| Names: | Annikka   
Annikki 
Annukka
Himmerkki
Hyyperö
Hyypiö
Höytöri
Menninki
Metikki
Mieletär
Mieli
Mielikki  
Mielis-neiti
Mieloitari
Mielu
Mieluneiti
Mielus
Mielutar
Mikikki
Mitikkä
Muurutar
Siilikki
Siivikki
Tapio 
Tapiotar
Tinatti
Tuuvikki
Varvutar
|
|---|---|
| Spouse: | Tapio |
| Children: | Tuulikki, Pinneys, Tellervo |
| Domain: | Honey, forest, Metsola |
Mielikki is the goddess of the forest. Although the name "Tapio" is nowadays considered the name of a male deity of the forest, Mielikki's husband, it likely originally referred to Mielikki herself. After all, Finno-Ugric mythologies originally venerated Mothers of nature, such as the water mother and, here, the forest mother.
Mielikki was prayed to by hunters. She was specifically seen as very erotic, the forces of the forest being feminized and eroticized in incantations. She was equated with the forest itself (metsä, tapio) when hunters prayed for the forest to "grow fund and become wet" for them. (Yes, in that way.) If she appeared at the hunters' capsite beautiful, dressed in gold, she was indeed favourable towards the huntsmen and gave them a lot of prey. But if she appeared ugly, wearing jewellery and a crown of twigs, she was not going to give much.
Mielikki is called suuri sulkain emuu "the great mother of feathers", and rabbit and birds are called emon vilja "the mother's grain". A spruce without a tree-top is called a Tapionpöytä "Tapio's table" and is a natural altar for worship. Usually it's assumed to mean the male forest deity, but this was likely not originally the case. Here, too, Tapio would refer to Mielikki herself, not her husband. After all, the Forest Finns called such a spruce Mehänemännän tupa "the cottage of the Lady of the Forest".
One of Mielikki's Savonian names, Hyypiö, means an eagle own, while in Kainuu, the Siberian jay was called the Lady of the Forest as it was believed to be the oldest bird.
Mielikki was also the protector of cattle. She was the one brought up the bear beneath a blooming spruce. Therefore she is asked to dull the bear's claws and block its mouth so it couldn't hurt or devour cattle. This aspect of her is equally as important, if not more, than the hunting aspect; after all, people used to rely on cattle for survival. In a way, the wild animals in the forest were considered Mielikki's cattle.
Mielikki is often connected to the colour blue, as she is often described as having a blue cape, maybe socks too. While the parentage over wasps is typically given to Päivätär, there are Central Finnish runosongs which give this role to the Lady of the Forest, even equating her with the wasp (this is why she is called Siivikki from siipi "wing"). In these, she is described as having wings, even blue wings (she is called Sinisiipi lintuseni "my little blue-winged bird"). It sounds odd, but my theory is that as wasps, bees, and hornets are often mentioned together in runosongs, this is probably referring more to bees who make honey, rather than wasps. That is also what her alternate name Metikki implies (mesi "honey", metu "mead").
| Names: | Havuhippa
Hiippa
Hiisi 
Hilja
Hilli
Hilppa
Hipa
Hippa
Hippahattu
Hippi
Hippo
Huippa
Hukka
Huuhkana
Hyyppä
Iivana
Kuihkamo
Kuihkanen
Kuikuli
Kuippana
Kuittia
Kuittola
Kuitua
Kuituri
Kulkia
Rauhio
Tapiainen
Tapio
Vippo
|
|---|---|
| Spouse: | Mielikki |
| Children: | Tuulikki, Pinneys, Tellervo |
| Domain: | Forest, Metsola |
There is not much one can say about male "Tapio". As you can see, Hippa and variants are much more common names for him! Truly, tapio has originally meant the forest itself and its female manifestation, Mielikki. I use the name Tapio for the male figure because that is the best known, but do remember that the hi- and ku- starting names are actually more him (even Rauhio sounds kind of badass).
Also, most of the time when runosongs mention the "King of the Forest", they are referring to the bear. That is also what I believe the original concept was. No wonder that in the song Elvenpath by Nightwish (my favourite band!), he is referred to as: "Tapio, bear-king, ruler of the forest". Our male deity Tapio here is often described as having a grey and/or lichen beard, and he has a hat made of needles.
Both tapio and hiisi, which have been used to mean "forest", were also used to refer to forest deities by Mikael Agricola in 1551. Tapio "brought traps from the forest" and Hiisi "brought victory over beasts". This is the reason why I believe that when Kainuian stories describe a giant named Hiisi taking his cattle (= forest animals) with him into the ravine Hiidenportti, it probably mixes the idea of a giant and the forest god together.
Tapio was connected to hunting especially in the context of bears and rabbits. But just like Mielikki, he was also the god of animal husbandry and was asked to protect cattle. According Christfried Ganander, roosters were sacrificed to him.
I explain more about the rituals on the Tapionpöytä, regardless of who its addressed to, on the Holy sites page.
| Mielikki, variants | From mieltyä "to grow fond", as that is exactly what hunters wanted her attitude towards them to be. |
|---|---|
| Annikka, variants | Influenced by Christian Saint Anne. |
| Himmerkki, Mimerkki | Not certain, but Kaarle Krohn connected them to the Swedish word himmelrik "kingdom of heaven". |
| Metikki | From mesi "honey". |
| Siivikki, Siilikki | From siipi "wing". |
| Mitikkä | Not certain, but Kaarle Krohn theorized a connection to the Christian saint Nicetas. |
| Tapio, variants | Uncertain, theories include tapi "rod, staff", tapa "lock of a hunting trap", and tavata "to reach, to catch up to". |
| Hippa, variants | It means a pointed cap (see why the art above gives Tapio one) and the chaser in the game tag. Kaarle Krohn theorized all h- and k- variant names (of both Tapio and Mielikki) to come from Christian saint Hubert of Liège. |
| Kuippana, Kuihkanen, Kuituri, Huuhkana, variants | Theorized to originate from kuippa "Eurasian curlew", kuikkana "long-necked", or vuitti "lot, fate". Kaarle Krohn theorized all h- and k- variant names (of both Tapio and Mielikki) to come from Christian saint Hubert of Liège. He also pointed out the word kuihkata "to call in the forest like a shepherd" and huuhkaja "eagle owl". |
| Kulkia | Likely kulkija "traveller", influenced by käyjä "walker" in runosongs related to the bear. |
| Iivana | Straight up just the Russian name for John the Baptist. |
| Rauhio | Unknown, Krohn suggested a connection to the name Raphael. |
Only in Finnish, sorry. This is the source material.