Map showing the distribution of the Finnic languages, approximating the area where the synty tradition was found.
Synty ('origin, birth, aetiology', pl. synnyt) is an important concept in Finnish mythology. Syntysanat ('origin-words') or syntyloitsut ('origin-charms') provide an explanatory, mythical account of the origin of a phenomenon (such as an illness), material (such as iron), or species (such as a bear), and were an important part of traditional Finno-Karelian culture, particularly in healing rituals. Although much in the Finnish traditional charms is paralleled elsewhere, 'the role of aetiological and cosmogonic myths' in Finnic tradition 'appears exceptional in Eurasia'.[1] The major study remains that by Kaarle Krohn, published in 1917.[2]
Meanings of synty
The term synty is used in this article and in a range of scholarship as a genre-label, but it had a wide variety of meanings.[3]Synty transparently derives from syntyä (‘come into existence, be born’) and means ‘birth’, ‘origin’, ‘aetiology’, and so forth. Its meanings can be literal and mundane (e.g. 'birth'), but it was also used in traditional poetry with a range of more numinous meanings, varying according to region, genre, and time. Thus in Kalevalaic poetry, synty can also denote the mystical power of a tietäjä (in which context it has been argued to refer to the origin of a tietäjä’s own powers and is more or less a synonym for the more frequent term luonto, perhaps being translated as 'fundamental essence'); it can be a synonym for 'god' or 'creator' (in the singular only, often in the collocation suuri synty, ‘great synty’); or it can denote other divine power whose source was more abstract.[4][5]: 250–57
In Karelian lament poetry, the plural synnyt and more especially its diminutive dialect form syntyiset (usually given in the Karelian form syndyzet) were important terms, found used of divine powers, the abode of the dead, the dead themselves, and even icons.[4] It has been suggested that these usages are a loan-translation from Russian rod ('family') and roditeli ('parents'), which are used in similar ways and have an etymological connection with birth.[5]: 255–56
The term synty is used with varying degrees of specificity to denote poems within a wider body of Finnic incantations, a poem within which might also be referred to as a 'formulas', luku ('passage'), sanat ('words'), or virsi ('verse').[5]: 72
Use of synty-poems
Knowing synnyt was a characteristic branch of knowledge for traditional healers, known as tietäjät. It was believed that knowing the origin of things made it possible to exercise control over them. Healing spells might, for example, include words like Kyllä tunnen syntymäsi ('indeed I know your origin').
It was long thought that synnyt were primarily recited as prefaces to charms much like a historiola, to make the charm itself more effective, perhaps as part of a process of diagnosis.[6] More recent work, however, has suggested that, though often combined with other incantations, the synty element is in these cases usually central rather than preliminary, and not so much a diagnosis as a cure; their primary context of use seems instead to have been healing physical (as opposed to metaphysical) injuries and wounds where there was no illness agent (such as a witch) to conjure.[5]: 86–90 Synnyt might also be used in, for example, hunting rituals.[7]
There is some debate over in what contexts synnyt were recited and in what contexts they were sung (and whether it is meaningful to distinguish between these modes). It appears that synnyt were recited in Western Finland by the eighteenth century but might still have been sung in the seventeenth. There is some evidence for synnyt or similar genres being performed by pairs of singers in the manner of epic poems, but not much. The poems themselves, however, give singing a prominent role. The tradition of performing synnyt has been compared with the North Germanic tradition of galdr, where a clear distinction between singing and speaking may not be appropriate.[5]: 264–77
Early evidence
The first 24 lines of the second earliest attestation of the magical poem Raudan synty, from Finnish National Archives, Varsinaisten asioiden pöytäkirjat 1657-1658 (KO a:10), f. 609r l. 22.
The synnyt mostly survive in nineteenth-century folklore collections. However, the earliest are attested in documents of the 1650s: the minutes of the parliament of Vaasa for 26 August 1657 record aetiological poems for iron and fire.[8][9]: 61, 63 On 30 June 1658, court records for Vaasa record an aetiological poem for a magical shot (pistos)[10][9]: 66 and on 5 July the same year in Isokyrö for cancer, iron, and fire.[11][12][9]: 66, 62, 63
The earliest scholarly discussion of synnyt is in the fourth fascicule (published in 1778) of Henrik Gabriel Porthan'sDe poësi Fennica.[13][14]
Synty next makes a significant appearance as a genre term in Christianus Erici Lencqvist's dissertation De superstitione veterum Fennorum theoretica et practica, published in 1782.[15] Discussing the mythical figure Kaleva, Lencqvist mentioned Kaleva's sword, and noted that one mention of that appears ‘in his versibus ... quibus ortus serpentis mythice exponitur (Kärmen syndy)’ ('in these verses ... in which the origin of the serpent is mythically expounded (Kärmen synty)'), quoting the following lines with his Latin translation:[16]
Mist’ on kieli keitolaisen?
