an-
cient sacrificial customs still survive, despite the fact that in
some localities the saints’ days of the Christian Church are
substituted for the pagan days of sacrifice. Occasionally —
as among the Siryans, the Russian Karelians, and the Orthodox
Esthonians — certain saints have begun to take the place of
ancient gods in receiving propitiation by means of sacrificial
gifts. A like custom prevailed among the Finns during the
Roman Catholic period, and even later. At a very early date
the Magyars, the Baltic Finns, and the Siryans were led to ac-
cept the Christian faith; but among the Volga Finns mission-
ary activity did not begin until after the fall of Kazan in 1552,
and first began to bear visible fruit in the eighteenth century.
Even at the present day there are some thousands of unbap-
tized Cheremiss and Votiaks, part of whom (at least among
the former) cling with great tenacity to the beliefs and cus-

[Prometheus]

XX


INTRODUCTION


toms which they have inherited from their fathers. Baptism
of the Ostiaks, Voguls and Samoyeds began in the eighteenth
century. Though only a small number of unbaptized are still
to be found among the Ugrians, nevertheless the sacrificial
rites of paganism survive in many places} and it was not until
the eighteenth century that Christianity gained firm footing
among the Lapps.

Simultaneously with missionary labours, interest was awak-
ened in recording and describing the ancient heathen beliefs
and customs of the people. Of these accounts the least com-
plete are those which deal with the religions of the peoples
that were earliest converted to Christianity. Such is the state
of affairs, for example, with the Magyars, who began to sur-
render their ancient faith about the year IOOO} whereas the
Ostiaks and the Voguls of the present day may throw light
upon the early religion of the Ugric stock. One of the most
important of the oldest sources is G. Novitskiy’s A Brief De-
scription of the Ostyak People , written in 1715, but not pub-
lished till 1884. The foremost collectors and investigators in
this domain have been the Finn M. A. Castren and the Hun-
garians A. Reguly and B. Munkacsi, who have published large
works in Hungarian and German} the German O. Finsch, the
Russians N. L. Gondatti and S. Patkanov, and the Finns K. F.
Karjalainen and A. Kannisto, who lived for several years
among the Ostiaks and the Voguls respectively, engaged in
linguistic studies. Castren also collected data for the elucida-
tion of Samoyed religion} a little older source is a description
of the Yuraks by the Russian Archimandrite Veniamin, pub-
lished in 1850. Concerning the latter a young Finnish lin-
guist, T. V. Lehtisalo, has gathered new material. In similar
fashion another Finn, K. Donner, has undertaken the task of
investigating the language, customs, etc., of the eastern
Samoyeds.

The oldest accounts of the religion of the Siryans are con-
tained in the biography of their apostle, St. Stephen, who died


INTRODUCTION


xxi


in 1396, the chief importance of this lying in the fact that for
many subsequent centuries no one made any notes whatever
regarding their religion during a period when the S'iryans were
adopting Orthodox doctrine and Russian folk-beliefs in ever
increasing measure. Here also the collecting of the ancient
beliefs is still in progress, the foremost name in this connex-
ion being that of the indefatigable Siryan scholar, V. Nalimov,
who has sought to gather together such scanty remnants as
may yet be obtained in obscure districts.

We possess far more knowledge of the ancient faith of the
Votiaks, the kinsfolk of the Siryans, although the earliest
sources date only from the eighteenth century. During re-
cent decades the literature on this subject has become rela-
tively abundant. The most valuable authorities are the Finns
T. G. Aminoff and Yrjo Wichmann, the Russians N. Per-
vuchin, B. G. Gavrilov, G. Verescagin, P. Bogayevskij and
J. Vasiljev, the work of the scholar last named having also
appeared in German, the language in which Max Buch wrote
his ethnographical account of the Votiaks.

Records of the Cheremiss religion were gathered by A.
Olearius during his travels in 1636, and of the numerous
studies which have been subsequently made in various districts
the most valuable is from the pen of the Cheremiss G. Jakov-
lev and V. M. Vasiljev.

The ancient faith of the Mordvins fell for the most part
into oblivion until modern scholarship discovered it. As early
as 1740 and the following years the Mordvins adopted
Orthodoxy, but it was not until the middle of the nineteenth
century that valuable and trustworthy accounts of the vanish-
ing remnants of their paganism began to appear. This reli-
gion has been described by the Russians P. Melnikov, V.
Mainov and others ; Mainov’s work, which was also published
in French, has been used by scholars, although it is unreli-
able to the highest degree. By awakening interest among the
people themselves, the Finnish linguist H. Paasonen has en-


XXII


INTRODUCTION


deavoured to do all that is still possible by way of collecting
material and elucidating the ancient Mordvinian religion ; nor
should we forget the Russian scholar I. N. Smirnov, who, in
his great ethnographical treatises on the Cheremiss, Votiaks,
Siryans and Mordvins, has sought to gather whatever was
then known regarding their religious life.

The character and the development of the ancient faith of
the Volga Finns receive some measure of elucidation from the
religious beliefs, customs, and usages of the Chuvashes, hence
a knowledge of their religion is of great moment in Finno-
Ugric studies. The most valuable account of their religious
life is afforded in the works of the Russian V. Magnitskij and
of the Hungarian G. Meszaros.

The Lapps being the last of the western stocks to adopt
Christianity, we possess relatively voluminous accounts of their
paganism. The most important contribution was collected by
missionaries in the Norwegian and Swedish Lapp districts
toward the close of the seventeenth and the beginning of the
eighteenth century ; and during recent years all the chief
sources have been published by K. B. Viklund, J. Qvigstad,
E. Reuterskiold and I. Fellmann. Certain earlier investiga-
tors, however, had already gathered accounts of this heathen
faith for their descriptions, the first being J. Schefferus’s Lap-
ponia (1672), which was translated into several languages;
while somewhat later E. J. Jessen (1767) and Knud Leem
(1767) issued their well-known delineations. The abundance
of material has been still further enriched in our own time,
and has induced a number of scholars to describe the ancient
religion of the Lapps, notably J. A. Friis, G. von Diiben, J.
Fritzner, Axel Olrik, E. Reuterskiold, etc.

The oldest records of the early faith of the Esthonians and
Livonians are preserved in the Chronicle of Henry the Lett,
written at the commencement of the thirteenth century; and
the chief later sources are J. GustlafPs description of the sanc-
tuary at Wohanda (1644) and Joh. Forselius’ collection of


INTRODUCTION


xxiii

the ancient beliefs, customs, and usages of the Esthonians,
published in German by J. W. Boeder (1685), the language
in which F. J. Wiedemann issued a general survey of Estho-
nian religion. Very recently a voluminous and important col-
lection of folklore has been made by J. Hurt, M. I. Eisen,
O. Kallas, and others.

The very oldest reports of the ancient religion of the Finns
are extremely brief. In an Old Norse saga recounting the
expedition of certain Vikings to conquer the land of the B jar-
mar along the White Sea in 1026 we find the first occurrence
of the word Jomali, which is plainly identical with the Finnish
Jumala (“ God ”) ; but the earliest record of real value con-
cerning the Finnish heathen pantheon dates only from the be-
ginning of modern times. To his translation of the Psalter
(1551) Bishop Agricola prefixed a versified introduction which
included a short list of the old gods of the Tavastlanders and
Karelians; and for a long period this catalogue constituted the
sole source until, in the seventeenth century, the historian
H. G. Porthan began to seek illustration of the ancient civil-
ization and religion of the Finns from Finnish magic songs,
in which he believed that he might find trustworthy survivals
of Finnish paganism. With the help of these songs, C. E.
Lencqvist wrote his De superstitione veterum F ennorum theo-
retica et practica (1782), and Christfrid Ganander his Mytho-
logm Fennica (1789), which long remained the most impor-
tant and the most utilized source for investigation along these
lines. An interest in comparative study was already aroused
in Ganander, who gave consideration to the Lapp religion,
which, he was convinced, would also elucidate the Finnish, and
for certain names of deities he even sought to find analogues
in Scandinavian mythology.

Real depth of interest in all Old Finnish investigation was,
however, first awakened by Elias Lonnrot’s publication of the
Finnish epic of the Kalevala (in 1836 and 1849); the elucida-
tion of the ancient religion of the Finns was the task of the


XXIV


INTRODUCTION


famous linguist, Castren. Before the completion of the work
which he had planned, Castren had travelled extensively
among the Lapps, Samoyeds, and Siberians j and during this
time it became clear to him that a correct comprehension of
the religious beliefs and customs of the ancient Finns re-
quired a knowledge of the religions and the cults of the other
stocks belonging to this family. His work on Finnish myth-
ology appeared first after his death in 1853, and the chief
merit of the contribution is that it constitutes the earliest at-
tempt at a comparative study of Finno-Ugric religion.

Castren’s presentation of Finnish mythology is based chiefly
on the Kalevala , which is compiled from Finnish folk-songs.
With all the caution with which its collector, Elias Lonnrot,
endeavoured to proceed, it is plain that the popular songs
which he employed, and which were later recorded in count-
less variants, must themselves form the basis of all investiga-
tion. Yet even in the study of this purely popular material
due account must be taken of the manner in which it devel-
oped during its centuries of migration and extension, whether
from western Finland or from Esthonia (by way of Ingerman-
land) to eastern Finland and the Government of Archangel,
where we find the most highly evolved and the most com-
posite variants. In the utilization of this material the geo-
graphical method, which was discovered by Julius Krohn, and
which was later applied by Finnish scholars to the study of
the national sagas as well, must be applied. We must also
note that most of the Finnish magic songs and a large part of
the epic poems in the Kalevala arose in the Middle Ages, dur-
ing the Roman Catholic period, hence they can be used for
the interpretation of pagan times only under the restrictions
of a vigilant and critical caution.

Some of the names of heroes in the Kalevala were con-
strued by Castren as having been originally appellations of
divinities, and his view long prevailed. More recently, how-
ever, the historical explanation has again been adopted. For


INTRODUCTION


XXV


example, the old bard Vainamoinen has been interpreted as
a sage or hero whose appellation, like the names of other
heroes mentioned in the Kalevala , may also be used to desig-
nate a giant or a divine being} and in like manner the smith
Ilmarinen presents a contamination of the name of the Finno-
Ugric air-god, Ilmari (Votiak Inmar), with the name of the
hero Ismaroinen, who figures in the folk-songs of Ingerman-
land as the maker of the Golden Maid.

With the aid of newer and richer sources Julius Krohn
planned the preparation of a comparative presentation of all
the beliefs and usages of the Finno-Ugric race; but at his
premature death only four chapters had been completed, these
being published in Finnish in 1894 by his son, Kaarle Krohn,
under the title The Pagan Worship of the Finnish Stock.
This already antiquated work has been translated into Hun-
garian, with some additional material, by the Magyar scholar
A. Ban. Among later comparative presentations mention
should be made of M. Varonen’s Ancestor-Worship among the
Ancient Finns , published only in Finnish, H. Paasonen’s Uher
die urspriinglichen Seelenvorstellungen bei den fmnisch-ugri-
schen Volkern und die Benennung der Seele in ihren Sprachen ,
and the present writer’s Die Wassergottheiten der fnnisch-
ugrischen Vdlker.

During the last few years, the publication of complete de-
scriptions of the religions of the different Finnish stocks has
begun at the initiative of Kaarle Krohn. Under the collabora-
tion of several specialists, the following volumes have already
appeared in Finnish: Kaarle Krohn’s Religion of the Finnish
Songs (1914— 15), the present writer’s Religion of the Per-
mians (1914), Religion of the Cheremiss (1914), and Reli-
gion of the Lapps (1915), and K. F. Karjalainen’s Religion
of the Ugrians (1918).

[Prometheus]

FINNO-UGRIC

MYTHOLOGY


CHAPTER I

THE BELIEF IN SOULS

T HE BELIEF of the Finno-Ugric people regarding the
soul presents a very primitive concept. According to
the Lapps, life does not cease altogether at death, but in some
form continues as long as the skeleton remains, an example
of this conviction being afforded, for instance, by their bear-
feast ; and in like manner they hold that the gods let new
flesh grow on the sacrificial victim’s bones, all of which are
preserved with great care . 1 If we may draw inferences from
the sacrificial ceremonies, this belief was formerly general
throughout the Finno-Ugric stock. As an instance of the con-
cept which holds that the soul vanishes when the body is an-
nihilated we may cite the Vogul custom whereby, lest the
bear should do grave harm to any one, the injured man,
instead of worshipping the animal, endeavours to free him-
self from it by completely destroying all parts of its body.
Charuzin, who describes this usage, remarks that by it they
purpose “ to kill the victim’s soul together with its body .” 2
This concept is likewise found in the cult of the dead. In
his account of the burial rites of the Pite Lapps the missionary
Graan records that for several years after the death of any of
their number they crumbled barley bread into small bits and
strewed it on the graves “ until the sinking of the grave-
mound showed that the body had decayed.” 3 Among the
Ostiaks, in like manner, the belief has been found that after


4 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

the body has decayed the dead no longer survive . 4 Even at
a very late period the Ingermanland Finns were wont to go
to the burial places to weep and to carry food to the graves
of their tribesmen so long as it was conceivable that the bodies
had not yet crumbled} for after that they believed that “the
soul itself ceases to exist.” 6 If the deceased is supposed to
be dangerous, the corpse is cut in pieces or even burned to
ashes; and in a village in the Circle of Birsk the Votiaks pur-
sued a like course after the lapse of several years in the case
of a death which the sorcerers declared to have given rise to
a severe epidemic. To this day the Ostiak Samoyeds fear
certain corpses which are believed to go about at night and
injure the living, though they become powerless as soon as
the sun rises. A whole host of stories tells of contests be-
tween such corpses and living men; but they may be prevented
from rising out of their graves by being pierced with a stake
and pinned fast to the ground . 6

Side by side with this belief in a soul inseparably connected
with the body, the Finno-Ugrians seem to have held that
each limb and organ likewise had its separate soul. Accord-
ingly, at a sacrifice a small portion of all the parts of the vic-
tim’s body was taken and dedicated, together with the bones,
to the deity. Souls or (more properly) soul-powers are hid-
den especially in the most important organs, such as the heart,
the liver, and the blood; and the circulation of the blood has
obviously given rise to the Cheremiss belief that the “ soul ”
or the “ life ” ( tson ) can wander about within the body. If
a blow which reaches some part of the body proves to be
mortal, the “ soul,” according to this view, has been in that
portion just at the fatal instant; but even though a man’s skull
were fractured, the Cheremiss maintain that death would not
ensue if the “ soul ” chanced not to be in the head at the
moment . 7 The concept of the material character of the quali-
ties of the soul is also evidenced by the belief that one may
acquire them for his own by devouring the organs containing


THE BELIEF IN SOULS


5


the soul-qualities of another. Gondatti states that the ancient
Vogul heroes ate the hearts and livers of their slain enemies
“ that their strength might be transferred to their own bodies
and that the foe might never again be able to rise from the
dead.” 8 Beliefs regarding the potencies hidden in the heart
recur in a Chronicle of 889, which states that the Hungarians
cut the captives’ hearts in pieces and ate them as some sort
of remedy ; and to this day the sacrificial priest of the Cher-
emiss prays God to protect men against “ those who cut out
the heart and the liver.” The same belief was doubtless held
by the forefathers of the Finns, for among their Esthonian
kinsmen it was still flourishing in the thirteenth century, since
the Sakkala peasants are said to have torn the heart from the
breast of a living Danish Crusader, and after roasting it, to
have divided it among themselves and eaten it “ in order to
be brave against the Christians.” By drinking another man’s
blood the Voguls and others believe that soul-powers pass
from one body into another. 0 Even in such insignificant parts
of the body as the hair, nails, and teeth a soul (or soul-power)
is believed to lie concealed. How else could the means of
guarding the soul against falling into evil hands be explained?
Novitskiy expressly relates that a Vogul sacrificial priest
warned his people against the Russian missionaries in the fol-
lowing words: “Take care, my friends . . . when they start
to cut your hair, they cut off your souls.” In this connection,
it may be mentioned that the Ostiaks believed that by scalping
an enemy they could prevent his ghost from walking. 10 Even
those objects which have been in contact with a man sustain a
certain relation to the soul. Among causes of illness the Lapps
recognize the power of a dweller in the underworld to take
to himself some article of attire which has been in contact
with the sick, such as cap, gloves, or boots ; 11 and from this
is deduced the magical theory of pars pro toto which finds
application likewise in rites of sacrifice.

