clouds. Three blows of the copper hatchet
sufficed to bring down the tree, which had
completely defied the strength of the strongest
mortal. Far less reputable is the character
of Turso, a mischievous water-deity, whose
malignity, it may be supposed, is greater than
his power, for when he once raised a storm
for the purpose of upsetting a boat that
carried the hero Wäinämöinen, that great
man, observing him at the boat-side, pulled
him out of the water by his two ugly
ears, and would not let him go till he had
solemnly promised never to show himself
again.

The earth, bountiful to the children of the
South, is niggardly to the Finns, and
consequently the Finns show it but slight veneration.
There is, indeed, a certain Maan Emo,
or earth mother, a clever Pellervoinen, or
son of the fields, who, at a short notice, can
cover a barren soil with vegetation, and,
according to Agricola, each species of corn had
its presiding deity; but the records of these
personages are so meagre, that they scarcely
become personified at all.

One class of terrestrial deities stands,
however, far above the rest; namely, the deities
of the forest, whose superior rank may be
attributed to the fact that, among the Finns
hunting was a more important occupation
than agriculture. Their chief is Tapio, who
is represented as an old man with a dark
brown beard, a hat woven from the needle-
shaped leaves of the fir-tree, and a raiment
of moss. Tapio has a wife, named Miellikki,
who, as well as himself, is treated with great
respect, but whose personal appearance seems
to have varied with the luck of the hunter.
When the chase turns out well, she is described
as a lovely benignant-looking lady,
with golden ornaments on her head, hands,
and finger's, pearls in her eye-brows, blue
stockings on her feet, and red shoe-strings.
On the other hand, if the hunter is unfortunate,
Miellikki is regarded as a hideous being,
with ornaments fashioned of twigs, ragged
clothes, and shoes made of grass. Nor do
these opposite descriptions merely represent
the temper of the devotee. It is firmly
believed that when she is kindly disposed she
puts on her handsome face and best
accoutrements, and that she becomes ugly and
shabby when she means to be malicious. On
the same principle, Tapiola, the palace of
the forest deities, is a stately or a mean abode
according to the temporary disposition of
the inhabitants. In the store-room of this
palace, abundant treasures, including a vast
quantity of honey, are safely locked up, the
key being constantly suspended at the side of
the housewifely Miellikki. However, the
wealth of the Tapioia deities mainly consists
of the beasts of the forest and the field, which
from their great number require the attention
not only of Tapio and his wife, but also of a
mob of sons, daughters, and servants, who
are all comprised together under the common
name of Tapion kansa, or Tapio people. For
the most part the minor deities, subject to
the great chief and his wife, are of the softer
sex, though Tapio has a son named Nyyrikki,
who is described as a stately personage, and
is especially entreated to cut notches in the
trees, and thus prevent the hunter from losing
his way in the forest. He is also requested
to build bridges over marshy spots, that
cattle may cross them in safety.

It will be observed, that the woodland
deities are important to the grazier as well
as to the hunter, tame cattle as well as wild
beasts being placed under their superintendence.
Tellervo, a useful personage who
looks after her mistress's private stock of
cattle, also protects the herds belonging to
mortal owners—nay, she has been requested
to make cows look like ugly fishes, that the
wild animals of the forest may not devour
them. A daughter of Tapio's, named Tuu-
likki, who assists the hunters in obtaining
their prey, and the handmaiden of the forest
(Metsän piika), who has no proper name at
all, and who is in the habit of waking her
mistress, Miellikki, with a remarkably sweet
flute, that the prayer of the worshipper may
be heard, maintain the general character of
the woodland deities for benignity; but it
must not be supposed that the evil of the
forest is confined to the occasional sulkiness
of Miellikki. There is a horrible fiend of the
woods, named Hiisi, who sends all sorts of
plagues and maladies to mankind, and whose
nature is so generally recognised, that a Finn
will tell a person to go to Hiisi, where an
Englishman would bid him go to the d——-.
Moreover Hiisi is not only bad, but also
strong and clever, while all that belongs to
him is of first-rate quality. The sinews of
his elk make the very best bow-strings, a
harp cannot be better strung than with the
hairs from his wild horse ; his dogs and cats
emulate their master in ferocity. On the
homoeopathic principle Hiisi has, indeed,
been sometimes invoked to cure disorders,
and the hereditary wickedness of his little
son and his daughter is so far useful, that
they are occasionally implored to do mischief
to enemies ; however, so bad is the character
of Hiisi and all his connections, that his
special residence in the forest is almost
overlooked, and he is treated as a symbol of evil
in general, as the Eblis or the Ahriman of
the system.

The Finns believed in what is called a
"future state," and connected with this belief
was a whole system of subterranean deities.
There is reason to suppose that, according to
the older theories on this subject, the deceased
carried on a shadowy sort of life in his grave,
and in this situation he would probably be
the subject of Kalma, the goddess of tombs,
an awful personage, whose daughter supplies
serpents with their venom. But Kalma is as
obscure as she is terrible, and we therefore
gladly quit her for the representative of, the