() is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical singing voice.
Name The name Väinämöinen has often been explained as coming from the Finnish word väinä 'stream pool' or väineä 'slow'. Janne Saarikivi hypothesized that the name was possibly connected to early Germanic forms of Odin's name: *wātenos could have been loaned into Proto-Karelian as *vätnä or *väinä, and Auðunn could be compared to Äinemöinen.
In Finnish mythology
The first extant mention of Väinämöinen in literature is in a list of Tavastian gods by Mikael Agricola in 1551, where it says: "Aeinemöinen wirdhet tacoi." () He and other writers described Väinämöinen as the god of chants, songs and poetry; in many stories Väinämöinen was the central figure at the birth of the world.
A 1674 letter written by Johan Cajanus stated that in Kainuu, Väinämöinen was called a son of a giant named Kaleva. According to Christfried Ganander in 1789, Kaleva had 12 sons, but the only ones he named in addition to Väinämöinen were Ilmarinen, Hiisi, Soini, Liekiöinen and Kihovauhkonen. Joukahainen is also sometimes mentioned to be Väinämöinen's brother, though this is not the case in all versions.Siikala (2012:230). Väinämöinen's birth is a rare topic in runic songs, but a rare Ostrobothnian song describes him having been born from the Maiden of the North, who was impregnated by a sea giant. In another song, his father is said to be Kave-ukko, Lord of the North, who is described like a great warrior.
Väinämöinen has often been described as a shaman hero, a mythical tietäjä, with magical abilities, secret knowledge and being the most skilled singer. There is an old myth of his katabasis (journey to the underworld). He does also possess more armed warrior-like features especially in runic songs from Ostrobothnia. He is not only a rune singer, but a skilled smith and sword user as well.Siikala (2012:131–133).
Väinämöinen is the undisputed protagonist of Ostrobothnian runic songs collected in the 18th century. The myths around him include him trying to propose to an Air Maiden or Tuulikki, trying to build a boat as a task she gave him and accidentally hurting his knee, causing it to bleed. This is also known as the Finnish flood myth. In another well attested myth, Väinämöinen goes on a journey on his boat, creates the Kantele and plays it so well even goddesses show up to listen to it. Väinämöinen travelling to the underworld Tuonela, a common myth in Karelia, is missing from Ostrobothnia and rare in the nearby Kainuu; and even in Kainuu, the protagonist of the myth is named Kaukomieli. In Kainuu, Väinämöinen is more likely to travel to Pohjola, which also has the synonym Manala (the underworld, the same as Tuonela).
In Savonia, the well attested Väinämöinen-related runic songs include creating and playing the Kantele, Väinämöinen hurting his knee, as well as the runic singing battle between Väinämöinen and Joukahainen. The myths of stealing the sampo and travelling to the dead shaman Antero Vipunen were also present. Sometimes, Väinämöinen is also put as the forger of the golden maiden, though the protagonist in this story is often Ilmarinen.Siikala (2012:134). Väinämöinen is also seen as the ruler of water in Savonia.Siikala (2012:250–253).
Väinämöinen is often set as the protagonist of a myth where he communicates with the dead shaman Antero Vipunen by talking to him at his grave, travelling to the underworld to meet him, or being swallowed by him, in order to gain knowledge of specific magic words he is missing. According to Matti Kuusi, the original protagonist of the story was likely Lemminkäinen.Siikala (2012:278).
In Karelia, Väinämöinen is involved with events before the creation of the world in the following ways: He is shot down into the sea by an enemy (like Joukahainen) where he lies with his knee on the surface. A bird lays an egg on Väinämöinen's knee, and when Väinämöinen moves it, the eggs fall down and break, forming the earth and the sky.Siikala (2012:148–150). Väinämöinen's element is water, and he is widely connected to it in many regions. When he lies down in water in Karelian runic songs, he also forms the shapes of the bottom of the sea.Siikala (2012:162).
In all of the above mentioned regions, Väinämöinen defeats Joukahainen in a runic singing battle with his superior knowledge over the events in the beginning of the world; after all, it was Väinämöinen himself who formed the bottom of the sea, set the stars in the sky and created mountains. Joukahainen, younger and thus less knowing, only remembers that these things had happened but didn't make them happen himself.Siikala (2012:163–164). Väinämöinen proceeds to sing (spellcast) Joukahainen into a bog or cold water, which symbolize a path to the underworld.Siikala (2012:243).
Multiple different takes on Louhi exist in runic songs. In a song from South Savo, she is from Ostrobothnia and marries Väinämöinen, who is from Savonia and takes her there. This is why she is called Väinätär. She has a son, and when he is 15 years old, she sends him to bring her inheritance from Ostrobothnia with the help of a black dog she also gave birth to. In this version, Lovehetar had a daughter, and this daughter was the one who got impregnated in water. Giving birth to a black dog is a symbol of ultimate evil, since in European tradition, a black dog is a form of the Devil.
In a song from Kainuu, Louhi is not married, but her relation to Väinämöinen is still not adversarial: after Väinämöinen was shot and he drifted to Pohjola with the River of Tuoni, Mistress of Pohjola hears his cries and recognizes them to be those of a hero. She helps him by bringing him to her house and giving him food. In White Karelian songs, after hearing his cries, she instead promises to give him a maiden to marry if he forges for her the sampo.
