ence among his
worshipers. Often we find him, in the runes, refusing to heed the call
of his people for help, as when Ilmatar, the daughter of the air,
vainly invoked him to her aid, that Wainamoinen, already seven hundred
years unborn, might be delivered. So also Wainamoinen beseeches Ukko
in vain to check the crimson streamlet flowing from his knee wounded by
an axe in the hands of Hisi. Ukko, however, with all his power, is by
no means superior to the Sun, Moon, and other bodies dwelling in the
heavens; they are uninfluenced by him, and are considered deities in
their own right. Thus, Paeivae means both sun and sun-god; Kun means
moon and moon-god; and Taehti and Ottava designate the Polar-star and
the Great Bear respectively, as well as the deities of these bodies.

The Sun and the Moon have each a consort, and sons, and daughters. Two
sons only of Paeivae appear in The Kalevala, one comes to aid
Wainamoinen in his efforts to destroy the mystic Fire-fish, by throwing
from the heavens to the girdle of the hero, a "magic knife,
silver-edged, and golden-handled;" the other son, Panu, the Fire-child,
brings back to Kalevala the fire that bad been stolen by Louhi, the
wicked hostess of Pohyola. From this myth Castren argues that the
ancient Finns regarded fire as a direct emanation from the Sun. The
daughters of the Sun, Moon, Great Bear, Polar-star, and of the other
heavenly dignitaries, are represented as ever-young and beautiful
maidens, sometimes seated on the bending branches of the forest-trees,
sometimes on the crimson rims of the clouds, sometimes on the rainbow,
sometimes on the dome of heaven. These daughters are believed to be
skilled to perfection in the arts of spinning and weaving,
accomplishments probably attributed to them from the fanciful likeness
of the rays of light to the warp of the weaver's web.

The Sun's career of usefulness and beneficence in bringing light and
life to Northland is seldom varied. Occasionally he steps from his
accustomed path to give important information to his suffering
worshipers. For example, when the Star and the Moon refuse the
information, the Sun tells the Virgin Mariatta, where her golden infant
lies bidden.

"Yonder is thy golden infant,
There thy holy babe lies sleeping,
Hidden to his belt in water,
Hidden in the reeds and rushes."

Again when the devoted mother of the reckless hero, Lemminkainen,
(chopped to pieces by the Sons Of Nana, as