In close relation to the remains of the deceased stands his


6


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


shape, or shadow, which can occasionally free itself from the
body even during life. Of a man who is unconscious the
Cheremiss says that his “ shape ” or “ shadow ” (6V/) has left
him; and in like manner, if any one gives him a severe fright,
he declares: “Thou drivest mine ort away.” If a Cheremiss
dreams of a city, he is convinced that his ort has wandered
thither by night ; otherwise, he argues, he could not have seen
the city exactly as it is. Dreaming is also called “ the ort's
wandering”} and when the man awakes, his ort returns to his
body . 12

The ort of the Cheremiss corresponds to the urt of the
Votiaks. If the urt does not succeed in coming back to its
abode before the man wakes, he falls ill, is pale, and begins
to pine away, so that a sleeper must not be aroused suddenly . 13
In general the disappearance of the soul is regarded as a cause
of grave illness, and in such a contingency it is advisable to
have recourse to a magician or shaman in order that he may
seek the lost soul and bring it back to the body. Sometimes
it happens that the “ soul ” of the dying goes to the nether
world, but returns after a while} and then the man recovers.
Thus an Ostiak song tells of a hero who, in battle, received
a sword-stroke on his head and lost consciousness. For a time
his “ shadow ” ascended to heaven, only to return when his
dead brother’s “ shadow ” informed him that his hour was
not yet come . 14 A very wide-spread belief holds that the
shaman’s “ shadow ” can go to the underworld to seek aid
there.

The closeness of the connexion between a man’s body and
his “ shadow ” is shown by an account of Lapp shamanism
which dates from the thirteenth century. This states, among
other matters, that during a shaman’s journey in the nether
world a hostile “ shadow ” struck out the stomach of his
“ shadow,” the mishap being clearly visible in the magician’s
real body, which was lying in the tent} 15 and several similar
instances will be cited in a subsequent chapter on the shamans.


THE BELIEF IN SOULS


7

Death does not in the least sever the bond of union between
the “ soul ” and the corpse. When asked why the bones of
the sacrificial victim are not broken, the Finnish Lapps
answered: “On certain nights the victims which we have
offered wander as ‘ shadows ’ from burial-place to burial-place
together with the folk of the underworld.” 16 The general
concept is that after death the “ shadow ” takes up its abode
where the body has been buried.

In Finno-Ugric belief man has also another soul which can
release itself from the body, and which is called “ breath.”
The source of this concept is to be found in the last expiration
of the dying. At death the Ostiak lit, Vogul lili, Hungarian
lekek y Siryan lol , Votiak lul (“ expiration,” “ soul ”), and the
Esthonian leil (“ expiration,” “ soul,” “ steam,” cf. Finnish
loyly, “ bath-vapour ”) leaves its abode through the mouth
or nostrils; and “ the breath’s departure ” is a common synonym
for death. Obviously the “ breath ” was originally under-
stood to be simply a vital function which revealed itself as
respiration or vapour 5 and Nalimov states that, in Siryan
belief, at death the lol evaporates in the air like vapour.

The Finnish stocks are convinced that when the soul
liberates itself from the body, it can appear not only in a
quasi-human shape — which is the form which it most fre-
quently takes — but may also assume some other guise, often
that of an animal. Nalimov has noted a Siryan tradition
which tells how, while a woman slept, her lol came forth
from its abode and in the form of a little mouse danced about
on her breast. For a time her mouth was hidden by the cover-
let j but the soul again transformed itself into vapour and thus
re-entered the body, so that the sleeper could wake up. 17 The
Votiaks believe that one of the forms in which the soul appears
during sleep is that of the bat; and an old Votiak declared
that the reason why these creatures are never seen by day is
because men are then awake; they appear only at night, when
men are asleep. If a bat approaches any one, it is a sign


8


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


that it is in reality the soul of some kinsman or acquaintance}
and the old man just mentioned even related a tradition that
the bat is, as a matter of fact, a soul-bird. “ A man went to
rest, but his companions sat up in the yard. They saw how a
bat flew round certain places} and when the sleeper awoke,
they asked him what he had dreamed. The man declared
that in his slumber he had wandered to the very places where
the bat had flown, and from this his comrades inferred that
the bat which they had seen was the soul of the sleeping
man.” Sometimes the soul also appears in the form of a little
grey butterfly. In the Circle of Birsk the present writer
heard it said that when the urt leaves a man’s body because
of severe fright, the services of a witch are sought, and she
begins to spy after it with a white cloth in her hand. After
she has hunted everywhere, she finally notices a little grey
butterfly, and when she has caught it in her cloth, she takes
it into the room and at night binds both cloth and butterfly
about the sufferer’s neck. On the following morning observa-
tion of the shapes assumed by molten tin dropped into water
determines whether the captive soul-butterfly is really the
sick man’s urt.

In like manner the soul of a sleeping man moves about as
a butterfly in a tradition recorded by the present writer from
the Circle of Mamadysh. “ Two men went to the forest to
cut down trees, and at midday, while they were resting, one
of them fell asleep, whereupon his comrade saw the lul issue
from his mouth in the form of a butterfly and go to a pail
of water which they had with them in the woods. From
the water it flew to a cavity in a linden, thence back to the
water-vessel, and from there to the sleeper’s mouth. Waking
from his slumber, he said to his companion: 1 I was asleep
and dreamed that I floated over a river on whose farther
shore was a tree in which was a hollow containing many pieces
of gold.’ After finishing their work the men returned home,
but a little later the comrade, who had seen where the sleeper’s


THE BELIEF IN SOULS


9

soul moved about the tree, went by night to the forest, sought
out the tree, and there found a number of coins.” 18

The “ souls ” of the dead have power of motion like those
of the living. When a little grey butterfly was seen to come
in by the window during the memorial feast in honour of a
Votiak child’s father, its mother said to it: “His soul has
come in the form of a butterfly.” It is also believed that the
souls of the departed may find concealment in the guise of
other sorts of insects, this explaining the Cheremiss custom
that whenever many caterpillars begin to appear in the grain-
fields, sacrifice is made to such of the departed as have died
without leaving kinsfolk. A belief in soul-mice among this
same people is implied by a similar offering which is given if
many mice begin to be found in the yard . 19 According to
the Ostiaks, the deceased transforms himself into a beetle and
is thus revealed to the living; and a like idea seems to have
been known to the Finns, as is evident from a peculiar custom.
Maidens are wont to take beetles in their hands and ask them
whither they go to wed, hither or thither or “ in the swart
earth’s bosom.” If then the beetle flies to the churchyard, it
is an omen of death. Similar beliefs occur among other
European peoples.

Certain Finno-Ugric peoples are also convinced that the
departed appear as birds, and the Lapps tell how a dead man
who had been buried on a small island and who haunted it
by day flew across the water in the form of a great bird . 20
Like wicked men the dead may likewise manifest themselves
as wolves j and when the Votiaks drive away spirits which
roam about at Easter, one of their cries is: “ Go, wolves, go! ”

“ Souls ” may also be seen in other guise than that of ani-
mals, and the belief is very general that a man’s soul may
Wander around as a whirlwind. In the Circle of Birsk the
present writer heard the Cheremiss tell how a wayfarer hurled
his knife into such an eddy, which, with the knife, immedi-
ately vanished. The man continued on his journey till evening


10


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


came, when he was about to pass the night in a hut along the
road. There, to his amazement, an old man sat with a knife
in his cheek; whereupon the traveller forthwith recognized
his own knife and perceived that the master of the bothie
was the old man who had wandered about as an eddy of wind.
The soul of the living as well as of the dead can likewise fly
around as a a fire-serpent,” in other words, as a meteor. Ac-
cording to the Cheremiss its course can be stayed by tearing
off the wristband of one’s shirt or the band of one’s lime-
bark shoes, or by splitting a wooden pitch-fork, together with
which the meteor falls to the ground and is changed back
into the man who flew about as the “ fire-snake.” In Siryan
belief the soul ( ort ) of the departed may even manifest itself
as a blue flame burning on the ground ( ort-bi , “ ort’s fire ”).

Shadow-souls may sometimes lose their original meaning
by being transformed into the D op-pel- ganger or tutelary
genius of the person in question. Thus the Siryan ort , in the
form in which the popular mind now most usually conceives
it, recalls the guardian spirit of the man rather than the real
shadow-soul. Every one has an ort which constantly dwells
near its protege, acting as a guardian-spirit ; it appears in
dreams, generally in the shape of the person in question, and
occasionally pinches blue spots in one’s skin. In some places
its abode is believed to be wholly separate from the man,
whence the assertion is made, for example, that it has its home
in birds. Yet one of the proofs that the ort was originally
nothing else than the man’s “ shadow ” is found in the belief
that, after his death, his soul is blended with his ort, so that
both form one and the same being. It is further believed that
the ort of the deceased reveals itself in the form of the
departed for forty days after death, and then vanishes . 21 As
a portent of someone’s death the ort manifests itself chiefly in
the shape of a bird; and the same belief is found among the
Voguls: “ The urt lives in the forest. When a human being
must die, his urt cries out; when a little child comes to his


THE BELIEF IN SOULS


1 1

last hour, the urt speaks with a child’s voice ; if an adult
passes away, the urt y s voice is that of an adult. Its exterior
is parti-coloured, and its wings resemble those of a bat.”
Shamans can always see it near them. Should any one hear
its call, he turns to it with the words: “ If one of my kins-
folk is to die, draw thou nigh to me.” If some relative is
actually the person in question, the urt approaches the inquirer ;
but otherwise it withdraws from him. According to Friis,
the Norse Lapps called such a bird, heard by night lamenting
with a human voice, a Suoje-lodde (“ Suoj e-bird ”), the
word Sueje being used in the Swedish Lapmark to denote
the shaman’s “ tutelary genius,” the appellation having
apparently meant primarily “ shadow.” The spectres of
shamans are especially liable to metamorphosis . 22

The tutelary genius of a man is called Haltia (“ Ruler ”)
by the Finns ; and each individual has his own, which pre-
cedes him. A man might be blessed with such a potent
Haltia that, for example, it would reach home a little earlier
than the man himself, whose approach it announced with
clamour and crash. A man’s Varjohaltia (“ Shadow-ruler ”)
could inform him beforehand of coming events, as, e.g.,
whether he would reap a good or a bad harvest. It was be-
lieved in some districts that a child made its own Haltia when
it was three days old; before the expiration of that time it
was dangerous to leave the infant alone, for a changeling
might be substituted in its stead. That the Haltia manifested
itself in the form of the culprit is obvious from such phrases
as “ it was not he, but his Haltia,” or “ the dead themselves
do not walk, it is their Haltias which appear as ghosts.”

The Saattaja (“ guide ”) — an expression which is com-
paratively rare — and the Onni (“ fortune ”) seem to denote
precisely the same being as the Haltia ; and a man’s “ fortune,”
which might be propitious or the reverse, never left him till
death. Like the Haltia the “ fortune ” precedes the man and
announces his coming. When any mischance happened on


12

[Prometheus]

FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


the road, the “ fortune ” warned its owner as he returned
homeward, his ears beginning to ring, or his eyes or nose to
itch, etc. 1 he Haltia of the Finns has its analogue in the
Radare or Ra (“ ruler ”) of the Swedes, and their Saattaja
finds its counterpart in the Fylgja of the Scandinavians . 23

The word employed by the Finno-Ugrians and peoples
influenced by them to denote “ shadow-soul ” often means
originally “ shadow,” “ appearance,” and “ image.” When
the Yurak Samoyeds make images of the sun, moon, or human
beings, they call them “shadows ”5 and the Vogul term for
a man’s “ soul ” (is, Finnish itse, “ self ”) is also employed
when they speak, for instance, of the “ shadow ” of a tree or
of a house. The Ostiaks call their “ earthly gods ” and the
wooden figures of these deities by a name (, tongk ) which
originally meant “ shadow ”; and the word haamu , which
signifies “ shadow-soul ” in Finnish, means “ form,” “ figure ”
in Lappish and “countenance” in Mordvinian ; while in
Cheremiss the Tatar loan-word tys is occasionally employed
to denote the “ shadow-soul,” though properly it signifies
“ countenance ” or “ image,” as when it is applied, for ex-
ample, to the leaden figure representing the sacrificial animal,
as we shall see later. The Mordvinian word for “ soul ”
( tsopatsa ) is also applied to the image of a god.

If “ soul ” or “ image ” were thus an identical concept, it
would be natural to infer that the prototype would be inti-
mately affected by whatever happened to the image. Orig-
inally the Finno-Ugric peoples were extremely cautious in
regard to the delineation of themselves, and to this day many
of them are most reluctant to permit themselves to be photo-
graphed or otherwise pictured. A certain anxiety also lurks
in the words which a Cheremiss girl repeats when she sees
herself in a mirror: “Take not from me my appearance or
image and this fear is especially associated with showing a
mirror to a small child. By injuring their enemy’s image the
Lapps believed that they could cause their foe himself to


THE BELIEF IN SOULS


13

feel pain. In the notes of the missionary Randulf we read
the following account: “When the Lapp wishes to injure a
man with whom he is angry, whether he dwells close by or
far away, he employs for this purpose a little bow made of
reindeer horn, together with the arrows belonging to it, one
blunt and one pointed. If he desires to make his enemy’s
hand, foot, or other member useless, he shoots the blunt
arrow into the corresponding part of the body of an image
supposed to represent the person in question} but if his inten-
tion is rather to cause an open wound or a constant subcutane-
ous pain, he shoots the sharp arrow into the relevant portion
of the effigy.” 24

Generally speaking, persons of superior importance, such
as primal ancestors, shamans, and heroes, survive their bodies
in images or “ shadows ” which are made after them.

Just as men speak of the “ shadow ” or “ soul ” of a human
being or of an animal, so various things are supposed to
possess a “soul,” which can free itself from the object to
which it belongs. Thus, for example, everything which grows
has its “ soul.” According to the Votiaks, the “ soul ” (urt)
of the corn can assume the form of a little butterfly, pre-
cisely like the soul of a man} and the Cheremiss speak,
furthermore, of the “soul” (ort) of the earth, fire, water,
etc. When “ souls ” vanish out of the earth, it can no longer
produce vegetation} if the “soul” of the water disappears,
it begins to sicken and is turbid and nauseous to the taste 5 and
if a man drinks of such water, he falls ill. Even the bothie
or hut has its “ soul,” which flees if men are noisy and quar-
relsome in the room. “You are driving the 1 soul ’ of my
bothie away,” cries the Cheremiss if any one commits a breach
of the peace in his home. When the “ soul ” has fled, the
bothie is no longer “ happy,” and “ life is heavy there ”;
while no “ soul ” is found in a deserted, uninhabited house.
In the fantasy of the Cheremiss the “ bothie-soul (port-ort )
cannot assume any shape whatsoever. When asked what he


i4


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


means by the “ soul ” of the bothie, he answers that it is not
any distinct entity, but the “luck,” “joy,” or “health” of
the hut. Both farm-yard and threshing-floor have their
“ souls.” When the former possesses it, “ the cow-yard re-
joices ; the cattle thrive and multiply.” Of the latter it is
said that “ where the £ soul ’ flourishes, even small quantities
of seed yield a blessing; but if it leaves the place, great heaps
of seed wholly lack their proper usefulness.” If no seed is
found on the threshing-floor, neither is any “ soul ” dis-
coverable there.

According to the belief of the Finno-Ugrians, the very
smallest things have a “ soul.” This explains the custom of
breaking objects intended for the dead, such as wooden spoons
and bowls, clay pots, and the like, “ so that the departed may
take them with him to the invisible world.” Doubtless this
reflects the concept that even things have an invisible part
which is separated from the visible by being broken; in other
words, an object must be deprived of its life in order that its
“ soul ” may leave it. Or, as in Mordvinian usage, the ob-
ject which is given to the dead may simply be scraped with a
knife, its “ soul ” being thus released. At the offerings in
their groves the Cheremiss violently shake the objects em-
ployed for the occasion; and when we recollect that the
sacrificial victim which shivers, like the man who is frightened,
loses its “ shadow,” we understand what beliefs are connected
with this peculiar custom. Just as there is a “ tutelary genius ”
of a man’s “ shadow,” so there is a “ nature god ” of a “ nature
soul ”; and water, earth, forest, tree, house, and the like
possess a Haltia, just as we have seen the Finns apply the
term to the Doppel- ganger of a man.

The name must also be reckoned in the category of belief
in souls, and this explains, among other matters, why the
Votiaks call the rite of choosing a name “ the seeking of the
soul ” ( urt kuton ). 25 When a child cries a great deal or falls


THE BELIEF IN SOULS


15

ill, or when a “ mark ” caused by the dead rises on its skin,
this is interpreted to mean that it has chanced to receive a
wrong name. To remedy this, sundry magic ceremonies are
employed to determine what new name the child should re-
ceive in order that it may thrive and recover. From the
names which are enumerated during these rites, and which
have usually been borne by departed forefathers, the inference
may be drawn that the “ soul ” or “ spirit ” which is sought
for the child is the soul of some ancestor. That this was
actually true in the beginning is shown by the corresponding
beliefs and ceremonies of the Lapps. They held that a preg-
nant woman could indicate, either in dreams or through
shamans, which of the kindred dead was willing to live anew
in the child. The name was given by an old woman, who
baptized (a later custom) the child, saying: “ I baptize thee
with the name of such and such a departed one. Mayest
thou have the same fortune and happiness that he (or she)
had in this world.” In addition they believed that, with the
name, the child received the “ guardian spirit ” which had
once belonged to the former bearer of the name. “ Guardian
spirits ” could also appear in visible form, as in that of a fish.
Sacrifice should be offered to the dead whose name was given
to the child. If the right name was not immediately found,
the appellation cf the child might afterwards, in case of sick-
ness, be changed several times. 26 According to the Northern
Ostiaks, after a number of years the spirit of the deceased
could be born again to earthly life in a child belonging to his
kindred 5 and then the name of the dead man must be found
in order that the child might thrive and be strong. 27 Side by
side with this custom another is met with among the Eastern
Finno-Ugrian peoples, according to which a name was given
to a child from the first object or phenomenon to attract the
attention of the parents or the midwife at its birth. 28

That the giving of the name was a custom of immemorial


1 6


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


antiquity among the Finno-Ugric peoples is shown by the
fact that the word for “ name ” is common to them all, so
that the Finnish term niini, is actually used also in Samoyed
{nlm'). Probably it is the same word which also occurs in the
Indo-European languages ( naman , ovo/jia, nomen , name y etc.).


