Ukko

Ukko (Finnish: [ˈukːo]),^[3] is a thunder and weather^[4] god in Finnish mythology.

Unto Salo believes that Ilmari, the Finnic sky god, is the origin of Ukko, but that as Ukko Ilmari experienced very significant, although far from total, influence from the Indo-European sky god especially in the form of Thor.^[5][6] Eemil Nestor Setälä also stated that Ukko can't be a very old name for a god and that the thunder god cult among Finns was of Germanic origin.^[7] According to Martti Haavio, the name Ukko was sometimes used as a common noun or generalised epithet for multiple deities instead of denoting a specific god.^[8]

Ukko is parallel to Uku in Estonian mythology,^[9] but it is highly debated if such god was ever worshipped in Estonia. According to the Etymological Dictionary of the Finnish Language, the word was loaned into Estonian from Finnish and the first to use it in the sense of a high god was Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald in the 1830s. Kaarle Krohn believed Kreutzwald had confused the Finnish Ukon vakka and Ingrian Ukko vak, a sacrifice to Ukko, with the Estonian Tõnni vak, a sacrifice to the household spirit. There has also been a mention of sacrificial stones in Estonia called Ukko's stones. According to Oskar Loorits, Kreutzwald had copied "high god Uku" from Finnish Christfried Ganander, but the Ukko cult had many Scandinavian features which had also spread to the coasts of Virumaa, Estonia.^[7]

Ukkonen, the Finnish word for thunder, is the diminutive form of the name Ukko.^[a][b] Ukko is Finnish for 'male grandparent', 'grandfather', and 'old man'.^[10][11]

According to Matthias Castrén, Ukko as the name of a god can't be very old, or at least not the oldest, because it does not exist in a wider Finno-Ugric area apart from Finland, Estonia and, in a slightly modified form, Lapland. The mainly western word Äijä (Finnish: [ˈæi̯jæ]), which has the same meaning as the word ukko, could also be connected to a thunder god: In Uusimaa, äijä jyrittää (lit. 'old man is rumbling') has meant thunder. Salo and Uno Harva have also pointed out the Estonian terms äiä hoog ("thunder rain") and äikene ("thunder"). Thunder is also connected to a "grandfather" in Selkup, languages with a distant relation to Finnish, where thunder can be called iĺč́a totta (lit. 'grandfather is cursing'). Sometimes iĺč́a (lit. 'grandfather') is replaced with Nom (lit. 'god, sky'): numi̬t č́ari̬ (lit. 'voice of Num/sound of the sky').^[7] Similar meaning is found from some of the names of the Sámi thunder god: Aija, Aije, or Aijeke.^[12]

In runic songs, Ukko is also given the epithet ylijumala (lit. 'High God'), which earlier writers have understood meaning Ukko's role as the supreme god and ruler of other gods. Julius Krohn emphasised that Ukko was not the leader of other gods, stating that this hierarchy had been created by Lönnrot. According to Haavio, this epithet refers to Ukko's location: on high in the sky. Haavio also brought up the name Remu which appears in runic songs, suggesting it to be a loan from Slavic languages (compare to Russian and Old Slavonic grom "thunder").^[4] The name Tuuri appeared in Western Finland for a thunder god, loaned from Thor.^[13]

Other names for Ukko include Pitkänen (pitkä, 'long'), Isäinen (isä, 'father'), Isoinen (iso, archaic form of the above, modern meaning 'great', 'big' or 'large'). These could be euphemisms, as Jacob Fellman wrote the Sámi didn't dare to utter the name of their thunder god when it was thundering, and the same could've been true for Finns. Forest Finns used the euphemisms ylkäinen and ylikäinen, meaning something or someone who is above. A similar meaning for the name of a thunder god exists among the Sámi as Pajonncode: sme promoted to code: se ,^[1] which might also be loaned as Pajainen in Savo.^[4]

A runic song from South Ostrobothnia mentions Pitkämöönen striking fire.^[1] In the same context, another runic song from South Ostrobothnia mentions Väinämöinen in this part,^[14] and a runic song from Kainuu mentions Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen (Ilman rinta).^[15]

In 1782, Christian Erici Lencqvist said Ukko seemed to have been the chief god of Finland, which was later repeated by Elias Lönnrot and Matthias Castrén. Julius Krohn opposed this view. Kaarle Krohn called Ukko a thunder god who had received features of a Christian protector of everything. Ukko's thunder and refreshing rain were vital for the growth of crops, but he was also asked to help in various kinds of situations, such as labour, weddings, healing the sick, setting cattle on the fields and slaughtering them, hunting, fishing, when in court, etcetera.^[4] At this point, Ukko had become a ruler of the sky with features of the Christian God.^[16] While making the Kalevala, Lönnrot wanted to emphasise the supposed "good" proto-monotheistic nature of Finnish paganism and began to systemically refer to Ukko as the supreme god.^[17]

Ukko likely developed from Baltic influence which reached Finland with the Corded Ware culture. Later, he was influenced by the Scandinavian thunder god, Thor.^[17] Ukko shares many similarities with Thor as a club or sword wielding ruler of storms and lightning. According to Anna-Leena Siikala, Ukko's importance grew due to the rise of slash-and-burn agriculture, which resulted in the Vakkajuhlat ritual beer festival which was held until the 19th century. This beer festival also had its Baltic equivalents.^[16]