Miekasta Kalewan pojan, h. e.
Unde lingua coquinarii? (Serpentis, qui venenum in ore gignat et quasi coquat?)
Whence the tongue of cooking-boy? (Of the serpent, who produces venom in its mouth and, as it were, cooks it?)
From the sword of Kaleva's son (i. e. ‘from the most terrifying sword’?)
Soon after, Cristfried Ganander included an entry for synnyt in his Mythologia fennica, defining them thus: ‘Synnyt, Archæologier öfver elden, ormen, sten, alla trän; läses öfver skador och sår af vidskeplige' (‘Synnyt: ancient histories of fire, the snake, stone, all trees; spoken over injuries and wounds by the superstitious').[18]
The most widely attested subject for synnyt, according to the Suomen kansan vanhat runot, is the origin of iron. One example of such a synty, as edited by Lönnrot and translated by Abercromby, is:[19]
Kyllä tieän rauan synnyn,
Arvoan alun teräksen:
Toisin ennen tuulet tuuli,
Toisin ennen säät sävisi,
Maata kuokki koivun latvat,
Peltoja petäjän kerkät.
Tuuli silloin kuusi vuotta,
Seurui seitsemän keseä,
Tuuli taittoi tammen latvat,
Rutaisi ruhevat raiat,
Maasta mättähän mäkäisi,
Tuopa myöstihe merelle,
Siitä saari siunautui
Meren selvälle selälle,
Saarelle salo sorea,
Salohon sileä nurmi,
Siihen kasvoi kaksi neittä,
Koko kolme morsianta.
Niinpä neiet astunevi
Niitylle nimettömälle,
Istuivat itähän rinnoin,
Etelähän päin elivät,
Lypsit maalle maitoansa,
Niitylle nitusiansa.
Läksi maiot vieremähän,
Vieri soita, vieri maita,
Vieri auhtoja ahoja,
Vieri suolle mättähäsen,
Metisehen mättähäsen,
Kultaisehen turpehesen.
Siitä syntyi rauta raukka,
Siitä syntyi ja sikesi,
Suon sisällä, maan navalla,
Maalla keskikorkealla,
Kasvoi rautaiset orahat,
Miehen peukalon pituiset.
Vaka vanha Väinämöinen,
Tietäjä ijän ikuinen,
Oli teitensä käviä,
Matkojensa mitteliä,
Löysi rautaiset orahat,
Teräksiset touvon taimet,
Katselevi, kääntelevi,
Sanan virkkoi, noin nimesi:
‘Mitkä nää on toukojansa,
Ja kutka orahiansa?
Jotain noistaki tulisi,
Luona taitavan takojan.’
Kokosi ne knottihinsa,
Kantavi sepon kätehen;
Tuop’ on seppo Ilmarinen
Etsivi pajan sijoa,
Löysi maata pikkuruisen,
Notkoa ani vähäisen,
Johon painoi palkehensa,
Johon ahjonsa asetti,
Vaan ei kasva rauta raukka,
Sukeu suku teräksen,
Pajassa ovettomassa,
Ahjolla tulettomalla;
Puita puuttui pauan seppä,
Tulta rautojen takoja.
Saapi puita, tuopi tulta,
Vaan ei vielä rauta synny,
Kun ei liene lietsojata,
Palkehella painajata.
Otti orjan lietsomahan,
Palkkalaisen painamahan,
Katsoi ahjonsa alusta,
Lietsimensä liepehiä,
Jopa syntyi rauan synty,
Sikesi suku teräksen.
Full well I know the iron's genesis,
I remember the origin of steel.
Of old the winds blew otherwise,
of old storms whistled otherwise,
the head of a birch tore up the ground,
the young shoots of a fir the fields.
Then it blew six years,
seven summers it inflicted harm,
the wind broke off the heads of oaks,
smashed branching [v. huge] sallow trees,
knocked a hillock from the ground
and conveyed it to the sea;
an isle was formed by spells from it
on the clear and open sea
on the island was a lovely wood,
in the wood meadow smooth,
on this two girls grew up,
a triplet of brides.
Well, the three maidens walked
along to a meadow without a name,
sat down with their breasts to the east,
with their heads to the south,
milked their milk upon the ground,
their paps upon the mead.
The milk began to flow,
flowed over swamps, flowed over lands,
flowed over sandy fields run wild,
flowed to a hillock on a swamp,
to a honeyed knoll,
into golden turf.
Hence did poor iron originate,
then it was born and was produced,
in a swamp, on an earthy knoll,
on ground of medium height
iron sprouts grew up
as high as the thumb of a man.