CHAPTER II


DEATH AND BURIAL

A MONG all the Finno-Ugric peoples, the customs and
beliefs connected with death, though varying locally,
will be found to possess certain general affinities.

The most significant ceremonies arise out of a desire to do
everything possible for the departed on their last journey,
and from precautionary measures by the living against the
dead, as these are believed to seek companions with whom to
enter the other world.

Immediately the “ breath had departed,” the Finns opened
the smoke-outlets, in Russian Karelia the boards forming the
roof of their chimneyless houses even being lifted three
times, so that the soul might quicker fly away. The Estho-
nian custom was to open the doors. If a wind arose while
someone lay dying, it was called “ the wind of the dead.” 1
The Permian peoples believed that on the death of a shaman,
a storm was sure to arise . 2

When a death occurs, the relatives of the deceased gather
round the body. Forgiveness is implored of the dead one.
The Cheremiss say: “ Forgive me, be not angry with me if
I have used hard words against thee.” 3 Probably after a
Russian custom, the Mordvins and the Ingrians, etc., im-
mediately life has departed, place a bowl of water on the
window-sill, “ so that the soul can cleanse itself .” 4 More
general is the custom of cutting the throat of a hen when
death occurs. When this is done by the Chuvash, they say:
“ soul for soul and body for body ” or also “ this hen shall
lead thy soul.” The Eastern Cheremiss slaughter the fowl
first at the gate, as they follow the dead to its grave, and they


iS


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


observe whether the hen remains within the courtyard or flies
headless out into the road. The former is accounted a sign
that a new death will soon occur in the house. At the spot
where the hen is killed, it is believed that the deceased meets
with the spirits of his departed relatives, which come forth to
meet the new arrival. The reason for the actual act of
slaughtering has been interpreted in different ways. Some
say that the hen gathers together in the other world the
nails of the departed, which have been scattered about in this.
In other places, it is the custom to say to the dead at the
slaughtering: “ Save with this blood thine own blood from
death! ” With the first drops of the hen’s blood, the Chere-
miss paint the eyebrows of the dead. The fowl is not pre-
pared for food, but is left lying on the road for dogs to feast
on . 5 A later custom is the preparing of the flesh of the
fowl, slaughtered at the moment of death, for the funeral
repast. A relic of the hen-sacrifice is found among the Finns
in Savolax, who, when the coffin is being borne away, cast a
living hen on to it, to prevent the dead from taking the
“ poultry-luck ” away with it . 6

The dead must be escorted as soon as possible to the peace
of the grave. The first service consists of the washing of the
body of the dead, a practice followed by all the tribes, though
it cannot be regarded as a purely Finno-Ugric custom. The
person carrying out the washing is often chosen during the
lifetime of the deceased. In some places, the left hand only
is used during the performance. If any one of the persons
engaged in the washing is displeasing to the deceased, the
latter holds himself stiffly, clenches his fists, etc. Where the
body remains soft and plastic, the washers are all agreeable
to the dead. The corpse must be clad in clean garments, even
down to its underclothing. The Volga Finns, like the Baltic
Finns, accoutre their dead as for a long journey. A hat is
placed on the head of the corpse of a male, and clean foot-
wrappings are wrapped round its feet, which are fitted with


DEATH AND BURIAL


19

lime- or birch-bark shoes 5 other clothes are placed with it
also. The Votiak wife lays a clean suit of undergarments
by her dead husband to enable him to change when necessary.
The husband gathers into his wife’s coffin kerchiefs for the
head, towels, and trinkets worn on the breast. Many gar-
ments and kerchiefs of all descriptions are placed in the
coffin of a young girl, “ as the men who have died unmarried
are thought to be quicker in proposing marriage to girls with
a bountiful marriage portion.” A staff is placed in the hand
of an old man. Naturally, all the tribes fit out their dead
according to their scale of living, means and opportunities.
The more northern peoples appear to have used very simple
wrappings in which to swathe their dead. To conclude from
remains dug up, the Lapps, in olden days, used only wrappings
of birch-bark. In certain districts, both Lapps and the North-
ern Ostiaks were accustomed to swathe their dead also in rein-
deer- or bear-skins.

In addition to clothing or protective swathings, the dead
had to be supplied with provisions for the journey, and with
money, weapons, and all kinds of implements and household
articles. Among the objects laid with the dead may be men-
tioned fire-tools, bow and arrows, an axe, a knife, fishing-
gear, skis, a sickle, pots, dishes, wooden spoons, boats and
vehicles, etc. The corpse was supplied with everything it was
supposed to need. With women, distaffs, pieces of cloth,
scissors and needles were laid 5 with children, toys. The lame
received their crutches, a shaman his drum, a hunter his dog
and his spear. Above all, the Volga Finns never forget to
give the dead for their last journey the tools needed for the
making of bast shoes. Smaller objects were laid in the coffin
of the dead, larger ones were placed around the grave. In
some places among the Cheremiss it was further deemed
necessary to place a rod in each hand of the corpse, so that in
the underworld it could protect itself against attacking hounds,
serpents, or evil spirits.


20


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


Among the articles and coins laid in the dead man’s coffin
by the Ostiaks were also some which were sent along with the
deceased to some relative who had died earlier. It is said of
the Cheremiss, that some of them poured nuts into the pocket
of the dead man, saying while this was being done: “ Greet
our kinsmen when you arrive; we send sweets to their chil-
dren; when you meet them, divide the sweets amongst
them.” 7

A noteworthy custom among all the Finno-Ugric peoples
is the breaking-up of all the objects which the dead receive
with them. That a like usage was followed in Finland, ap-
pears from a report from Savolax, according to which, on the
placing of the corpse on the sleigh, some object from among
the most valuable in the house had to be dashed in pieces,
with the remark: “This you may have, but nothing else.”
In this way the spirit of the dead was prevented from return-
ing after the burial with any demands for his property.
Similarly, in Ingria, when the master or mistress of the house
was borne out, the spoon of the deceased was carried three
times round the coffin, after which the spoon was broken and
the pieces thrown after the coffin, with the words: “There
hast thou thy portion, more thou shalt not receive.” This
was done that the dead might not appear afterwards and de-
mand more at the division of the inheritance . 8 Apparently
it was believed that by “ killing ” an article, its “ soul ” or
“ shadow ” was released to follow the deceased into the world
of shadows.

An important part in the burial ceremonies is played by all
kinds of protective measures, performed by the survivors ob-
viously with a view to protecting themselves against dangers
which the dead are believed to be able to cause. The belief
of the Lapps that the dead wishes to take along with him
“ his family, his children, and his dependants ” is common to
all the Finno-Ugric peoples . 9 A very widespread measure of
protection is to cover, immediately death occurs, the eyes and


DEATH AND BURIAL


21


mouth of the deceased. To prevent the dead from doing
harm to its own with its glance during the time the corpse lies
in the house, the Samoyeds cover its eyes with copper-coins or
with small stones. The Ostiaks cover the face of the deceased
with a cloth, in addition to covering the eyes, nose, and mouth
with silver or copper coins, or with brass buttons . 10 The
Cheremiss close the eyes and mouth of their dead, and cover
the eyes, ears, and nostrils with little bunches of thread. The
Chuvash act in the same way, saying: “If the dead over there
ask of thee if there are others to come after thee, answer
them: £ My ears heard none, my eyes saw nothing, my nostrils
knew no scent.’ ” 11 Missionaries relate that when the Lapps
covered up their dead in shrouds, they were very careful to
cover up the body completely . 12 This was most likely done
for fear that the soul of the deceased, which was supposed to
dwell in the body even after death, would otherwise leave its
dwelling-place and come to frighten those left at home.

The Cheremiss are so cautious that as soon as signs of im-
minent death are forthcoming, they remove the sick from
their beds to a litter of straw. According to the Hill-
Cheremiss the person dying on a bolster of down must reckon
up the number of feathers in the coming life, and similarly,
those dying on hair-mats must count the hairs of the same . 13
Obviously, the removal of the sick to the litter of straw has
its origin in the fear that death contaminated a bed.

As a means of protection articles made of metal have been
used widely. The Finns cast a copper coin in the water in
which the corpse is washed. It was believed in some places,
that unless one gave a copper coin to the person who washed
the corpse, his hand would become diseased . 14 Among the
Scandinavian Lapps, the one washing and covering up the
dead had to bear, on his right arm, a ring of brass, given to
him by some relative of the deceased “ so that no evil could
befall him.” 15 In Russian Lapmark the coffin and the grave
of the deceased are prepared by such men whose womenfolk


o o


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

[Prometheus]

are not pregnant, or have ceased to suckle their children;
otherwise, the child might be smitten with a mortal illness . 16
A further very widely spread custom was that no one, often
not even the neighbours, might go about his ordinary occupa-
tions while the corpse was still in the village, but that every-
one had to be prepared, if necessary, to serve the dead.
According to the Samoyedic idea, it is extremely reprehen-
sible to go hunting or fishing during a similar period; they
forbid even the crossing of a stream . 17 Among the Esto-
nians it is strictly forbidden to chop wood, to heat the bath-
house, to wash clothes, to sweep the floor, and to comb
one’s hair while the body is in the house. Neither is it suit-
able to visit friends or to receive visitors. Even to sell, or
give away anything from the house is forbidden during this
period . 18

If the corpse is kept over night in the house, no one may
undress, but must, instead, watch by the body, as “ if one were
to lie down and sleep, it would be easier for the deceased to
take one’s soul along with him to the kingdom of the dead.”
Singing and shouting are also forbidden while the dead is in
the house. The Cheremiss declare that the relatives and
neighbours of the dead must sit silently watching by the dead,
in order to see if the spirit of the deceased should return to its
dwelling-place. If there is a mirror in the room, it must be
turned round or covered, in order that the dead may not, by
means of the mirror, look out a comrade for itself among
those present . 19

To prevent the dead from visiting their old home, many
means of leading them astray are used. The Lapps and the
Samoyeds do not bear out their dead through the door, but
directly out under the canvas tent from the spot where they
were stricken by death; in order that the dead and the living
may not come in each other’s way. The Lapps declare that
were they to bear out their dead through the door, a new death
might be expected soon after . 20 The Ostiaks removed their


DEATH AND BURIAL


23


dead through the windows . 21 The Votiaks attempt to deceive
their dead by removing the door through which the corpse is
carried from its hinges and passing it through an opening on
the side of the hinges . 22 The Volga Finns were in the habit
of placing the coffin on the end of a log and spinning it round
three times in a contrary direction to that of the sun. Often
the footmarks of the funeral procession are swept away . 23
The most general protective or cleansing measure is the strew-
ing of ashes: thus both the Lapps and the Baltic Finns used
to throw ashes and fire after those following the hearse . 24
In some places, all tables, benches, etc., in the house were
thrown down on their sides at the removal of the coffin . 25
Against infection from death, articles of steel, axes and knives,
or heated stones, glowing cinders, ashes, salt, flour, etc., were
placed on the spot where death had stricken its victim . 26 A
custom of the Baltic Finns is to hammer in a nail in the place
where death occurred, or where the corpse was washed, often,
also, into the threshold over which the coffin was borne. The
people say, that if a nail has been driven in where a death has
taken place, no sickness need be feared if one happened to
receive a shock there. 2 '

The Russian Lapps leave their homes open and empty
after the death of a member of the family. In earlier times,
the nomad families would remove altogether to some other
place. A mark, such as for example, a stone, would be left
to mark the place of death . 28 A more prevalent custom is to
smoke a room, or to beat the walls with branches. When the
Voguls smoke out their homes, they create a din at the same
time, shriek, jingle sleighbells, and pound in every corner to
drive away death. Among the Ostiaks the fire may not be
allowed to go out for five nights when a male dies, and four
nights when a female . 29 The dread felt for death is increased
by the belief that the relatives of the dead man who have died
earlier come to take him away. The Lapps declare that they
have actually seen these with their own eyes in the twilight.


24


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


Generally, however, these spirits of dead relatives are in-
visible to human beings, but animals can see them . 30

When the Lapps transport their dead for burial the corpse
is always placed in the last sled , 31 and among the Ostiaks at
Tremyugan the escort never goes after the coffin, but before . 32
The escort may not in any circumstances look behind it.
Neither may the other inhabitants of the village look at the
funeral procession through their windows. The Cheremiss go
so far as to hide their windows with coverings in order “ not
to follow the dead one.” 33

Measures of protection are carried out also on the return
from the burial. To prevent the dead from following the
trail of the escort, all footprints are swept over at the burial
mound . 34 According to Lehtisalo, the Yuraks, on their return
from a burying, are in the habit of going three times round
the grave in widening circles. In addition, a gateway is erected
“towards the night,” or towards the north, with the saying:
“ Here is thy way, wander thine own way.” Returning from
a burial, one may not look back. To cleanse oneself utterly
from the contact with the body, a gateway of two sticks is
erected before the door of the tent. Through this the rela-
tives of the dead must pass, taking with them all their
belongings . 35 The Votiaks strike at one another at the
cemetery gate with branches of fir, saying to the dead: “Go
to thy home, do not remain with us.” Or a branch of juniper
is waved with the cry: “Come not with us, go to your
home ! ” 30 In some places, a channel is cut by dragging an
axe or some other sharp instrument across the way or round
the escort of the dead. When the house is reached again, a
fire is usually made, over which one must jump, or the hands
are rubbed with ashes, or a bath is taken. In Finland the
coffin was sometimes carried to the cemetery between two
fires of straw “ so that the soul should not return home to
disturb the sleep of the living.” 3|

The sleigh, or carriage, in which the corpse is transported,


DEATH AND BURIAL


25

is either left at the cemetery, or must stand for at least three
days in the village street before it can be used again . 38

The Eastern Cheremiss have a custom, according to which
they fell a tree on their return from a burial, leaving a
stump about a yard high. This is generally done about
half-way between the cemetery and the village, “ so that
the dead, when looking around, may notice the stump, and
realize that his old home is still far away, and so return to
his grave.” 39

About half-way between the cemetery and a village, one
sees very often among the Volga Finns, a place by the way-
side where all kinds of objects, clothes, etc., have been placed
on the ground or hung up in the trees. To this place the
clothes worn by the deceased at his death, the bark-sponge
used in washing him, the shavings from his coffin, and ob-
jects regarded as having become infected with death have been
carried. The Cheremiss say that were one to burn up the
shavings gathered after the making of the coffin the deceased
would break out in blisters or an eruption on his face. At
these widely-feared places, the Votiaks sacrifice at times of
serious illness. Also after certain memorial-feasts held at
home, the bones of the sacrificed animal are taken to the above-
mentioned place, where they are hung up in the trees. Thus,
in some districts, sacrificial gifts have been laid down at this
place instead of at the cemetery, where they really should be,
and in many places even to this day, are laid. In the District
of Mamadysh the Votiaks have erected little posts with a
small table in front, to the memory of such dead as have died
in strange places, “ so that their souls may return to their
native village.” On the table, sacrificial food is placed on
the anniversary of such deaths . 40

Among the Finns in Savolax and Karelia, a tree, the
karsikko , on the road leading to the cemetery, was stripped of
its lowermost branches as a memorial of the dead. Often, a
cross would be carved on the tree together with the initials of


2 6


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


the dead, and sometimes also the year of death. Or these
might be cut on a piece of board which was then fastened to
the tree. The practice of carving a cross for each corpse
borne by was carried out with the intention of preventing the
dead from coming any nearer to their former home. Offer-
ings were also made, or at least, everyone had to drink spirits
to the memory of the dead. Strips of clothing, bindings,
etc., were also often hung here . 41

A similar custom prevailed amongst the Esthonians. In
some districts the crown of a young tree was chopped off, in
others a cross was carved in a tree by the way, or a nail
hammered in, so that the soul of the dead should not
approach any nearer home from the cemetery . 42

It is said to have been the custom in Savolax for a settler
to mark out near his home a suitable thicket of firs to the
memory of the dead. In a thicket of this description, which
was called karsikko , a tree was denuded of its branches at
each death of a dependant of the house, whether an adult or
a child. Immediately such a tree was found in the thicket,
offerings were made there to the dead. This statement, the
origin of which is to be found only in K. H. Hornborg’s de-
scription, is not supported by actual folk-custom. Hornborg
seems to have confused the karsikko of the dead with the
so-called elatti'puu (Swedish vdrdtrdd) y a tree planted in the
vicinity of the house when first built, and to which sacrifices
of first-fruits were offered, and every autumn that of a sheep.
From this tree no branches were ever cut . 43 A growing fir
or pine in Finland has its branches removed so that only the
top remains in honour of one who for the first time is about to
begin a long journey or some more important enterprise, such
as hunting or fishing ; and in Russian Karelia this is done also
in honour of a bride. But to this karsikko - tree no sacrifices
were offered.