According to Salo, Ukko and Ilmarinen are from their roots the same Indo-European human formed thunder god. Examples of a personified thunder or thunder god can be found among both Finno-Ugrics and Indo-Europeans.^[7] The one who strikes fire in the origin of fire runic song, and is therefore the lord of the thunderstorm, is typically called Ilmarinen or Ilman ukko ("old man of the sky") by forging with eagle (kokko) feathers. While Harva thought Ilmarinen is the primary figure of this position, it alone is not sufficient to categorize Ilmarinen as a true thunder god.^[18] Siikala thought Ilman ukko was thunder itself, and Ilmarinen would've taken over its role in the song in inland Finland to emphasise the differences between fire, water (Väinämöinen) and air (Ilmarinen). In Latvian mythology, the sky smith (Debess kalējs) or a parallel figure of the thunder god or sky god forges so that coals fall into the sea or the river Daugava.^[7] Though Ukko gained the role of a controller of rain and weather for the purposes of agriculture, Ilmarinen kept a role as a wind god.^[17]

Prior to a human-form thunder deity, it seems that Finns believed thunder to be caused by the thunder eagle. Echoes of this can still be seen with Ilmarinen forging with eagle feathers.^[17] In a runic song from Kuusamo, a spark of fire is born when an eagle's claws hit a rock.^[19] This eagle or bird from Pohjola is also able to spit fire, further confirming the thunderbird imagery. Forest Finns believed the eagle to be Ukko's helper, who drove away Ukko and Väinämöinen's enemy, Loho. Loho travelled in a raven-form, bringing wolves with her to devour cattle. To please Ukko, and to keep Loho away, Forest Finns kept a woodgrouse's wing on an altar shelf (lykkylauta).^[20]

Although portrayed active in myth, when appealed to Ukko makes all his appearances in legend solely by natural phenomena.^[21]

Ukko possessed a weapon, often a hammer called Ukonvasara (Ukko's hammer), sometimes also an axe (Finnish: Ukonkirves) or a sword, by which he struck lightning (see thunderbolt). Ukko's weapon was largely comparable to the Norse Mjölnir, and Iron Age emblematic pendants depicting hammers and axes similar or identical to Scandinavian specimens have been unearthed in Finland. Like Mjölnir, Ukko's weapon has been linked by some to the boat-shaped battle axes of the Corded Ware culture.

Thunderbolts were sometimes called Ukon vaaja (bolt of Ukko) or Ukon nuoli (arrow of Ukko). It is possible that the Birch bark letter no. 292, written in a Baltic-Finnic language and unearthed in Novgorod, makes use of the metaphor, also referring to Ukko as doom-god according to one interpretation translated by Yuri Yeliseyev in modern English and interpreted in modern Finnish: God's arrow, ten [is] your name. This arrow is God's own. The Doom-God leads.^[22] The name Ukon vaaja was also used of Neolithic stone tools such as battle axes, which were employed as thunderstones to be buried at the corners of dwellings

Thunderstorms were sometimes interpreted as result of Ukko copulating with his wife Maaemä (lit. 'earth mother'; also called Akka lit. 'old woman').^[1] However, according to Martti Haavio, the text written by Mikael Agricola which has been used to justify this interpretation is a misunderstanding. He argued that Agricola's text mentioned two completely different gods, a fertility god Rauni-ukko and his wife, whose copulation would result in fertile fields.^[23] Ukko also was believed to cause thunderstorms by driving his chariot through the skies.

Neolithic stone carvings have been found in Russian Karelia which have features of both snakes and lightning. It is, however, uncertain whether these are directly connected to the figure of Ukko. Evidence for worship of snakes is found among different cultures around the Baltic, including the Estonians and Finns.^[24]

There is evidence that the rowan tree was held sacred to Ukko.^[4] Rauni, a vaguely defined being has been hypothesised to be cognate to Germanic words for the rowan tree through Old Norse: *raunir.^[8]

The ladybird was also considered sacred to Ukko and called ukonlehmä (Ukko's cow).^[13] The Finnish name of the great mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is ukontulikukka (Ukko's fire flower), also linked to worship of Ukko.^[25]

Before the advent of Christianity, the Midsummer festival in Finland, today known as Juhannus after John the Baptist (Finnish: Johannes Kastaja), was held in honor of Ukko and called Ukon juhla (Festival of Ukko). This tradition carried to the 19th century.^[26]

Also dedicated to Ukko were the Vakkajuhlat (Vakka festival) also known as Ukon vakat (Ukko's vakkas) or simply vakat (Vakkas). Vakkas were commonly held in May coinciding with the spring sowing. During Vakkas it was customary to consume or otherwise offer a container or some other vessel (Finnish: vakka) of an alcoholic beverage or food as sacrifice. It appears that often the festival was held in the community's sacred grove or hiisi where an animal sacrifice was sometimes also performed as part of the same festival. This ceremony was believed to guarantee good weather for the coming year and thus a good harvest.^[4]

It appears that the vakka tradition was rather lively. The last uncontested reports of Vakkas being held originate in the 19th century, although sporadic reports also surface in the 20th century.^[4] The festival is also mentioned by the Finnish reformer Mikael Agricola in his account of what from his point of view was Finnish idolatry.^[27]

A number of toponyms in Finland and surrounding regions contain some form of the name Ukko.

• Ukko-Koli, Lieksa, Northern Karelia
• Ukonkivi, Lake Inari, Finnish Lapland
• Ukonvuori, Enonkoski, Southern Savonia
• Ukonvuori, Konnevesi, Central Finland

The Weather Channel list of winter storms for 2012 list Ukko as one of the alphabetic names they used.^[28]

• Suomenusko (Finnish Faith) or Ukonusko (Faith of Ukko), the Finnish polytheistic reconstructionist movement