Stories of Lapland

The Kalevala

The Kalevala is Finland's national epic. Elias Lönnrot gathered old sung poems from rune singers, mostly in Karelia, and published the work in 1835, with a longer edition in 1849. It shaped the Finnish language and identity, and Kalevala Day is still celebrated on 28 February.

Much of the story turns towards the north. Pohjola, "the North Land", is a dark and cold realm ruled by Louhi, its powerful mistress. The smith Ilmarinen forges the Sampo for her, a mysterious mill that grinds out grain, salt and riches. Later the heroes Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen sail to Pohjola to take it back, and the Sampo breaks into pieces in the struggle at sea. In another poem Louhi steals the sun and the moon and hides them inside a mountain, until Ilmarinen forces her to release them. On a dark December day in Levi, that story is easy to understand.

The forest and its guardians

In old Finnish belief the forest had its own rulers: Tapio, the king of the forest, and Mielikki, its mistress, who decided whether a hunter would have luck. People spoke quietly in the forest and showed it respect. A little of that feeling remains today: many Finns still go to the forest to be quiet.

Väki, the power in all things

In old Finnish belief, power was not only in gods. Väki was a force that lived in places, materials and people: the forest had its väki, as did water, earth, fire and iron. A tietäjä, a wise one, knew how to handle it. One key was knowing the origin, synty, of a thing: if you could sing how iron was born, you had power over a wound made by iron. In the Kalevala, Väinämöinen is the great tietäjä, and he wins a singing contest by singing his young rival Joukahainen into a swamp.

The strength of women

Women had their own väki, and folklore research describes it as strong enough to protect a home and turn away harm. The sauna was a women's place too: children were born there, and the sick were healed there. Much of the old poetry survives because women sang it. Larin Paraske, an Ingrian rune singer, knew over a thousand poems, some 32,000 lines of verse, and is remembered as one of the great keepers of the tradition.

The most powerful figure in the Kalevala is a woman. Louhi, the mistress of Pohjola, bargains with the heroes, sets them impossible tasks and, in the battle for the Sampo, turns herself into a giant eagle carrying her warriors under her wings.

The famous sorcerers of the North

For centuries the far North had a reputation across Europe as a land of magic. In 1555 the Swedish writer Olaus Magnus described northern people selling winds to sailors, tied in three knots in a cord: open the first for a gentle breeze, the second for a strong wind, and never the third. Shakespeare mentions "Lapland sorcerers" in The Comedy of Errors, and Milton writes of "Lapland witches" in Paradise Lost. In the Norse sagas, people went to the "Finns" of the north to learn magic.

Behind the legend were real traditions. The Sámi noaidi was a healer and mediator between worlds, who used a drum to travel in trance. The word "witch" was an outsider's label, and it did harm: in the 1600s and 1700s many Sámi drums were confiscated and burned, and in the witch trials of Finnmark in northern Norway, Sámi were among those executed. The Steilneset memorial in Vardø remembers them.

The sauna

For Finns the sauna is not only a place to wash. It is a place to stop. The heat slows you down, the steam, löyly, rises from the stones, and for a while there is nothing to do but breathe. An old saying goes that in the sauna you behave as you would in church. People believed the sauna had its own guardian, the saunatonttu, who looked after those who treated the sauna with respect. In 2020 Finnish sauna culture was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.

A calm sauna is simple. Sit quietly, breathe slowly and let the heat do its work. Throw a little water on the stones when you want more löyly. Step out to cool down, in the snow if you like, then rest before the next round. Afterwards many people feel clean, light and very sleepy.

Remember to drink water before, during the breaks and after. Leave the sauna if you feel dizzy or unwell.

Revontulet, the fox fires

The Finnish word for the northern lights, revontulet, means "fox fires". A well-known folk explanation says that an arctic fox runs across the fells and sweeps the snow with its tail, sending sparks into the sky.

The Sámi

The Sámi are the only indigenous people of the European Union, and their homeland, Sápmi, stretches across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Long before the ski resort, the lands around Levi were home to the Sámi, who lived from reindeer, fishing and hunting. Many place names in Lapland come from Sámi languages.

In Sámi tradition the northern lights, guovssahasat, are treated with respect. An often-told custom says you should not whistle, wave or call out at them. Sacred places, sieidi, are often unusual rocks or fells where offerings were made. If you come across one, leave it as it is.

To learn about Sámi culture from the Sámi themselves, visit the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida in Inari, about 175 km, roughly two and a half hours by car from Levi.