Some kind of protective measure is probably also at the
root of many customs, regarded nowadays merely as signs

[Prometheus]

PLATE II


A Karsikko or Memorial Tree, on the way to the
cemetery in Finnish Karelia, hung with offerings
and stripped of its lower branches in memory of the
dead. (See pages 25—26.)

After photograph by V. Mainov.






DEATH AND BURIAL


27

of mourning. The Ostiaks regard it as not correct for the
relatives to go barefooted during the first week after a death.
According to another report, Ostiak women wear their linen and
head-kerchiefs inside out for five months (or fifty days) if
the deceased is a man, and four months (or forty days) if a
woman. 44

A custom now regarded as a mark of mourning is the
Ostiak’s refusal to gird his belt around him for five or four
days, the time depending on the sex of the deceased. In
some districts this is done “ so that the dead shall feel itself
lighter and freer.” The Lapps have the same custom during
the trance of the shaman and child-birth. Probably, the
thought behind this Ostiak custom is that the journey of the
dead to the other world will be unhindered by knot or band.
For a similar reason, perhaps, the Samoyed and Ugrian
women allow their hair to fall unbound during a burial. 45

A method of expressing sorrow among the Ostiaks was to
scratch wounds that bled on one’s own face. Novitskiy writes
of this (1715): “ When anyone’s father or mother, a husband
or a wife, or any other member of a family dies, the relatives
following the corpse to the grave seek to express their sorrow
by tearing their hair, and, as far as is in their power, scratch-
ing wounds on their faces; the bleeding locks of hair are
thrown by them on to the corpse.” 46 Among the Mordvins
also the wounding of one’s face was regarded as a means of
expressing sorrow. 47 These last, like the Orthodox Finns and
the Siryans had the custom of singing “ weeping-songs ” to
the memory of the dead. In the villages were often to be
found women who made a profession of weeping at graves.
The singing of special weeping-songs seems with these to be
derived from the Russians, amongst whom the custom is
general. The “ weeping ” at the grave is, however, ap-
parently of older origin. In an old source it is written of
the Voguls: “They wail and cry greatly after the dead.”
The Ostiaks customarily use the relatives of the dead as


28


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


“ weepers.” The dead man is praised very greatly at the
same time, and his works are admired . 48

A strange custom of inquiring from the dead, who shall
be the next to die, is often connected with the burial cere-
monies. When the coffin has been borne out of the house
into the yard, the Cheremiss place on it a bunch of pieces of
thread of varying lengths, from which each of the partici-
pants in the ceremony draws out a thread, saying: “ Although
thou perhaps didst die too early, do not take me with thee,
see how long my thread is, let my life be equally long .” 49
After burning the straw on which the dead has departed this
life, the Esthonians look among the ashes for footmarks from
which to make out whether a human being or an animal will
be the next to die from the same farm . 50 The Finns kept an
eye on the horse that drew the hearse ; if it lifted its left foot
first, it was a sign that someone from the village would soon
follow the dead . 51 The Ostiaks attempt to obtain answers
from the corpse to certain questions, by lifting the lid of the
coffin in which the dead lies. Before they transport the dead
to the graveyard, they tie a rope round the coffin at the place
where the head of the corpse should be, and by the grip thus
formed one of the persons present tries to lift the coffin, each
time he does so directing a question at the deceased, for ex-
ample: “ Was it a spirit, that took thee? ” or “ Shall we all
live to the next year? ” and should the answer to this last
question be in the negative: “Tell me, who will be the
next to die? ” after which the names of all present are called
out at each attempt to lift the coffin. Should the coffin appear
to be heavy, it is regarded as an answer in the negative j if
the contrary, as assent. 5 '

It is, further, the duty of the survivors to take care of the
dwelling-place of the dead. According to the most wide-
spread custom now, the dead are buried in a coffin in the
ground. The coffin, called the “ house ” of the dead, is made
of boards; at each side the Karelians, Volga Finns, etc., make


DEATH AND BURIAL


29


a little square hole, the “ window,” “ through which light
reaches to the house of the dead,” and “ through which they
can observe what happens around them.” When the Chere-
miss makes the coffin, he says: “Now do I make thee a
house, be not angry if it please thee not.” 33

When the Cheremiss lift the corpse into the coffin, they
speak a few words to the memory of the deceased and wish
him a happy destination: “Farewell (with the name of the
deceased)! Over there may you enjoy a light, happy, good
and warm existence. Leave us not, but come and inform us
in our dreams, how joyful and pleasing thy life beyond the
grave has become! ” Other wishes are also expressed: “ Let
us not die too early, return not to us, make friends for thyself
among the other dead! ” 54

To an unmarried young man the parents say: “ In this
life we had not time to give thee away in marriage 5 choose for
thyself a good wife over there.” In certain districts the un-
married dead are escorted to the cemetery with the ceremony
attaching to a wedding. The horses are harnessed in gleam-
ing harness, a large bell is fixed to the bent bow of wood over
the horses’ necks, all the comrades and friends of the youth-
ful dead follow them to the graveside. When a young
virgin dies, the Cheremiss lay away with her, her needlework
and decorations, and in addition a char pan , the headgear of a
married woman, “ so that the deceased, when she celebrates
her wedding beyond the grave, will be able to array herself
as a married woman.” While the relatives fit her out, they
say with tears in their eyes: “Here you had not time to be
wedded, marry an honourable man over there! ” 55

In some Districts (Urzhum, etc.,) a thread is snatched
from the garments of the deceased, or they merely take hold
of the coffin, with the remark: “Take not the house, the
cattle, the seed, the fortune with thee 5 leave thy luck with
us! ” 56 The Eastern Votiaks have a custom according to
which one of the relatives of the dead tears a white cloth,


30


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


which he has brought with him to the cemetery, into two
pieces j the part remaining in the left hand, he leaves on the
breast of the dead, the piece in the right hand is taken home
and bound fast to one of the rafters or attached to the wall,
in which places it is allowed to hang a year. With the act
of tearing, they say: “ In the same way as a part of this
cloth remains here while the other part goes home with us,
mayst thou not altogether depart from us . 57

A custom of the Volga Finns, met with also among the
Ostiaks, is that when the face and the whole body of the dead
have been covered with cloths brought by the friends of the
deceased, a thread, of the length of the deceased’s body, is
laid from its head to its feet, or at times, even three threads
of different colours, “ along which the dead can climb up to
heaven.” By some, this is called the “ swing ” of the dead.
Sometimes a thread of the length of an adult is laid by a
child j “ so that it may in the other world grow to the length
of the thread.” 58

The Cheremiss regard it as essential that the persons watch-
ing by the body through the night should also follow it to
the grave. On the way to the cemetery all who meet the
procession must wish the dead a happy existence, warmth
and light. While the body is being lowered into the grave,
the coffin is lifted up three times, with the saying: “Fear
not! ” The grave is thereafter filled in again, during which
process the relatives of the dead in turn wish it a happy ex-
istence and a calm dwelling-place, and beg that it will not
frighten those near to it, but will protect its former home,
its family, and its herds. In a Karelian “ weeping-song ” for
the graveside, the wish of the dead is expressed, that when
the grave is filled in, a tiny crack, like the way of a mole,
will be left for the soul to move through . 59 When the Volga
Finns return from the graveside each one present sweeps a
little more earth on to the grave from its sides, saying:
“May the earth be light over thee! ” In both ends of the


DEATH AND BURIAL


3i

grave a little branch is stuck into the earth, and threads for
the dead are bound to these. For young girls kerchiefs are
bound to a pole planted in the grave, or to the surrounding
trees. A three-branched candle is lit on the grave . 60

The coffin in which the dead is borne to the grave is, how-
ever, of comparatively late origin. The Eastern Votiaks and
Cheremiss prepare the dwelling-house of the dead first at
the grave, to which the dead is escorted in full panoply, on a
sleigh in the winter, and on a carriage in the summer.
During the journey the widow of the dead sits or lies along-
side it. At the cemetery a low grave is dug, twigs of fir or
birch-leaves being strewn at the bottom} at the sides and ends
a couple of stout boards are then placed, between which the
dead is intended to be laid on its back. As a roof to this
“ house,” in one side-wall of which a window is introduced,
two boards are used . 61 Formerly and in many places at the
present time, especially dur-
ing the winter, the Sam-
oyeds and the most North-
ern Ostiaks had a custom
according to which the dead
were not buried in the
earth, but in a dwelling-
place erected over the
ground. Among the Os-
tiaks and Voguls a tomb of
this description built over
the ground resembles a
little low house. The roof, sloping on both sides, is made
of birch-bark and narrow logs} often this house of the dead is
furnished with a window . 62 Among the Lapps burial-houses
are also found, the roofs of which rise above the ground}
the dead being bedded in them on a layer of moss, reindeer-
hair, etc . 63

A further relic of the times when the above-mentioned cus-




FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


32

tom of burial over the ground was prevalent among the Finno-
Ugric peoples, is the custom, met with among the Finns in Ka-
relia, of building, even after the dead had begun to be buried
in the earth, a little house of thin, round logs, carpentered
together, and furnished with a roof and windows. This
building would seem to have little actual meaning for the
dead, since these are buried in the earth, and it must there-
fore be connected with the old method of disposing of the
dead. Perfectly clear examples show how the method of
burial has gradually passed from the erection over the ground
to burial within it 5 an intermediate form being the low grave
which is not filled in again, but only covered with boards and
birch-bark. 64

The development of the dwelling-place of the dead to the
coffin is shown also by the old burial customs of the Finns.
In his work on the Iron Age in Karelia, Schwindt mentions
regarding the ancient burial-places examined by him, that an
erection resembling a house over the ground, joined together
with wood, with jutting-out corners, was lowered into the
grave j it was at times even fitted with a floor of boards, over
which skins were spread. The dead were laid in this building
clad in festive costume, covered most often with birch-bark
and supplied with all kinds of necessary articles. The build-
ing was covered with a roof of boards. A grave of this
description was filled in and covered with one or two layers
of stones. 65 Noteworthy also is the Volga Finns’ custom,
mentioned earlier, of furnishing their coffins with a win-
dow.

Of early origin would seem to be a custom, preserved
among the Ugrians and the Karelian Finns, of burying their
dead bedded in a boat or punt. Even at the present time the
coffin is called the “ punt ” ( ruuhi ) in some parts of Karelia.
Munkacsi has assumed, that the Ugrian custom of using an
oaken punt as a coffin, is a direct outcome of the belief which
they held regarding the world of the dead, and especially of


DEATH AND BURIAL


33


the journey there over water. It is argued against this by
Karjalainen, that the belief in a land of the dead to be reached
over water is not an original belief of the Ugrians. According
to this last investigator, the custom of supplying the dead with
a boat for their last journey, depends solely on the fact that
the dead were regarded as needing a boat in the world beyond,
with which to procure their means of existence . 66 In Russian
Karelia, remains of boats have been found which had not
been used as coffins for the dead, but lie capsized, often
shattered into two parts, over the grave . 07



Fig. 2. Graveyard in Russian Karelia
According to Blomstedt


In the same way as the Ugrians buried their dead in boats,
Lapp sleighs were used by the Lapps as coffins. In more
remote districts the Lapps, even to the present time, continue
to bury their dead in this way: laying sods of earth and
stumps of trees around them, as a protection against beasts of
prey. It is even related that the dead, on occasion, have been


34 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

buried in a sitting position in a sleigh to which a reindeer was
harnessed . 1,8

A very old custom, which seems to have been general in
earlier times and of which traces can be found among most of
the Finno-Ugric stocks, is the use of a coffin made by hollow-
ing out the trunk of a tree, or a trough, as the protective
covering of the dead. Most of the dead were buried between
two hollowed logs, of which the lower formed the coffin and
the upper one the lid . 09 Among the Siberians such a coffin is
erected over the ground upon two or four pillars.

The oldest method of burial of the Finno-Ugrians is also
made clear by a word, meaning in Samoyed “ corpse ” ( halmer ,
kameloy etc.), in Mordvin “grave” ( kalmo , kalma ), and in
Finnish “ grave ” {kalma) and also “ death ” and “ the scent
of death.” In an explanation of this word Setala says: “ On
the grounds of the meaning of the word both in Finnish and
in Samoyed, we can assume that its original meaning was
£ corpse,’ ‘ the dead one.’ The oldest method of burial un-
doubtedly consisted merely in the laying-out of a body, a
habit prevalent, and followed even now, among many peoples,
which habit would explain why the same word can have the
two meanings ‘ corpse ’ and ‘ grave.’ ” 70

Reliable reports on the burning of bodies are to be found
solely among the Baltic Finns. In certain ancient remains in
Finland, burnt bones have been found in graves. Henry the
Lett relates in his Chronicle how the Esthonians, when they
returned to their old beliefs during the unsettled period of
the Crusades, “ took back their wives, whom they had forsaken
during the time they stood under the influence of Christianity,
exhumed their dead, whom they had buried in cemeteries, and
burned them in their old heathen way.” The other Finno-
Ugric peoples seem to have burned bodies only when the
dead were supposed to be dangerous to those surviving. We
may concur fully with Varonen, who says: “ As, therefore,
no reliable proofs exist concerning the cremation of the dead


DEATH AND BURIAL


35


among the Finno-Ugric stocks, except in those branches, which
continuously, and for the longest period, have been under
Germanic influence, we may conclude that the burning of
the dead did not originally form part of the burial-customs
of the Finno-Ugrians, and, where it may occasionally be found
among them, is merely in the nature of a temporary loan from
other peoples.” 71

The Finno-Ugric peoples bury their dead in certain burial-
areas, which, among the agricultural tribes, are often fenced
in. Every village has its own cemetery, or several villages
lying closely together may have a common one. This comes
from the fact that from the original mother-village, newer
ones have been formed in the course of time, the inhabitants
of which continue to use the burial-area of the original village.
In the same way as the old villages were family-villages, the
old cemeteries were family-cemeteries. That it was not the
custom to bury strangers in them is shown, among other proofs,
by the custom of the Votiaks, who besides their village-
cemetery, sometimes have a special one, often situated by the
main road, for the burial of wandering strangers, stricken by
death during their sojourn in the village .' 2

Usually, the cemetery is a consecrated thicket or wood,
where possible, of firs (Finnish, kuusikko\ where the Votiaks
and the Cheremiss hang up on the trees all kinds of garments,
cloths, kerchiefs, etc., presented to the dead, “ so that they
should not, lying on the ground, be turned to earth.” At
times, even the solitary graves are ringed round. According
to Rytschkov this was done “ so that the dead should not
leave their dwelling-place and trample down the surrounding
fields.” 73 The Eastern Cheremiss have, further, a custom of
placing on their graves a cuckoo made of wood, and fastened
to the end of a long pole .' 4 What the meaning attached to
this bird may originally have been, the present generation no
longer knows. Some say the cuckoo sounds its note for the
edification of the dead. Certain Siberian tribes have also a


3 6 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

custom of setting up figures of birds on the graves of their
dead.

Whether the use of special cemeteries had its origin already
in Finno-Ugric times is doubtful. According to tradition, the
Lapps, in their earlier periods, did not possess special burial-
places, because their dead were buried at any spot. In the
summer, when it is extremely difficult, and even, at times,
impossible, to transport the corpses to the remote burial-
places, the Lapps have to our day buried their dead in the
forests and on the uplands, wherever they happened to be
dwelling, and then with the arrival of winter removed them
to the churchyard. 75


( -0> v; ; . ; • . /; ••'..) ;

. << I . fi' ' ' r "


• , c. hr.' ) .sr...' ?' : ..



PLATE III


1. Lapp Grave. (See page 36.)

After photograph by T. I. Itkonen.

2. Graves of the Northern Ostiaks erected over
the ground. (See page 31.)

According to Finsch.




CHAPTER III

[Prometheus]

MEMORIAL FEASTS FOR A PARTICULAR
DEAD PERSON

T HE duties of the living with regard to the dead do not
cease when the latter have been carried to the grave
with all honours. The dead continue to need the help and care
of the living. If a dead man is not given his rights, he may
resent it and, coming back, disturb the peace of his survivors.
Such of the dead as haunt their old homes are called by the
Esthonians “home-visitors” (Kodukaiat). Generally, they
are masters and mistresses who in their life-time were par-
ticularly order-loving, economical and strict. They are, of
course, seldom seen, but every now and then they are heard
making noises to remind their family of their duties, or they
may even attack their children if these have not arranged the
memorial-feast due to them . 1

Memorial feasts may be either general ones, celebrated in
memory of all deceased relations, or special, in which case a
certain deceased relative is the object of remembrance. Of
these, the latter seem to be of older origin.

