Learn Finnish Mythology: Tree Worship and Tree Spirits

The oldest story about metsänpeitto is a warning story. Be careful not to get lost in the forest because fairies and elves will put an enchantment upon you and you can never find your way back home. These similar trickster stories are well-known around the world. In Ireland and Wales, you can get trapped under similar enchantment when you step into a fairy ring. Stories in Finland are no different. A person gets distracted by something. Perhaps they see a willow wisp and decide to follow it. They enter into the fairy-realm where everything is upside down. When they finally find their way out back to the human world 50 years might have passed.

Birch twigs were used as wands to cast protective spells over the cattle in Finland and Russia. These "wands" were used to guard cows, and the milk they produced was thought to be superior to birch sap. Some nations in Southern Europe also followed a similar tradition. Homes were once decked with birch branches for Mother's Day and the summer solstice festival because they were thought to symbolize the coming of summer. For the entire upcoming year, bundles constructed of birch twigs were prepared during the summer.

In Finnish folklore and mythology, the spruce tree is connected to the moon and night and pines are trees of the sun and the day. Perhaps this has something to do with the Finnish word for the moon – kuu. The Finnish word for spruce, kuusi, is a proto-Finno Ugric word.

In Finnish linden is known as ”lehmus”. It is believed to mean a soft tree. Another older name for linden is Niinipuu. Niini refers to the fibers inside the bark, that people used for weaving. Linden spread to Finland about 8000 years ago. It was used to make all kinds objects everything from shoe soles to baskets and carpets.

In the Finnish language, the word "Willow" has two different names. There is a willow bush called "paju." The word "Paju" has Finno-Ugric roots, while the word "raita," which comes from Baltic languages and means "willow tree," also has Finno-Ugric roots. Willow has a 50–80 year lifespan and experiences rapid growth. Willow flourishes in areas with plenty of sunlight and close to bodies of water.

In Finnish mythology and folklore the pine tree is connected to several different deities such as Ukko, the god of sky and thunder, and Bear, the mythical ancestor. In Finnish folklore pines are traditionally considered to be masculine trees, the reason for this is most likely the tree’s phallic shape.

People have been growing apple trees in Finland since the 16th century. First in the gardens of manors, these apple trees were brought from Estonia, Sweden and Germany. In Finnish apple is omena. The origin of the word is a bit of a mystery, because it hardly has any relatives in other languages. Some have suggested that it might be a borrowed word from Iranian words for apples amuno and amun.

Lilac is a feminine tree connected to the water element. It symbolizes peace and serenity. Scent of the lilac is believed to drive away malicent people, thieves, witches and tricksters. Many years ago, men who tricked ladies used to give them lilacs, so that they would not raise doubts. In England lilac is also known as ”fox's tail because of this very reason.

Larch was a very popular tree among the shamans. In the mythology of the Saami, and Siberian tribes believed the world tree was a larch tree called Tuuru. In the mythology the top of the larch was so high it would reach the sky and the home of the gods and in the tent of the shaman, the central stick that hold the tent together was also called as Tuuru, and it symbolized the world tree, and through the world tree the soul of the shaman traveled into the spirit world in trance. A lot of times the back of the shaman was also built from larch, so the shaman was also part of tuuru.