| Names: | Aarni     Haarni  and/or  Kratti (no region known) |
|---|---|
| Domain: | Hidden treasure |
Aarni is a haltija who protects hidden treasure. The name "Kratti" appears only once, in the writing of Mikael Agricola, and not at all in the runosongs. The Estonian creature kratt is an equivalent to the Finnish creature para, not Aarni.
Christfrid Ganander went as far as to call Aarni the "god of money". Agricola wrote that "Kratti took care of items". Runosongs state that Aarni is the haltija who protects treasure buried in an aarnihauta "aarni pit", and the pit is sometimes marked with an aarnituli or aarnivalkea "aarni fire"—a will-o'-the-wisp. As is common with the stories of such wisps, the aarnivalkeat can especially be spotted during Midsummer. Aarni sometimes shows treasure chests on ground or water, but hides them again later. Sometimes, it can be seen drying up and scouring its moldy treasures in sunlight or by a campfire, in forests and on hills (especially on Midsummer).
When burying a treasure, one could summon Aarni to become its protector. Usually in stories, there are specific instructions given, such as: "this pit can only be dug up by my own hands". The family members of this individual could outsmart this by using the hands of the individual's corpse to dig the treasure up. There could also be other demands for a specific sacrifice before Aarni reveals the treasure.
Eager to find a treasure? On Midsummer night, hold a piece of steel in your left hand and wave it over the ground while singing:
Haltija sä armas Anna nytten aartees Avaa aarnihautaas Sytyt tuli ja valos Että omaks saamme haudan sisällön |
Your dear haltija Give us your treasure now Open your aarni pit Light up your fire and light So we could have what's in the pit |
When the aarni fire shows up, throw a striking iron into it, and the treasure is yours. As aarni pits are sometimes described to be below a stone or a tree... watch out you're not robbing someone's grave, that would be a crime according to current law.
Ganander stated that Aarni is the same as Haarni, another name for horse colic, based on runosong lines where horse colic is called Haarni and told to go "as deep as the pit". However, this line could just as well mean that horse colic is told to go "as deep as the haarni pit", not that horse colic itself is called Haarni. Another very rare line from him states the haltija of the aarni pit is Mammotar.
| Aarni | Suggested to have a connection to the words aarre "treasure", and Proto-Germanic *azaniz "harvest". It's also been suggested to come from Proto-Germanic *arnuz "eagle" or *arniaz "giant". The Etymological Dictionary of Finnish states, however, that the Germanic origin has been debunked. |
|---|---|
| Kratti | From Scandinavian. According to Ganander, from the Swedish word skratt "laughter". However, the Etymological Dictionary of Finnish also points out the Old Swedish word skratte "household spirit", and the Old Norse word skratti "witch". |
Only in Finnish, sorry. This is the source material.