The first memorial feast celebrated in remembrance of a
member of the family, takes place on the actual burial-day,
so that this first feast is at the same time a burial feast.

Lundius, the missionary, relates of the Swedish Lapps, that
when their dead were buried, they drank “ funeral beer.”
When the liquor was handed round, the Lapps first dipped
their fingers into it and smeared their faces. Having become
intoxicated, they began to praise the dead man, saying that he
was shrewd and strong, that he was an able forester, that he


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


38

understood well his wife and children, that he was a mighty
shaman, etc . 2 This wetting of the fingers and smearing of
the face can be traced to a corresponding custom among the
Norwegian Lapps of whom Randulf, the missionary, relates,
that before going to the Lord’s Supper, they used to take a
glass of beer or gin, if they had any, and dipping three fingers
into the drink, make the sign of the cross on their foreheads.
At other times they made, with fingers dipped into the drink,
three dots on the breast, one with each finger. This was done
by the Lapps in order to get their dead relations to protect
them/ The memorial drink, as well as the three finger-
marks, is with the Lapps a later Scandinavian custom.

The custom, however, of killing the reindeer that dragged
the dead man to his grave, seems to be an original Lapponian
usage. This sacrifice performance is described by Rheen, the
missionary, in the following way: — “Three days after the
funeral of the dead man, the Lapps take the reindeer which
conveyed him to the cemetery, kill it in his honour, and con-
sume it in company with their relations and dependants.
They collect all the bones, and having made a chest, put them
into it, burying the chest in the earth. They then make an
image of wood which is placed on the chest, the image being
large or small, according to the size of the dead man.” 4 Ac-
cording to Graan, three rods besmeared with blood, on which
were placed pieces of the heart and lungs of the reindeer, were
also buried with the bones . 5

Even after the funeral feast, the deceased was remembered
by taking some tobacco, or anything else he may have been
fond of, to his grave. Rheen mentions that if the deceased
was a rich man, reindeer were killed in his honour one, two or
even three years after his death. Here also the slaughtered
animal’s bones had to be hidden in the earth. A black piece
of thread had to be sewn into the ear of the reindeer chosen
for the sacrifice . 6

If sacrifices were not made to the dead man, the Lapps


MEMORIAL FEASTS


39


believed that they would be punished with poverty. Accord-
ing to Lundius, the Lapps believe that their reindeer, be they
many or few in number, “ will die after their master, as they
stand or walk, like grass.” 7

If, after the death of the deceased, he was given some
charge, e.g., as reindeer-herd, they were obliged to sacrifice
to him yearly during that time. J. Kildal relates how the
Lapp was able, by means of sacrifice, to make his father or
some other near relation from the lower regions guard his
reindeer for one, two or three years. After that time he
would go back to the dead . 8

The deceased are also remembered at ordinary feasts.
Randulf says that when a Lapp drinks the health of anyone
he always pours one part of the liquor, before drinking, on
the ground, in honour of the spirits, but in particular of the
deceased . 9 Lundius relates that at their feasts, they sacrifice
cheese, meat, fish, fat, marrow and other food, which they
put into a little trough and bury in the earth together with
an image . 10

Like the Lapps, the Samoyeds have no fixed memorial days
or annual feasts in honour of the dead. The reindeer which
dragged the deceased to his grave, is here also sacrificed.
Most frequently it is impaled on the grave, a meal being
sometimes prepared from the meat . 11 Muller says that the
Samoyeds tie up a reindeer or two, if the deceased has had
any, on the grave, where the poor beasts are left to starve to
death. In some districts they believe that the dead need the
care of their relatives until the shaman has taken their
“ shadows ” to the world of the dead. When, for some acci-
dental reason, e.g., during illness, they sacrifice a reindeer or
a dog to the deceased, the sacrifice is performed after sunset,
behind the tent. The head of the sacrificial beast must then
be directed to the west . 12

According to Pallas, the Ugrians of the North take to the
graveyard three of the best reindeer of the deceased on the


40


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


sleighs which follow that on which the corpse lies. Having
placed the body in the grave, they tie a strap to each of a
reindeer’s hindlegs, two men seize the straps and four others
pierce the animal with sharpened poles from different direc-
tions. In this way one reindeer at a time is killed. When a
rich man is buried, several reindeer are killed ; a noose is
placed round their necks and legs, and thus tied, they are
beaten along their backs with poles until they cease to breathe.
An animal killed in honour of the deceased is left on the
grave ; the straps are placed on a stand fixed above the grave
and the sleighs are overturned against it. Near the grave the
funeral meal is cooked, and when they have eaten enough,
the burial guests take the rest home . 13 According to later
custom the best-beloved reindeer of the deceased is killed, the
meat being eaten, and the bones and horns, together with the
sleigh and harness, are placed on the grave . 14

The funeral feast of the North Voguls is described by Gon-
datti. Immediately after burying the dead, they cook some
kind of cereal or meat-dish, which they then pour out against
the coffin. The bottom of the pan is knocked out, after which
it is left by the grave. If the deceased has been conveyed by
reindeer, the latter are strangled by the grave, the meat being
boiled and eaten on the spot, the hide buried, and the bones
placed by the dead man . 15

Like the Lapps, the Ugrians frequently remember their
dead, especially during the first period of their life in Hades.
In most districts, however, they have no fixed memorial days,
but settle these according to agreement with relations. Kar-
jalainen says that the Northern Ugrians celebrate memorial
feasts in honour of a dead man for fifty days, and of a dead
woman, for forty. The ceremonies are very simple: — they
cook some food, and, having kept it at the grave for a while,
they eat it at home. At Tremyugan the dead are remembered
after one or two months, a half-year, or a whole one, by
“ setting forth a dish or a trough made of birch-bark.” Fish


MEMORIAL FEASTS


4i


and meat are cooked and, together with other eatables, placed
in vessels either on the ground by the house against the door
on the side of the hinges, or taken to the cemetery, where
they are put on the ground above the head of the deceased or
below the window of the grave-house, if there is one. On
the ground tea, gravy, gin, and, finally, some cold water are
poured, whence the term “ water-pouring ” is derived . 16
According to Munkacsi, the Northern Voguls celebrate
memorial feasts on the third day after death, then, at the end
of “ the holy week,” and, after that time, thrice a year. They
make a fire by the grave and cook a dish, a small part of which
is placed in a vessel by the grave with the saying: “ Do not
remember us, thinking evil thoughts .” 11 Where outside in-
fluence can be traced, the memorial feasts are celebrated on
carefully fixed days. With the Southern Ugrians, such days
are the ninth, the sixteenth, and thirty-sixth, and a half-year
or a whole year after death . 18

A strange custom among the Northern Ugrians is the
making of a memorial doll of the deceased, of which Novit-
skiy says: “ A curious irrational and shameless custom is that
which is observed by their women after the death of their
husbands. The widow carves a wooden doll, resembling a
human being, to represent her dead husband, takes some of
her husband’s clothes, dresses the doll in them and provides
it with ornaments worn by the deceased, and putting it in the
place where her husband used to sit, cooks for this lifeless
block of wood all the dishes that used to please the deceased.
When they sit down in the place of honour to eat, she places
the image beside her, embracing and kissing the doll as if it
were a living being, fully believing that the deceased sees all
this and that his soul enters this image at times. She keeps
the doll for some time, going on with this nonsense for a
year or even longer, and then buries it with its clothes on in
the earth, exhibiting her sorrow by weeping and wailing.” 19

Castren and Pallas relate that memorial dolls of this descrip-


42


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


tion were made to represent persons who had been in some
way important. The image was kept in the tent of the de-
ceased and was shown the same honours as its precursor. It
was fed at every meal, dressed in the morning and undressed
in the evening, and a widow, who had loved her husband,
even went so far as to place it beside her in bed. According
to Castren the image was worshipped in this way for three
years, after which it was buried. They supposed that the
body of the deceased had disintegrated during these three
years . 20 In some places the image was kept for five years, if
the deceased was a man, and for four, if a woman. In our
days the image is burned after the course of the said time.
Yet the old idea also remains that the doll should be buried in
the grave of the deceased. Where they are in the habit of
building the so-called grave-houses, the doll is placed in these.
During the time when Finsch was travelling among the
Ugrians, he saw, among the most Northern, small buildings
on their graves of the size of kennels, provided with a door,
and within them a doll, dressed in Ugrian garments. These
dolls noticed by Finsch were plainly such as had been taken
to the graveyard at the end of the memorial-time and placed
in the grave-house . 21

The memorial doll is also to be found among some Sa-
moyed tribes, though the custom of making images of shamans
seems here to be more widely spread. According to Lehtisalo,
the Yuraks make a wooden image of the “shadow” of the
shaman, which resembles a reindeer-bull. This image is kept
by the wife or son of the deceased in a case, consisting of the
whole-flayed skin of a young calf . 22 The fact that the
“ shadow ” of the shaman is thus represented, springs from
the idea of the Samoyeds that the soul of the shaman, when
leaving his body, takes on the shape of a reindeer-bull . 23

Karjalainen suggests that the custom of the Northern
Ugrians of making an image of the deceased has developed
from a usage retained among the Southern Ostiaks and Voguls.


MEMORIAL FEASTS


43

Among the latter, the linen and bed-clothes of the deceased
are kept unwashed in his bed, among the former generally
under his pillow. These clothes are brought out at the me-
morial feast and placed in the middle of the bed. A spoon is
then placed in the dishes with its handle directed towards the
clothes. In some places a widow even keeps her late hus-
band’s clothes beside her when going to bed. Karjalainen
thinks that this method of representing the deceased has de-
veloped into the Northern Ugrians’ custom of making a par-
ticular image of the dead . 24 Yet it must be remembered that
the Lapps, who were not in the habit of worshipping the
clothes of the deceased, also used an image every time they
sacrificed to them. This image, which does not seem to have
been an object for worship at home, but was made only for
the occasion of the sacrifice, was not clothed . 25 Among most
of the Finno-Ugrian races the clothes of the dead man are
nowadays considered as visible representations of himself.
This is true of all the Volga peoples. Images are not seen
among them nowadays, but according to the most ancient
sources, the Mordvins seem to have had memorial dolls, which
were worshipped at the memorial feasts. A very common
usage is, further, to choose as the representative of the de-
ceased a living man who resembles him in appearance and
who dresses himself for the feast in the deceased’s clothes.
The fact that even the name of the deceased was later made
into a visible object of remembrance to the survivors, has been
mentioned already when speaking of the karsikko of the
Finns. The name karsikko was also given in North Savolax
to a piece of white paper on which were written the name of
the deceased and the year of his birth and death, this paper
being placed for the funeral day on a cloth spread on the back
wall of the hut . 26

Like the Chuvashes, the Volga Finns celebrate memorial
feasts in honour of some particular person on the funeral
day, and also on the third, the seventh and the fortieth day


44


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


after death. In some districts, the anniversary is also cele-
brated. These memorial feasts are often celebrated late at
night, and the time for them is calculated by the Volga Finns
not according to days but according to the number of nights.
For this reason they call the memorial feast of the third day,
“ the third night,” that of the seventh, “ the seventh night,”
and that of the fortieth, “ the fortieth night.” According to an
old custom, some animal, a hen at the very least, must be
killed during each memorial feast, for without bloodshed, as
the Votiaks say, a memorial feast cannot be celebrated. 27

The Votiaks begin their preparations for the first memorial
feast before the deceased is taken to the burial-ground. As
soon as the dead man is washed and dressed, he is placed on a
bench 5 the eldest female member of the family puts down
two bowls by the body and makes meat pies. The eldest male
member of the family then takes a pie and breaks three pieces
from it, placing these into one of the bowls ; into the other he
pours some gin, saying: “In this life you lived well, live
well also there. Do not torment and worry us. Protect our
cattle well. Protect our children well. Gather the dead
round you. Protect our good cattle from floods and preci-
pices. More I cannot say to you; do not be angry. Live well
in the life over there; do not take hold of us in front or from
behind; do not persecute us.” The eldest member of the
family having finished, the others do and say the same. 28

These ceremonies differ somewhat in different places. In
the district of Sarapul, where they believe that the relatives of
the deceased who died earlier have arrived to meet the new-
comer, they are believed to take part in the feast together
with the deceased. In honour of the latest deceased and of
the others, the men make wax-tapers and the women cook a
hen, if the deceased is a woman, and a cock, if it be a man.
At the door near the fireplace, a trough is placed on which,
as on the head of the bed, little wax-tapers are fixed. Into
the trough pieces of meat are thrown and some gravy poured


MEMORIAL FEASTS


45


when the names of the dead are mentioned, with an appeal to
them to eat and drink and to receive the lately deceased with
a contented mind into their company . 29 Such customs are
common to all the Volga Finns.

When the Esthonians are ready to take their dead to the
grave, they cook beans or peas (which fare among the Baltic
Finns seems to be a general memorial dish), and pour ladle-
fuls of these on to the coffin, on which they also place some
other food, white bread, etc. In some places they are in the
habit of pouring out beer or gin on the ground by the gate
while the deceased is being taken away, lest he should suffer
from thirst in the life to come . 30

Most frequently the Volga Finns, however, prepare the
funeral meal only when they have returned from the grave-
yard. Generally no one is invited to such a feast, but it is
everyone’s duty to know for himself that he must come and
honour the deceased. For the feast, everyone brings food
with him, no one coming empty-handed, and the attention of
the dead is generally called to what each has brought. For
the newly-buried a dish is placed on the table at the spot where
he is supposed to sit among his own people, but for those who
died earlier, a trough is placed by the door. For all the dead,
for the nearest relations and also for more distant ones, whose
memory still lives in the minds of the survivors, a wax taper
is lighted. Even the ruler of the kingdom of the dead and
that of the graveyard are remembered. The first cup and the
first morsels of food belong to the dead. If anything happens
to fall on the floor under the table, no one is allowed to take
it up. The food sacrificed to the deceased is afterwards taken
into the yard for the dogs. If the latter scorn the food, it is
believed that the dead are not satisfied with the feast ; should
the dogs fight while eating it is considered to be a sign that
the dead do not agree among themselves.

For the earlier deceased relations, who have arrived to meet
the newly deceased, there has thus been placed a dish of food


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


46

near the door. This custom is very common, as it is believed
that the place by the door is the place of residence of the
dead who arrive at the memorial feast.

