ear-worship, once very
common among the tribes of the north, Otso, the bear, according to
Finnish mythology, was born on the shoulders of Otava, in the regions
of the sun and moon, and "nursed by a goddess of the woodlands in a
cradle swung by bands of gold between the bending branches of budding
fir-trees." His nurse would not give him teeth and claws until he had
promised never to engage in bloody strife, or deeds of violence. Otso,
however, does not always keep his pledge, and accordingly the hunters
of Finland find it comparatively easy to reconcile their consciences to
his destruction. Otso is called in the runes by many endearing titles
as "The Honey-Eater," "Golden Light-Foot," "The Forest-Apple,"
"Honey-Paw of the Mountains," "ThePride of the Thicket," "The Fur-robed
Forest-Friend." Ahava, the West-wind, and Penitar, a blind old witch
of Sariola, are the parents of the swift dogs of Finland, just as the
horses of Achilles, Xanthos and Belios, sprang from Zephyros and the
harpy Podarge.

As to birds, the duck, according to the Kalevala, the eagle, according
to other traditions, lays the mundane egg, thus taking part in the
creation of the world. Puhuri, the north-wind, the father of Pakkanen
(frost) is sometimes personified as a gigantic eagle. The didapper is
reverenced because it foretells the approach of rain. Linnunrata
(bird-path) is the name given to the Milky-way, due probably to a myth
like those of the Swedes and Slavs, in which liberated songs take the
form of snow-white dovelets. The cuckoo to this day is sacred, and is
believed to have fertilized the earth with his songs. As to insects,
honey-bees, called by the Finns, Mehilainen, are especially sacred, as
in the mythologies of many other nations. Ukkon-koiva (Ukko's dog) is
the Finnish name for the butterfly, and is looked upon as a messenger
of the Supreme Deity. It may be interesting to observe here that the
Bretons in reverence called butterflies, "feathers from the wings of
God."

As to inanimate nature, certain lakes, rivers, springs, and fountains,
are held in high reverence. In the Kalevala the oak is called Pun
Jumalan (God's tree). The mountain-ash even to this day, and the
birch-tree, are held sacred, and peasants plant them by their cottages
with reverence.

Respecting the giants of Finnish mythology, Castren is silent, and the
following notes are gleaned from the Kalevala, and from Grimm's
Teutonic Mythology. "The giants