In a myth where the Sun has been captured and hidden, Väinämöinen tends to play a crucial part. While there are multiple different versions of the myth where the hero candidates range from Jesus to a smith's maiden, in Kainuu, the sun and the moon were imprisoned in a rock and were released when Väinämöinen was forging. In Border Karelia, Väinämöinen allowed the sun to shine after catching it from the top of a pine tree. In Ingria, Son of God resurrects Väinämöinen and asks where the sun and the moon are, or he travels to Pohjola, where Mistress of Pohjola shows him to Väinämöinen's grave and he digs him up to ask the question.Siikala (2012:214–215).
In addition to his heroic acts, Väinämöinen is unlucky with some of his other efforts. He is often described as not being successful with fishing or courting. He says an old person should not try to marry a young person—based on his own failures. He cries when hurting his knee or falling into the sea, the latter to which Mistress of Pohjola remarks it as unusual to hear an old bearded hero crying. He is sometimes said to be blind. In the Medieval runic song Väinämöinen's Judgement (), a child who was born through a virgin birth from Marjatta accuses Väinämöinen of incest with his mother. The latter part is, according to Kaarle Krohn and Uno Harva, influenced by the ideas present in Sampsa Pellervoinen's story. According to Martti Haavio, the original context of this song is the child accusing Väinämöinen of being his father, having lied with the child's mother instead of his own. The child cannot be named because his father is not known, and tradition states that the name must be found from names of the family ancestors. As nobody admitted to being the child's father, Väinämöinen as a judge stated the child should be taken into the forest and killed; killing a child before it had been named and therefore taken as a member of the community was seen as acceptable. Magically, the newborn child starts speaking, declaring Väinämöinen himself to be his father. The child is made the king of northern fur hunting lands and possibly named Kaukomieli or Kaukamoinen. The ashamed Väinämöinen, on the other hand, sails into a whirlpool.
Some runic singers thought this meant the death of Väinämöinen, while others believed he was still alive and would return one day, real death still waiting for him in the future. Folklore widely knows of stories where one or multiple sons of Kaleva sailed away from Finland on a red boat or stone after the arrival of Christianity and priests. According to Gustaf Anton Brakel, Väinämöinen created a skerry in Pirkkala in order to be able to escape from the Swedes. Thus, the story of the departure of Väinämöinen was known from Western Finland to Karelia. Finnish runic songs further make references to Väinämöinen's "secret son" and act of adultery. In a Forest Finnish runic song, Väinämöinen gets his arm cut off on a turning wheel, and his "secret son" is asked to stop the bleeding. Ganander stated that the mother of this son was a mermaid in a mariage de conscience with Väinämöinen.
Epithets EpithetEpithet meaningRegionsVaka vanha Väinämöinen'Steadfast old Väinämöinen'Central Finland, Ingria, Kainuu, Ladoga Karelia, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Olonets Karelia, Rear Bothnia, South Karelia, South Savo, White KareliaUkko vanha Väinämöinen'Old man Väinämöinen'Ladoga Karelia, North Karelia, Olonets Karelia, Ostrobothnia, Päijät-Häme, Rear Bothnia, South Karelia, White KareliaPätösen poika'Son of the Sun'Central Finland, Kainuu, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Olonets Karelia, Rear Bothnia, South Savo, White KareliaPyhä uro'Holy Hero'Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Olonets Karelia, Rear Bothnia, White KareliaPätösen uro'Hero of the Sun'Olonets KareliaTietäjä iänikuinen'Eternal seer'Ladoga Karelia, North Karelia, Olonets Karelia, South Savo, White KareliaLaulaja iänikuinen'Eternal singer'White KareliaKalevan poika'Son of Kaleva'Ingria, North Karelia, South Karelia, White KareliaUkko Kalevan vanhin'Old man, Kaleva's eldest'White KareliaSuvannon sulho'Stream pool's bridegroom'North Karelia, South Savo, White KareliaUlappalan umpisilmä'Ulappala's closed eye'KainuuUkko Väinälän sokea'Väinälä's blind old man'Kainuu, North KareliaVäinälän vähänäköinen'Väinälä's little-seeing one'North Karelia
In the Kalevala
In the nineteenth century, some folklorists, most notably Elias Lönnrot, the writer of Kalevala, disputed Väinämöinen's mythological background, claiming that he was an ancient hero, or an influential shaman who lived perhaps in the ninth century.* Stripping Väinämöinen from his direct godlike characteristics, Lönnrot turned Väinämöinen into the son of the primal goddess Ilmatar, whom Lönnrot had invented himself. In this story, it was she who was floating in the sea when a duck laid eggs on her knee. He possessed the wisdom of the ages from birth, for he was in his mother's womb for seven hundred and thirty years, while she was floating in the sea and while the earth was formed. It is after praying to the sun, the moon, and the great bear (the stars, referring to Ursa Major) that he is able to leave his mother's womb and dive into the sea.
Väinämöinen is presented as the 'eternal bard', who exerts order over chaos and established the land of Kaleva, and around whom revolve so many of the events in Kalevala. His search for a wife brings the land of Kaleva into, at first friendly, but later hostile contact with its dark and threatening neighbour in the north, Pohjola. This conflict culminates in the creation and theft of the Sampo, a magical artifact made by Ilmarinen, the subsequent mission to recapture it, and a battle which ends up splintering the Sampo and dispersing its parts around the world to parts unknown.