Even to the graveyard all kinds of food are taken, and
there crumbled over the grave of the deceased. In some
places, they dig a pit above the head of the dead man, into
which they pour gin, a honey-drink or water. When doing
this, the Siryans say: “ Drink, drink.” 31

[Prometheus]

Nowadays, the Volga Finns seldom kill larger domestic
animals than poultry for the memorial feasts. Formerly, cir-
cumstances seem to have been different. Olearius relates that
during the first half of the sixteenth century, the Cheremiss,
when burying a rich man, killed his best horse, the surviving
friends eating the meat of the animal . 32 A hundred years
later Muller reports likewise: “ When some important person
dies, the Chuvash and Cheremiss put up two sticks in the yard,
between which they stretch a thick thread. On this thread
they place a ring. The young people then shoot at it with
bows and arrows at a distance of ten paces, and he who first
makes the ring fall, mounts the horse that the deceased used
to drive, but in case of the deceased being a woman, any
horse he may choose, galloping three times to the grave of the
deceased and back. The horse is then killed — the Cheremiss
carrying out this in the yard and the Chuvash in the graveyard
— the meat being boiled and eaten in memory of the
deceased.” 33

Numerous examples show that the Baltic Finns were also
in former times in the habit of killing a large domestic animal
in honour of the dead. Even in our days they believe, in
some places, that if a cow is not killed for the funeral of the
host or hostess, it will die in any case. A remainder of the
said funeral sacrifice is found in a custom among the Finns,
as well as among the Esthonians, of making the clergyman a
present of a cow after the death of the host or hostess, as a
fee for the burial ceremony. The Esthonians were in the


MEMORIAL FEASTS


47

habit of taking an ox to the clergyman after the death of the
host, and a cow after that of the hostess. Sometimes the
clergyman was expected to prepare a meal of these for the fu-
neral guests. In North Karelia the people were in the habit
of tying the cow due to the clergyman to a tree in the grave-
yard for some time, the clergyman having to take it from
there . 34

The different memorial days are celebrated by the Volga
Finns in varying ways, some of them being more solemn than
others. Thus, Georgi relates of the Votiaks, that at the first
memorial feast, which is celebrated on the third day, the
friends of the house of mourning are assembled only to eat
pancakes and drink beer, some of which is also poured out in
the yard for the dead, but on the seventh day a sheep is killed,
and on the fortieth, a cow or a horse . 35

The memorial feast of the third day among the Siryans
(District of Orlov) is described by Dobrotvorskiy. When the
guests have arrived, wax-tapers are lighted in the window
and on either side of the threshold. The door is opened for
a while, when the guests are sitting down at table, to invite
the soul ( lol ) of the deceased to the feast. In the farther-
most corner, a hat or a kerchief is placed, depending on the sex
of the deceased. On the place where the hat has been set
down, no one seats himself. On the table beside it, they
place a bowl filled with pancakes, porridge, milk and gin.
Every guest considers it his duty to put into the bowl of the
deceased some of the food displayed on the table . 36

The memorial feast of the seventh day is, in most places,
like that of the third day. Some one of the relatives of the
deceased goes to the grave to remember him. At home, they
light a candle on the brim of the vessel of food offered to the
deceased. When the first pieces of food are dropped into this
vessel, everyone utters a few words of remembrance, pointing
out that it is now the seventh day of the memorial feast. In
other places the seventh day is kept almost as solemnly as


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


48

the fortieth. The participants in the ceremony go to the grave
with two horses to invite the deceased j they kill a hen for
him, sometimes even a sheep 5 in the evening they go to the
bath-house with him 5 all night he is regaled ; and not until
dawn is he taken back to his new home. 37

According to a general idea of the Volga Finns and of many
other East European peoples, the deceased remains during the
course of forty days in a very near relationship to his old home.
The Votiaks say that the “ soul ” of the dead lives at home
for forty days after death. It is therefore the duty of his
people to show kindness and hospitality to the deceased, par-
ticularly during that time. In some places, it is customary,
during these forty days, to put down a bowl for the deceased
every time the family and servants sit down to take a meal. 38

The Siryans believe that after the funeral, the deceased
returns with the funeral guests to his old home and remains
there for the above-named time. For that time, therefore,
it has been customary to hang up a towel in some fixed place
in the hut, so that the deceased may wipe his face every time
he washes himself. No living soul may touch it, as death
might be the immediate consequence. 39

The Mordvins say that the deceased passes over to the
realm of the dead forty days or six weeks after his death. 40
The same idea is found also among the Baltic Finns who have
been under Russian influence. According to Groundstroem
the Votes dared not speak ill of the dead for six weeks, for
they believed that the soul of the deceased stayed for that time
in his home, mostly under the table. They were careful also
not to stretch their legs under the table, as they might easily
trample on the deceased. 41 Like the Siryans, the Karelians in
the Government of Tver were in the habit of hanging a towel
for six weeks on the back wall of the hut, so that the deceased
when coming home, might wipe himself. 42 A similar custom
is found among the Russians, from whom the Finnish tribes
seem to have borrowed it.


MEMORIAL FEASTS


49

As the forty-days’ memorial feast is at the same time a fare-
well feast, it has attained a particular significance and is cele-
brated more solemnly than the others. Among all the Volga
Finns, the ceremonies observed on this occasion were very
much alike. The following description was taken down by
the author among the Cheremiss in the District of Urzhum,
where, on the fortieth day, they kill a sheep, or at times even a
bigger animal, all the relations, neighbours and friends of the
deceased gathering together. The deceased himself is fetched,
with particular ceremonies, from the graveyard, members of
his own family being chosen to do this. When the sun is
highest in the heavens, the latter put the best horses before a
waggon, take meat and drink with them and drive with great
speed and tinkling of bells to the burial-ground. The cere-
monies had to be as solemn as at a wedding, and all the dead
were to know that they were now coming with two horses to
fetch “ so-and-so ” to the “ great feast.” The horses stop
by the grave, where honey, meat, gin and beer, and also bread,
cheese and pancakes are placed on a white cloth. Uncovering
their heads, those who have come to fetch the deceased now
remind him, kneeling, of the great day that has arrived: “ Get
up (the name of the deceased is mentioned), see what we
have brought thee — honey, mead, gin, beer, bread, butter and
pancakes, get up and eat! The ‘fortieth night’ is nearing,
come with us to the village. At home they have killed a
sheep for thee, thy widow and children await thee, thy rela-
tions want to meet thee. We have not come to thee for
nothing, we have come to take thee to the great feast.” They
then pour out drink on the grave, placing also some food on
it and repeating the words usual at memorial-feasts: “May
this be thy portion ! ” The deceased is called on to bring with
him the relations who died earlier, all the dead fathers and
mothers of the family; even the ruler of the lower world is
invited to the feast. When about to start, they place a soft
cushion in the waggon for the deceased to sit on. Having


50


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


regaled the dead man in every way and tasted of the food
themselves, they ask him to get into the waggon. The de-
ceased may seem shy, or puzzled, so they assure him: “ Thou
knowest us, and thy waggon thou knowest, thine own are the
horses too.” Having shaken up the cushions, the one who
gets into the waggon says: “ Sit down beside me, we will drive
together, we are going home.” Though the seat is empty,
the Cheremiss believes that the shade of the deceased is there.
He often turns to it during the drive and speaks to it. If
several persons have arrived to invite the deceased, the horse
by which he is taken is at the head of the procession. In some
places they drive three times round the grave before returning
to the village.

At the homestead, the widow comes to meet the deceased,
and kneels with her children by the steps. Before them stands
a solemn functionary with bared head, holding bread, cheese
and drink in his hands. He speaks kindly to the dead man,
calls him by name and asks him politely to step into the hut.
The widow and children look at the arriving guests with tears
in their eyes. When the deceased is supposed to have stepped
out of the waggon, the cushion is taken into the hut to a fixed
place where the deceased is asked to sit down. None of
the living people seat themselves on that place, and near it
all his clothes, even his bast-shoes, are hung on the beams.
Pointing to them, the widow says: “ Look, here are thy clothes,
no one has used them, nothing of them have we lost.” They
place meat and drink before the deceased, and when they
suppose him to have eaten enough, the men take him to see
the cattle, the corn-stacks and the farm implements, and it
is even customary to take him to the bath-house to have a
bath. Some of the relations living a long way off have already
arrived, but the feast proper does not begin until the sun goes
down.

Then all the relations and friends of the dead man arrive
at the yard. A common usage is for every family to bring


MEMORIAL FEASTS


5i


with them meat and drink of every kind. The member of
the family who receives the guests, says to the deceased: “ See,
thy friend (the name is mentioned) has brought thee this.”
Besides bringing meat and drink every guest takes also a
small wax-taper with him. The festival mood is heightened
above all by the numerous wax-tapers which are placed near
the back wall on a stand made for the purpose. In the middle
burns a thick wax-taper, one metre in length, twisted out of
three ordinary tapers. To the right of it stands a row of
smaller ones, one for each of the dead man’s relations who
have departed earlier, and to the left each guest places his
taper in honour of the deceased. When they are burnt out
fresh ones are lighted. The “ great taper ” that burns until
dawn has also been lighted for the actual guest of the day.

It is this last who is the object of everyone’s attention.
All eyes are directed towards the cushion on the bench in
the interior of the room below the tapers, where they believe
that the dead man is sitting. The women vie in carrying meat
and drink there j everything cooked is intended for the de-
ceased. Yet the living also get their share. The memorial
feast in honour of the dead man is no real festivity unless
everyone eats and drinks on this occasion. The Cheremiss be-
lieves, just as the Votiak does, that the more sated the guests
are, the more so is the deceased. For this last separate vessels
are set forth 5 a separate trough for meat, bread, pancakes,
pies and eggs, and a large round stoop made of birch-bark for
gin and mead. Every one going up to taste of the meat and
drink kneels by the seat of the deceased and throws or pours
a little into his vessel, inviting him to eat. A small piece of
each part of the slaughtered sheep is also placed in his trough.
Old men remain long kneeling before the deceased imploring
him to protect the family, and also the cattle from falling
down precipices or being torn to pieces by wild animals ; asking
him, further, to make the corn grow, to ward off insects from
the fields, mice from the store-house, etc.


52


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


At midnight the living, at least, begin to feel that they have
had enough. They are all in good humour, the gin-goblets
have been emptied every now and then, and also the “ stoop ”
of the deceased has gradually filled. The bag pipe which
until now has lain mute, tucked into the shirt-front of its
owner, is now brought out, and one and another invite the
“ shade ” of the deceased to come and dance. No one keeps
in his seat, all swing and whirl around. The tired hands can
hardly longer make fresh tapers and put them up. Even
the widow and children have for a while forgotten their grief.
Many old men move now only mechanically, and some of
them have already gone to sleep in the corners.

But there are people among them who have strength enough
to watch. The dancing and the murmur of the people cease
for a moment. Curiosity increases, when some one near the
door exclaims: “The dead man is coming,” upon which a
person, looking very dignified, steps into the hut and takes the
seat of the deceased. The widow hastens to embrace him,
calling him her husband, the old men press his hand, calling
him by the name of the deceased. The Cheremiss choose
some one resembling the dead man in size and appearance,
and for the night this substitute is dressed in the dead man’s
clothes. He is called “ the representative of the deceased,”
and every politeness and kindness is consequently shown him.
Every one wishes to regale him in the best possible way with
meat and drink, especially drink. The “ dead man ” relates
his observations on life beyond the grave and advises his re-
lations to remember him, to live in harmony and avoid quarrel-
ling, to work and to be economical. The survivors, for their
part, ask for the protection of the dead man.

The tapers gradually begin one after the other to go out,
only the biggest of them is still burning, when one of the
old men, coming in, wakes up the sleeping people, saying:
“ The day is dawning, the dead man wants his rest.” The
languid people then bestir themselves, as before sunrise the


MEMORIAL FEASTS


53


dead man must be conveyed with all honours to the peace of
the grave. But first a prayer is said, all kneeling and turning
their faces in the direction of the seat of the deceased. He
is told that it is now time for him to depart for his home
among the other dead. They wish him a pleasant time, advise
him to make friends with the “ old Cheremiss,” by which
name they mean those who have departed before. The latter,
who are considered to be present, are also addressed with good
wishes : “ May you have bread and salt over there in abun-
dance, do not go away from us hungry and thirsty, be rich
and happy, walk in light, help us too, to live, do not frighten
us, do not forget our cattle and do not disperse our family.”
Then one of them takes the taper-stand, another the food-
trough, a third the drinking-vessel, and the others, with the
widow at their head, carry the dead man’s clothes, and thus
they go out into the yard, the u representative ” being the
foremost. From the yard they step out into the village
street, wending their way to the burial-place. The women
weep aloud. They do not, however, walk all the way there,
but the procession stops at a hill situated outside the village,
where the rest of the burning tapers and the food and drinks
are thrown down. Even here, they remember the deceased,
wishing him a happy existence and exhorting him to live in
comfort in the society of those already there, and asking him
not to come home, at least not as an uninvited guest. Besides
giving him meat and drink, he is presented, on his departure,
with a wooden spoon and cup, which are shattered on the spot,
for otherwise — so say the Cheremiss — the dead man does
not get them.

It is usual among the Hill Cheremiss to kill a horse for the
memorial feast of the fortieth day, if the deceased is a man,
and a cow, if a woman. During the feast all the meat must
be consumed, as it is not right to reserve festival food for the
next day. The vessels and tapers of the deceased are here
placed by the threshold. When sacrificing to the deceased,


54


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


his own people say: “ In thy memory have we prepared meat
and drink} we, thy relations and neighbours, have all as-
sembled. Do not take it amiss if we have not entertained thee
enough, forgive us if we have hurt thee in thy lifetime, do
not be angry with us, and do not punish us by sending us
diseases and other misfortunes. Together with our friends
and comrades, we wish you, all ye dead ones, to be satisfied
with our feast} now go back to your dwelling, sated, singing
and dancing.” The deceased is then conveyed with music
and singing to a fixed place, where they put up in his honour
a little table with one foot. On this table, which is called
“ the table of the deceased,” they place a vessel for food and
three spoons. In some parts it is customary to lay a long pole
across chasms or rivulets, should any such be in the neighbour-
hood, so that the dead man may be able to cross them. The
pole is called the “ bridge of the deceased.” This seems to be
a symbol of the “bridge of the realm of the dead,” across
which, according to an idea descending from Iran, the de-
ceased had to wander to the other life . 43

Among the Eastern Cheremiss in the District of Rirsk it is
also customary, in some places, to go to bed on the fortieth
night. After the music, the dancing, and the entertainment
are over, the widow takes to her the cushion on which the
deceased is supposed to have been sitting during the feast and
says: “ Still for the last night will we sleep together.” Early
next morning the dead man is ceremoniously conveyed with
two horses back to the burial-ground . 44

In the province of Perm the Cheremiss are in the habit
of making one of the dead man’s relatives ride on horseback
to the burial-ground to invite the deceased. Having fulfilled
his task, the rider returns to the village at full gallop, crying:
“ He is coming, he is coming.” At the same moment, the
waiting crowd rush at the panting horse with knives in their
hands, slaughtering it at once. The meat of the horse is then


MEMORIAL FEASTS


55

boiled and eaten, but the hide is hung over the grave of the
dead man . 45

[Prometheus]

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

[Prometheus]

PLATE V


Sacrificial Tree of the Dead Among
the Eastern Votiaks

(Government Permission)

(See page 56.)

Water-colour by V. Soldan-Brodfeldt.





MEMORIAL FEASTS


59


man, saying: “ Make me well again. Here are pancakes and
a candle, eat and do not touch me any more.” 58 The customs
of Finnish widows are described by Agricola in the following
words: “The deceased (Manninkaiset) also received their

offerings when widows re-married.”


CHAPTER IV


GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS

B ESIDES memorial feasts in honour of some particular
person, general ones are also celebrated, on which occa-
sion all the deceased belonging to the family are remembered.
Such feasts are called by the Cheremiss “ taper-feasts,” be-
cause then, as at memorial feasts in general, a number of wax-
tapers are lighted. The Volga Finns seem to have two sepa-
rate memorial feasts each year, namely, one in spring at
Easter-time, and another in autumn, at the end of field-labour.

General memorial feasts are here celebrated either in such
manner that every family circle remembers its own dead by
itself, or that related families assemble at the house of the
head of a greater family, to celebrate in common the memory
of their mutual dead relations. At times even the whole village,
which in that case is a so-called family-village, will celebrate
in common the memory of its dead. Nowadays the first-
named way would seem to be most in use, but in many places,
even up to our days, remainders of the last-named also have
survived.

The ceremonies observed at the general memorial feasts
recall very much those of the special ones. To every relation
kept in memory a wax-taper is lit, meat and drink being also
sacrificed. To those no longer remembered a mutual taper
is also lighted. When crumbling bread and pouring gin into
the trough of the dead the Votiaks say: “ Ye long ago de-
ceased, may this food we are sacrificing to you reach you.”
In some places a farewell feast is still celebrated on the morn-
ing of the next day.


GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS


6 1


When the memorial feast lasts a day and night, the family
must see that the dead are not bored in any way and that
they do not go away hungry from the feast. In order to
amuse their dead relations, the Votiaks, among other things,
take them for a walk. They believe that near to every par-
ticipant in the feast there is a dead person of the same age,
who in his life-time was more intimate with him than with
anybody else, and it is therefore the duty of every participant
to amuse and regale the soul in his vicinity. According to the
belief of the Votiaks the deceased does everything that his
living relation of equal age does; the more cheerful the par-
ticipant is, the more cheerful is his dead friend; the more
sated he is, the fuller is the deceased. From this it follows
that, at the memorial feast, people eat and drink as much as
possible, so that the dead need not go away hungry. For the
same reason, it is not proper to work on this occasion, so as
not to vex the deceased by not only not amusing him, but by
actually compelling him to work. Therefore, also, people
do not go to bed during a memorial feast, as the deceased
who has been in company with the sleeping, might easily
sleep too long and thus remain among the living when the
other dead are taken to the burial ground . 1

The most remarkable of all the Volga peoples’ memorial
feasts is the one celebrated during Easter-week. The night
before Maundy Thursday is called “ the wandering-night of
the dead ” by the Votiaks. They believe that all the dead
then move about. On the night before, after sunset, these
rise from their graves and make for the villages. At night
one can even see them, if one turns one’s clothes inside out,
and, putting a horse-collar round one’s neck, goes up on the
roof of the house. But during this time the Votiaks take many
precautions. Thus, they do not work, nor do they heat the
oven, nor may they bring anything to the house, or take any-
thing away from it. In many places, they do not even feed
the cattle, at least not with their hands, the food being pushed


6 2


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


before the animals with their feet. In some parts the young
people are warned not to take even a stick or a distaff into
their hands, as the one who does this will be bitten by a snake
the following summer. In the night-time everything must be
still. Food must be set forth on every table, and it is even
carried to the bath-house, where the dead go to have baths.
During the feast, they place on a bench by the door pancakes,
pies, bread, cheese, eggs, etc., for the dead, and, in addition two
empty vessels, on whose brim they fix a little home-made wax-
taper for each of the dead relations retained in memory. On
the bench spoons are also placed for the invisible hands of
the spirits. When throwing food and pouring drink into the
vessels set forth for the dead, the Cheremiss say: “ Dead
people, eat, drink, give us health, peace, success and wealth;
multiply our cattle, make our corn grow, give us a good wind
for cleaning the corn, and protect us from destruction by fire,
water and evil spirits! ” In other places the door is opened,
and food is thrown over the threshold, with the saying: “Ye
deceased, eat and drink, do not be angry, do not go away
hungry, may ye live in light in the other world, may the
earth on your graves feel light, do not torment us, the sur-
vivors, with illnesses, do not attack our cattle and do not worry
us with other calamities!” The names of all the relations
retained in memory are mentioned at the feast. At the same
time the ruler of the graveyard is remembered. Even to the
dead that have no surviving relations they light a mutual
taper and throw some morsels of food. When the ceremonies
are over, the food of the dead is carried out into the yard,
where it is eaten by the dogs . 2

With this feast are frequently connected all kinds of pro-
tective ceremonies. Pervuchin relates of the Votiaks that on this
occasion they collect all sorts of weapons and go to the nearest
forest, shooting and shouting, in order to chase away wolves
and other beasts of prey. Having returned, they take a scythe,
a shovel or a spade, and some ashes from the hearth and draw


GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS 63

a ring round their houses to protect them from evil spirits,
who at this time are abroad everywhere. When going to bed,
they burn juniper in the hut, and shut the windows, the smoke-
hole and the openings under the floor, lest the spirits should
get in. In some places the young men sit armed all night on
the roof of the hut or the store-house to watch for these.
The spirits generally appear in the shape of a cat or a dog,
sometimes even in that of a wolf. Next morning, in the
yard, a fire of straw is made, over which the members of the
family jump one after another, to purify themselves. 3

The idea that the spirits of the dead walk about early in
spring is a common one among the Slavic and other East
European peoples. During the Christian era the above festival
coincided with the Easter festivities, but, in some parts, the
Cheremiss have retained for it a more original time, namely,
the first new moon in the month of March. 4

From the Russians, the above ideas reached the Orthodox
Esthonians, who were in the habit of celebrating a similar
memorial feast on Easter morning. The hostess spread a
clean table-cloth in the yard near the gate, and placing on it
every kind of food, milk, cheese, butter, meat, pies, etc., she
began calling the dead relations, saying: “Come, (the names
are mentioned), come yourselves and bring your children with
you, come and partake of our food and our drink! I invite
you in hospitable mood, with a tender heart} I serve you first,
and help myself afterwards.” Having kept silence for a
while, in order to give the dead people time to eat and drink,
she then began counselling them to return : “ Go away, let
it be enough of eating and drinking, go where ye were taken,
each to his place } lead the children by the hand, go away!”
The food of which the deceased had had their portion, was
taken back to the hut and placed on the table, round which
the family sat down to eat. 5

According to a general belief among the Baltic Finns, the
dead move about in autumn. The month of October is called


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


6 4

by the Esthonians “ the time of the spirits ” (Hingede aeg)
or “ the month of the spirits ” (Hingekuu). Occasionally,
this time lasts until November, which not infrequently is
called “ the month of the dead ” (Kooljakuu). The Catholic
festivities of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day were more
especially devoted to the dead. During these days it was
not permitted to shout or make a noise, huts were cleaned,
and food was set forth at night for the dead. The festivity
coinciding with the Catholic All Saints’ Day was called by the
Finns, Kekri, of which Agricola says: “ Kekri multiplied the
cattle.”

The oldest description of the Kekri-feast is to be found in
E. Castren’s narration about the neighbourhood of Kajana in
1754. He says that the Kekri-feast or All Saints’ Day was
celebrated in two different ways: partly in the pagan manner
in honour of the ancient Finnish god Kekri, partly in the
Catholic way, in honour of all the saints. According to the
heathen custom, a half-year-old sheep was killed either in
the evening before the feast-day or very early the next morn-
ing. The sheep was boiled, the bones being kept intact, and
it was not allowed to be tasted, not even to try its saltness,
before the carcase had been served whole on the table. Then
it had to be eaten until the last morsel had gone and no re-
mains were left. By Kekri other spirits also were meant, for
whom all sorts of eatables and drinkables were prepared on
the evening before the feast day, some in the cow-house for
the welfare of the cattle, others in the stable for luck with
horses, others under big trees and by huge stones in the fields
or in the forest, and yet others in all these places at once.
According to the Catholic way, the host received the saints
outside in the yard, in the darkness of the evening before the
feast, taking them to the bath-house, which had been particu-
larly cleaned and heated for their use and provided with cold
and hot water and “ bath-brooms.” A table with meat and
drink had also been placed there. The host waited on these


GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS 65

guests at certain fixed times, and finally, on the evening of
the following day, All Souls’ Day, late and in the dark, with
bared head, and pouring on the ground some beer and brandy,
he took his guests out of the yard. If, after the baths of the
“ saints,” there were straws in the water, it was the sign of a
good harvest, but if there were instead chips of wood or bits
of coal, it was a presage of famine. 6

To the celebration of the Kekri-feast belonged, further,
the custom of disguising oneself in curious costumes. Masks
for the face were made of birch-bark, paper, etc. People,
masked in this way, were called Kekritar. The latter wandered
unknown from house to house, from village to village, threat-
ening to pull down the ovens of the house, should these un-
common guests not be abundantly regaled and entertained.
During All Saints’ time it was also customary to regale beggars
with food.

As at the New Year’s festivities, the people tried to make
the spirits reveal coming events. The custom of casting tin,
and foreseeing events from the figure formed when the molten
tin was poured into water was of this character. Or, on the
night before Kekri, they walked under the windows to listen
to what was being talked about in the hut, and, from the con-
versation going on there, to infer what would happen during
the following year. Further, in the evening, they would
count the sticks in the oven, and if they were all there in the
morning, no one needed to trouble himself about possible
deaths in the following year, but otherwise there would be as
many deaths at the house as the number of the absent sticks
indicated. When making bread they took from the straw
as many ears of corn (rye) as there were members in the
family and pressed them into the bread. The one whose ear
was burnt up during the baking, would die before the next
Kekri-feast. When the loaves were taken out of the oven,
the master of the house cut a piece from one and let it
fall on the table. If the piece happened to fall with the


66


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


crust downwards, life would go well during the year; other-
wise some disaster was to be expected. In some neighbour-
hoods it was, moreover, customary, on the evening before All
Saints’ Day, to place on the window-sill one grain of salt for
each member of the family. He whose grain of salt melted
during the night, was to die. It was also customary to burn
Kekri-fires, most probably for the purpose of driving away
spirits. The fire was burnt on some hill and was made of
oakum mixed with straw. 7

A corresponding feast is known also among the Esthonians
and seems to be common among the Baltic Finns, though the
wandering-time of the dead has later been influenced by the
Catholics, who, since 835, have celebrated the first of Novem-
ber as All Saints’ Day and, since 998, the second of November
as All Souls’ Day. The name kekri or keyri seems further
to be known among the Russian Lapps ( kevre y kovre y “ a
sacrifice ”). 8

In Western Finland the belief prevails that the spirits
walk at Christmas. Even in our days young people are
in the habit of dressing up and masking themselves at Christ-
mas and going about the farms, where they are called
“ Christmas Mothers.” This custom together with the idea
behind it is borrowed from Scandinavia. Like the Scandi-
navians, the Lapps also believed that at Christmas the dead
left their underground dwelling and set out to wander through
the woods and fells. For this reason, the children had to keep
still during that time; if they made a noise, ghosts would
appear. When, on Christmas night, the shamans sat at the
entrance of their dwelling, they felt the spirits climbing over
their legs into the tent. Food, and particularly some water,
had to be set out when the spirits came. In order to protect
their wells from being destroyed by the spirits, the Lapps used
to throw pieces of metal into the water on “ the most danger-
ous evening.” If they did not treat the underground people
well, these might take a cruel revenge, e.g., suck out the brain


GENERAL MEMORIAL FEASTS 67

from a man’s head. These spirits, walking about at Christmas,
were called by the Lapps, “ the Christmas people.” 9

The keeping of Christmas by the Swedish Lapps in heathen
times is described by the missionary Graan, who says that the
Lapps then collected morsels from all the dishes prepared
for the feast and put them into a small trough of birch-bark,
shaped like a little sailing-boat with masts, sails and oars.
They then searched out the tallest pine-tree near the tent,
and into the tree nearest the pine they put the boat as high
up as their hands would reach, but in the trunk of the pine
they cut round figures on four sides. Into each
of these, every man in the village who had put
food into the trough, had to throw three spoon-
fuls of fat with his left hand. According to
Graan they also used to set up a tree, four yards
high, with twigs set half-way up it. This tree Lapp Christmas
was smeared with blood from a slaughtered
reindeer on Christmas Eve, and on its branches were put mor-
sels of the animal’s lungs, heart, tongue and lips. 10

Mallmer relates that at Christmas they made boats of fir,
three-quarters of a yard long, with masts, which were then
dedicated to “ the Christmas Master.” The boat with its
masts was smeared with reindeer-blood and here and there the
sign of the cross was drawn on it. 11 Hogstrom adds that the
sailing-boats were placed in tall trees, not in a hanging posi-
tion, but resting on branches. Even the pine was marked with
the sign of the cross and was smeared a good way upwards
from its root with reindeer blood. Moreover, it had been
customary, he says, to hang up a trough of birch-bark in tall
trees which were carved on two sides and marked with the
sign of the cross. Into the trough Christmas food, fish, cheese
and milk were laid. On its rim were stuck two spade-like
sticks, one foot long (most probably, as oars). This sacrifice
was made to a spirit called Ruotta, “ to prevent it from pierc-
ing the womb of the women.” 12



Fig. 3.


68


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


This sailing-boat sacrifice among the customs of the Lapps,
cannot fail to attract attention, as the Lapps themselves did
not use sailing-boats. With reason does Fritzner therefore
compare the “ Christmas people ” of the Lapps, who are fur-
thermore worshipped in connection with a foreign feast, with
the Icelanders’ Jolasveinar, who were also believed to move
about at Christmas . 13 Remains of this belief are met with still
in our days everywhere in Scandinavia. In Lapland the above-
named custom of sacrificing is limited to the Lapps of Scan-
dinavia.

A common feast in honour of the deceased, celebrated at a
time agreed upon by the relations, has been retained in East
Karelia. This feast was arranged by the owner of a farm
agreed on beforehand. Many animals were killed, and the
invited relations and friends brought with them food in abun-
dance. For the deceased a cloth was spread in a separate
room on a separate table, on which something, a spoon or a
dish, had to be laid every day for nine weeks. Into the walls
of the room many nails were driven, for the deceased to hang
their clothes on. The day before the feast the food was put
on the table, round which empty chairs were placed. The
windows were opened, after which all the family went to the
burial-ground to invite the deceased to the feast. Everyone
invited his kinsfolk, the women weeping aloud: “ Come and
bring with you your relations unto the ninth generation! Kins-
folk, bring all your acquaintances with you!” 14

According to the oldest sources, the Mordvins were earlier
in the habit of celebrating from time to time, after a longer
period, e.g., fifty years or so, a great common feast for a
large family, in honour of the deceased . 15

It is customary among the Cheremiss to celebrate a memorial
feast also in honour of the unknown deceased who have no
relations in life. Such deceased are called Utumo. Nowadays
these feasts are customary only among the Eastern Cheremiss.
The feast is celebrated in the village community in summer

[Prometheus]

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

[Prometheus]

FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


78

dog’s tail, live those who have sinned most. The journey
to the “ world of the dead” appears to be across water ; songs
relate how the dead are placed sitting in the boat of Khin-ort’s
(“ Prince of sickness ”) son. In the sagas, a world of the
dead is also mentioned, from which the Prince sends his
assistants to bring over the dead on a boat. Although the
view that the dead are treated in the underworld according
to their deeds in life, is unquestionably of later origin, it is
still probable that the Ob itself, with its “ downward-running ”
waters, has suggested the idea of a chasm in the dark, mys-
terious north, where the waters of the river are swallowed
up and the underworld opens its gloomy portals. The journey
there in a boat receives in these circumstances its natural ex-
planation . 19

As among the Scandinavians, where the road to Hel led
“ downward and northward,” Finnish poetry tells of Pohjola
(“ northern home ”) as being the home of the dead. A cor-
responding idea to it is the Norrhem of Swedish magic-songs.
Where this “ gloomy ” and “ dark ” place, as such called
Pimentola ( pmea — “ dark ”) was supposed to be situated,
is made clear by another name, Sarajas (from which Sarantola,
etc.), meaning originally “ sea ” and denoting the Northern
Arctic Ocean. The Esthonians called it Maksameri (= the
Lebermeer of the mediaeval German sagas) and believed it
to be a gathering-place for sorcerers, witches, etc. As in
Tuonela, so also, according to Finnish folk-poetry, in Pohjola
flowed a gloomy river ; both names occurring in the same song,
and meaning, obviously, one and the same place. This death-
river is also envisaged as a turbulent rapid, and is then gen-
erally called Rutja’s or Turja’s rapids, the name of the place
denoting a mystic neighbourhood far away in the north. From
the songs themselves it would appear that this “ awful stream,”
that u swallows up all waters,” where u the trees sink down-
ward their crowns,” and where “ the reeds fall downward,”
being therefore of the nature of a vortex, has its origin in



THE LIFE BEYOND


79


the idea of the Maelstrom. Sometimes these “ rapids ” are
said to be a “ flaming whirlpool,” a name perhaps connected
closely with the Aurora Borealis, explained by the Finns as
being “ the Fire of the Arctic Ocean.” Pohjola, to which a
“ gate ” gives entrance, is described in the magic songs as a
place breeding sickness and death, or “ the man-eating village ”
where the evil Pohjan-akka or -emanta (“mistress”} cf.
Lapp Jabme-akka) ruled . 20

Mingled with beliefs from Greek mythology, the paradise
of the eastern lands, through the medium of the Russian
Orthodox Church, has crept into the views of the Russian
Karelians concerning the life beyond. In a “ death-song ”
taken down in the Olonetz Government, and sung the moment
the “soul has flown,” the journey of the dead to the other
world is described in detail. In the opening lines the dead is
asked: “Who were they who took thy soul? Were they the
Archangels Michael and Gabriel with their angels and apostles?
Did they meet thee bearing candles of white wax? Did the
chief apostles, Peter and Paul, meet thee bearing golden plates
and golden eggs? Did Abraham and Isaac meet thee bearing
the keys from Abraham’s time with which to open the doors
of that distant time? Hadst thou during life (by good deeds)
redeemed for thyself the guides to that world? Did they
escort thy soul over lands rich with berries, over highly beauti-
ful heaths? Couldst thou with thine own hands pluck the
berries? Surely they refreshed thy soul with them, wert thou
not over reluctant to give away of thine own berries to others
during life? ” The song goes on to tell that the way to the
other world leads over roaring rapids and swiftly-moving
streams : “ Did an escort come to take thee over these with
oaken boats and oars of gold? Did they come without thy
calling, or hadst thou to shout with thy tired voice to them? ”
Over the river a dense forest grows: “ Hadst thou during life
redeemed the services of 1 the woodcutters, the roadmakers ’? ”
After that come very wide bubbling marshes: “Hadst thou


8o


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


during life redeemed ‘ the guide over the marsh ’ ? ” In the
marsh creep the ever-watchful serpents: “ Hadst thou during
life caused them to sleep? ” From the edge of the marsh three
pathways lead: “ Hadst thou during life redeemed the right to
the one on the utmost right? ” On that road the soul comes
to the blue bridge with parapets of reed, at the end of which
is a spring of water with a golden ladle for the cleansing
of the besmirched soul. There is also “ the bed of fishbone ”
in which to rest the weary limbs: “ Hadst thou redeemed
also those during the days of thy life? ” “ After these,
very great stretches of lush grass and wide fields open out
before thee. On the grass a table is decked from ‘the air to
the edge of the air.’ On the table many foods of which thou
needst not even eat, only to breathe in their direction to satisfy
thy stomach. Along the table run ‘ rivers of milk ’ and at
the place of each soul, a tree has grown giving fruits sweet
as honey. At the eastern end of the table is a balance, in which
the events of thy life are weighed. Didst thou in life redeem
the weighers in thy favour? ” 21

Here we thus meet, in the same song, ideas already known
to the ancients. The honey-tree and the “ rivers of milk ”
have prototypes in the tree and rivers of life in paradise.

During the pagan period, separate worlds for the good and
the bad dead were unknown. But, already at that time, there
seem to have been views that the dead attained to different
worlds, not on account of their deeds during life, but accord-
ing to that which had been the cause of their death. Those
who died in battle or as the result of some accident did not
go to the underworld but peopled another world up in the
heavens. The Cheremiss say that “ those who die in battle
or are killed by lightning go to heaven.” 22 In an old ac-
count of the Ostiaks’ religion, we read the following words:
“ If the beasts of the forest tear one asunder, or he is shot
in battle, his soul goes upward, but the souls of those dying a
natural death at home go downward.” In the same manner,


THE LIFE BEYOND


81


Strahlenberg relates: “ those who meet with a violent death or
are killed in a fight with the bear, go immediately to heaven,
but those dying a natural death in their beds or elsewhere
must worship for a long time a stern god under the earth,
before they can go up to heaven.” 23 Similar ideas are met
with in the folk-poetry of the Ostiaks. In a song from the
Irtysh it is told how the soul of a hero who, in the clash of
battle, has received a blow on the head rendering him un-
conscious, leaves the body to climb by a narrow stairway to
heaven, and how he is met by three red-legged squirrels who
say to him: “ This is our word: we eat our food in the midst
of human blood, we drink our drink in the midst of human
blood, go back!” When the soul of the hero returned, con-
sciousness returned also to him. In another story a hero in
heaven is accorded permission by the Heaven god to return
to earth to help his comrades who are in a great difficulty . 24

According to the Finnish Lapps the Aurora Borealis is “ the
dead in battle, who, as spirits, still continue battling with one
another in the air.” The Russian Lapps also declare the Au-
rora Borealis to be “ the spirits of the murdered.” These live
in a house, in which at times they gather together and begin
stabbing one another to death, covering the floor with blood.
“ They are afraid of the sun, hiding themselves from its
rays.” The Aurora Borealis appears “ when the souls of the
murdered begin their slaughter.” Hence the Lapps fear it . 25

The Esthonians

[Prometheus]

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


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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.

[Prometheus]

When the preparation, which may not be seasoned with salt,
is finally ready, the chief person deals out to each his share of
the meat, which the men sitting in their places begin to de-
vour; the women’s share is taken over to the dwelling-tent.
In the division of the meat certain rules are followed. Thus,


ANIMAL WORSHIP


9i

women may not partake of the fore part of the bear, this
belonging to the men, and the oldest man of the party must
eat from the hind part of the bear the three or four last joints
of the backbone . 18 It is also forbidden for women to eat the
more noble organs, in especial, the heart, “ the holy flesh,”
which the men devour greedily as the greatest delicacy. The
kidneys also are of great merit, not only as delicacies, but as
awakeners of love. Some suck in the gall of the bear to harden
their natures. It is not, however, advisable to besmear one’s
boots with fat from the bear, as the latter might thus find
out who it was who killed him . 19 When eating bear’s-meat,
knives or other metal aids may not be used, only the fingers
or pieces of wood being allowable. Neither may one save
anything for another occasion, but the whole of the meat must
be eaten at one sitting . 20

The men who carry over the women’s share to the dwelling-
tent are received by the women with showers of alder-bark
juice in the face and with glances through a brass ring. This
is also done by the women to the children coming from the
cutting-up place, their festival-portion undergoing the same
treatment. The first bite is taken through a ring of brass,
or the ring is at least held before the mouth while eating it.
Sticks of wood must all the time be used by the women during
the meal, as women may not touch bear’s-meat with their hands
at all . 21 Lastly the bear’s tail, which has been cooked unskinned
in a little lard, is brought into the tent. The twig mentioned
earlier is brought from its hiding-place, and all the women and
children present bind brass rings to it as ornaments . 22 When
everything eatable has been chewed off the tail and the last
speck of lard sucked from among the hair, the tail is tied to the
branch and returned to the men. The women then cover their
faces and are kissed and thanked by the men for not having in
any way disturbed the bear feast.

In the notes of the unknown author of the eighteenth century
we find many of the songs sung at the bear feasts. From them


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


92

it would appear that the Lapps, like the Voguls and Ostiaks, had
some kind of dramatic ceremonies at these feasts, in which the
bear also is regarded as appearing. In the name of the bear
the Lapps sing: “ Now come I from great wide forests, where
I lived, to thickly-peopled districts,” or: “I thought of re-
turning to my old place, but these young men hindered my
journey.” 23

As mentioned earlier, the Lapps do not break the smallest
bone of the bear, but prepare a resting-place in a hole dug in
the ground of about the size of the animal, on the bottom of
which twigs form a soft bed. The bones are all placed in this
grave in the order which they occupy in the bear. Should a
dog have happened to devour or take away any of the bones,
the missing bone or bones are taken from the dog . 24 The skin
of the nose, borne hitherto by the flayer of the head, is now put
back in its place, likewise the sexual organs and the tail. The
rings hung on this last by the women are taken off, being used
afterwards, e.g., for decorating the magic drum; or the one who
tracked the bear may sometimes receive them as reward for the
bear’s-meat to which he has invited the others. The final fate
of the plaited birch-twig mentioned earlier, kept wrapped in a
cloth on account of its supreme holiness, and to the ring in the
end of which the tail was bound, is not given. It would appear,
however, from the notes left by the Lapp Spirri Nils that
“ when they have cooked the flesh of the bear they gather
together all the joints of the backbone, threading them on a
twig in their natural order, later fastening also the head to
it.” 26 In this way the tail attached to the twig would fall
naturally into its place. A vessel made of birch-bark and filled
with alder-bark juice is also placed before the nose of the bear.
The significance of this vessel is unknown. The custom of
the Ostiaks and Voguls of placing food in a vessel before the
nose of a fallen bear might be compared with the above.
Sometimes, other objects also were laid in the grave of a bear
— skis, a plane, a knife, etc . 20


ANIMAL WORSHIP


93


After having, as above, ceremoniously buried the bear, the
Lapps speak in a friendly manner to it, begging it to run about
and relate to the other bears the great honour that befell it,
so that these may not be afraid and show resistance when being
captured. The grave is then covered carefully with logs and
branches of fir to prevent dogs or beasts of prey from seizing or
disturbing the dead one. In some districts it is the custom to
set up a little wooden spear on the bear’s grave as a monument.

All the Lapps do not make the graves alike 5 some make
them smaller but deeper, and place the bones upright in them.
At the bottom they place the hind-legs, on these in their right
order the other bones, and finally the head, by which they place
the bark- vessel with its contents of alder-bark juice. Accord-
ing to other reports, the Lapps also tied together the bones of
the bear and hung them up in trees at the spot where the bear
was killed. 27

During the whole of the meal-time the bear’s skin, which,
especially at the head, had been decorated with all kinds of
brass ornaments and rings and sprinkled over with alder-bark
juice, has been hidden away under branches of fir. It is now
taken from its hiding-place and spread out on a snowdrift or
against a tree near the tent. And now comes the last of the
bear feast games. The women are led veiled from the tent
and a bow or a twig of alder is placed in their hands with which
they must, following the directions of the men, take aim at the
bearskin. Lucky the one who hits the skin, as this is regarded
as a sign that her husband will be the next to kill a bear.
Should she be unmarried, she can live cheerfully in the certain
hope of being one day the wife of a celebrated bear-hunter. 28
The honour of sewing crosses with metal wire on pieces of
cloth, which are then hung round the neck of every man who
has taken part in the bear hunt, falls also to her lot. Even the
reindeer used for dragging the bear is given one of these orna-
ments. The veils are then taken off the women and they are
allowed to look at the magnificent skin of the bear, but even


94


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


now, only through a ring of brass. The brass ornaments on
the skin are not taken away at this conclusion to the festival,
but are left on until the skin has dried and is ready for use.

When the bear feast is ended, the men do not at once go into
the dwelling-tent, but delay some time still in the cutting-up
tent. It is not seemly, according to the Lapps, for a hunter to
approach his wife for three days after the killing of a bear.
The leader of the expedition must abstain from his wife for
five days. They must also purify themselves by peculiar cere-
monies, carried out after sunset on the third day after the kill.
All who have taken part in the hunt wash themselves with a
solution of birch-ash in water and afterwards run three times
round the cutting-up tent, jump into the dwelling-tent through
the door and immediately out again, in again and out through
the holy backdoor of the tent. While running they imitate
the growling of the bear. Finally the wife of the bear-killer
catches hold of them and asks when the next bear feast is to be.
On these occasions she is said always to have mittens on her
hands. According to Rheen the purification takes place in such
a manner that the men run singing round the fire a few times
and then jump one after the other through the door, an old
woman throwing hot ashes after each as they do so. After this
the men take off their brass ornaments and may without danger
return to their wives . 29 To the memory of each bear killed,
the Lapps hammered a copper nail in their spears, their gun or
the magic drum, the felling of a bear having always been re-
garded as a great honour . 30

Like the bear of the forests, the polar bear is also an object
of worship among the Lapps. When the drift-ice sometimes
brings with it in the spring a polar bear to the shores of the
Kola Peninsula, the Lapps quickly capture it. Having suc-
ceeded in killing it, they are merry and play like children, e.g.,
they creep over the bear roaring as it used to do, extolling at
the same time their own bravery. They then make a log-fire
round which they sit long and sing. Now and then they rise


ANIMAL WORSHIP


95

and bow to the bear. Finally they place a piece of salt fish in
the mouth of the animal and say: “ Thou shalt not tell at home
that thou paidst a visit to us and received nothing, the others
may come also, them also shall we feed.” Their last words
express a pious hope that the bear will tell all its relations
what brave men the Lapps are . 31

The bear feast ceremonies of the other peoples mentioned
correspond in their main points with those related here. A
very common custom is to place the bear or its head or its
skin for the period of the feasting in the sacred back part of
the dwelling-place, where women are not allowed to go.
Somewhat resembling the magic protective use of alder-bark
by the Lapps is the Finnish custom of chewing a piece of alder-
wood before the skin of the bear is brought into the house
“ so that the forest shall not infect anything .” 32 Thus,
among the Ostiaks it is the fashion when the huntsmen re-
turn to the village with the bear-skin for the men and women
of the village to go out to meet them, some bearing a dish of
water and a “ smoke ” in their hands. The bear-skin is smoked,
and sprinkled three times with water. Very general is the
use of metal objects as means of protection. More difficult
to derive is the Ostiak custom of cutting a picture of the bear
on a flat surface chopped out of a tree-trunk and cutting over
this as many lines as there were hunters in the kill. While
the picture is being made, one of the men strokes the bear’s
head with dry branches, “ waking ” it to let it know that they
have arrived at the village. A means of protection used often
at burial feasts — the covering of the nose and mouth of the
dead — is met with among the Ostiaks and Voguls. Round
pieces of birch-bark are sewn on to the eyes of the bear, or
these are covered with silver or copper coins, and the nose
is covered with a piece of tin-plate which is fastened from its
sides by threads behind the ears. Thus arrayed, the bearskin
is placed in the sacred back part on a low table with the head
resting on the forepaws. A many-coloured cloth is spread


9 6 FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY

over the back. In some districts a hat was placed on the head
of a male animal and a muffler round its neck, while a female
animal was decorated with a small shawl round its head and
a pearl necklace round its neck. Women and children slip
brass rings on to its claws “ so that it should not scare them
during berrying time in the summer.” On the table all kinds
of victuals and drink are placed before the bear, even the
neighbours bringing these. The skin is allowed to remain for
three or four days in the house, during which time festivals
are held each evening, banquets are eaten and much merriment
made in honour of the bear. The participants must arrive
“ purified,” and are sprinkled with water as they enter. The
festivals generally begin in the afternoons. Included in the
programme are bear songs in which the birth of the bear, its
adventures with the hunters, and its life after death are de-
scribed 5 dances are performed, the dancers wearing bearskins
turned inside out; the bear and its actions are imitated by pe-
culiar movements. 33 Among the Voguls these bear-feast games
have developed into a kind of drama in which masked men ap-
pear. The masks are made of birch-bark, generally with huge
noses, and are painted over with charcoal and red earth. Some-
times a beard is affixed to them made of a piece of hairy rein-
deer-hide or oakum. The purpose of the masks is said to be
to hide the actors from the bear so that should the latter be
offended by the play he will not recognize them. For the
same reason the performers alter their voices, talking chiefly
in a shrill falsetto. Everyone tries to make the bear believe
they are not from the village in question, but travellers from
a long way off. Without doubt the origin of the masks is to
be found in the fear that the bear might recognize its killers
after death and avenge itself. To the most original cere-
monies, i.e., those picturing the life and hunting of the bear,
others have been added later, some of these borrowing their
form from such modern sources as the Russian baptism cere-
monies. 34
































H7 r, ?







t 'ij - , ol i ilno ni bailesra nn ??: k! ? ifi'T

9o 2) .msri) -gnt.yinio. :-ri rn n'i : - ad
.t>3>io r.r.^1 .1. .T . 7.d riqsrso.? :iq r
















PLATE VII


Masker’s Frolic at the Vogul Bear-Feast

The players are masked in order to prevent the
bear from recognizing them. (See page 96.)

After photograph by J. A. Kannisto.






ANIMAL WORSHIP


97

At sunrise after the last feast night the skin is borne out
through the window to the warehouse-shed where the dish
first placed on the table before it in the house is placed in
front of it. After two or three days the hunters gather together
again in the house and then go into the shed, where each takes
a morsel of food from the dish and eats it “ for luck.” 30

From the prayers and wishes made by the Ostiaks to the
dead bear, it appears plainly that in doing honour to it they
wish to honour the whole race of bears. As an example of
this the words of the Ostiak woman as she places a ring in
the bear’s claw may be cited : “ When I go to gather berries,
go thou round one tree, round two trees.” When they set
food before the bear-skin they say: “ Do not touch my horse
or my cow, I placed the dish before thee.” 36

The Finns called the bear feast “ the wedding.” The
house had to be cleaned and everyone clad in his or her best.
A young man was arrayed as a bridegroom and a young girl
as a bride, or one only of these was chosen: a bridegroom if
the bear was a female, and a bride if a male. The head of
the bear was placed highest on the table and the rest of the
meat in its natural order. In the place of honour sat the
bridegroom and bride. The singing of runes in honour of
the bear was customary among the Finns, certain of these be-
ing sung while the bear was carried to the house. In these the
hunters endeavoured to show themselves innocent of the kill-
ing of the bear, declaring that the bear had wounded itself
or that they had taken its life by accident. Arrived at the
house-door the hunters asked singing whether the floor had
been scrubbed and the room cleaned, or also singing urged
the womenfolk to get out of the way and to beware of the
holy bear . 37

That the object of the ceremonies with the Finns was to
ensure good bear-luck in hunting, appears from the oldest
account of their bear feast ceremonies. Bishop Rothovius, in
his speech at the inauguration of the University of Abo in


FINNO-UGRIC MYTHOLOGY


98

1640, relates the following concerning the customs of the
Finns: “ When they capture a bear, they must hold a feast in
the dark, drinking the health of the bear from its skull, act-
ing and growling like the bear, procuring in this way further
success.”

The skull of the bear had to be left overnight on the table
and taken the following morning, ceremoniously as at a wed-
ding, to a certain tree. First went the “ bridegroom ” and
“ bride ” side by side, after these a man carrying beer in a
vessel, after him a singer, then the one who carried the skull,
and lastly the rest of the people.

The Samoyeds, who like the Finns specially preserve the
skull, hang it up in a tree or place it on the end of a long pole,
generally near a road. 38

Like the bear, other wild animals had also to be treated
with honour. More particularly the wild reindeer and other
scarce and valuable animals had to be received with special
ceremonies. The Ostiaks, when they kill a stag or an otter,
often cut pictures of these in a pine near the village as they
do with the bear. 39

• An important question is the original purpose behind the
Lapps’ method of carefully preserving all the bones of beasts
of prey. That this care was not only expended on the bones
of the bear is shown by an account from the year 1724: “ The
bones of the bear, the hare, and the wild-cat must be buried in
dry sand-hillocks or clefts between rocks where neither dog
nor other prowling animal can reach them. This is because
these animals lived on dry land; the bones of those living in
in the water are hidden in springs.” 40 Even today the Lapps
in some districts have a custom of throwing the bones of the
fish caught by them, as far as possible complete, into the water
again. 41 Sometimes the skeletons of wolves were hung up in
trees. 42 Similar accounts are preserved of the Samoyeds.
These also do not give the bones of forest animals to the dogs,
but, as far as possible, preserve them. The Yuraks, for


ANIMAL WORSHIP


99


example, hang up the bones of the fox and the skulls of many
other animals in trees . 43 In the slaughtering of domestic
animals similar ceremonies were also observed. The Lapps
exercised the same care for the bones of the reindeer, which
also they buried carefully in the ground . 44

Similar usages throwing light on these customs are found
among many other primitive peoples. Thus, for example,
we know that the American Indians arranged the bones of
the bison which they had killed in their natural order on the
prairies, with the intention that the animal might come to
life again for the next hunting season. The Eskimos throw
the bones of seals into the water in order to be able to catch
them afresh. In some mysterious way, life is held to exist
while the skeleton is in existence. That this belief was not
alien to the Finno-Ugric stocks is shown by the words of an
old Lapp who, when asked why he placed the head, the legs
and the wings of a capercailzie on a rock, explained that “ from
them new birds would grow which he could shoot again.” 45
The same belief has caused the preservation of the bones of
the bear. The unknown author, whose account has already
been cited, remarks in his description of a Lapp bear feast’:
“ They believe that the bear will arise again and allow itself
to be shot.” 46

[Prometheus]

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.