Trusty old Väinämöinen,
the soothsayer old as time,
was wending his way,
was pursuing his course;
he found the iron sprouts
the growing shoots of steel,
he looked about, turned round,
uttered a speech and thus he spoke:--
What sort of growing corn is this
and what these sprouting shoots?
Something would result from them
at a skilful hammerer's.'
Into his pouch he gathered them,
to a smith's hands he carried them.
The smith Ilmarinen
sought a place for his forge,
found a tiny bit of ground,
a very tiny dell
where he put his bellows up,
where he set up his forge,
but wretched iron is not produced (F. grows not)
and steel does not originate
in a smithy without a door,
in a forge without a fire;
the blacksmith had lack of wood,
the forger in iron—of fire.
He got some wood and fire he fetched,
but still iron is not made (F. born)
unless there be a bellowsman,
a man to press the bellows down.
He took a servant to blow,
a hireling to press them down,
he looked underneath the forge,
along the bellows' outer edge,
iron was already made (F. born)
and steel produced.
Topics of recorded synnyt
The Suomen kansan vanhat runot editions list around 131 topics for synty texts, 114 of them categorised as syntyloitsut ('synty-charms'), in a total of around 6900 individual records.[20]: 119 Its categorisation of charms is based on a F. A. Hästesko's 1918 study of the genre.[21][22]: 26 The ten most popular subjects among the synnyt categorised in the SKVR as incantations (loitsut) are, in declining order, rauta ('iron', 862 examples), käärme ('snake', 714), tuli ('fire', 690), niukahdus ('sprain', 539), käärmeen purema ('snakebite', 290), pistos ('stabbing pain', 260), puu ('tree', 219), koi ('cancer', 180), voide ('ointment', 175), ähky ('colic', 137), riisi ('rickets', 135), läävämato (literally 'cowshed-snake', 125), and löyly ('sauna steam', 108).[20]: 119
Of the other categories of synnyt, the most important are those classified as epic texts, pre-eminently the maailma ('world', 455) and kantele (371). These overall patterns of popularity are consistent with the earliest attested synnyt, recorded in trial-records from Ostrobothnia in the 1650s (where the synty tradition had been lost by the nineteenth century): these are all on topics which were later in the top ten (cancer, stabbing pain, fire, and iron).[20]: 119
The following table lists all the SKVR topics of synnyt.
Editorial category
Subject
Number of variants in SKVR
SKVR categorisation
Ailahan synty
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ajettuman synty
swelling
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ammuksen synty
ammunition
33
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ampiaisen synty
wasp
20
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Eläinten puremien historioloita
animal bites historioloita
7
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Erilaisia syntyjä
various aetiologies
12
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Etanan synty
snail
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hammastaudin synty
dental disease
42
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Haukan synty
hawk
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Herhiläisen tai mehiläisen synty
hornet or bee
10
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hevosen synty
horse
31
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hien synty
sweat
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hiiren synty
mouse
2
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hirven synty
moose
4
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hylkeen synty
seal
26
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Hä'än synty
?smoke
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Härän synty
ox
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Ihmisen synty
human
20
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Jään synty
ice
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kalman synty
death
7
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Karhun synty
bear
94
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Keihään synty
spear
3
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kipujen synty
pain
3
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kissan synty
cat
3
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kiven kasvamattomuuden historiola
historiola of the stone's lack of growth
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kiven synty
stone
38
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kohtauksen historiola
historiola of seizure
47
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kohtauksen synty
seizure
14
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koin historiola
historiola of cancer
180
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koin synty
cancer
9
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koiran synty
dog
62
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Korpin synty
raven
16
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Koskeman synty
an abscess or boil
3
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kurkkutaudin synty
throat disease
3
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kuvun synty
swelling on the neck
7
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kärpän synty
fly
2
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Kärpäsen synty
fly
2
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Käärmeen pureman historiola
historiola of snakebite
290
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Käärmeen synty
serpent
714
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Lampaan synty
sheep
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Lehmän synty
cow
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Leinin historiola
historiola of rheumatism
16
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Leinin synty
rheumatism
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Letyn synty
a kind of disease
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Loukkauksen synty
insults
5
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Läävämadon synty
cow-house snake
125
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Löylyn synty
sauna steam
108
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Maahisen synty
gnome/rash
22
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Matajaisen synty
spavin or swelling in humans or horses, or the supernatural being responsible for it in Finnish folk healing tradition
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Muurahaisen synty
ant
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Naurismadon synty
turnip-worm
5
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Niukahduksen historiola
sprain historiola
539
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Noidan synty
witch
3
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Noidannuolten synty
witch's arrows'
4
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Nuotan synty
seine
8
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pahkan synty
gnarl
1
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Painajaisen synty
nightmare
4
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Paiseen synty
abscess
14
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Pakkasen synty
frost
70
loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut
Paran synty
a being created to bring milk or butter to its creator
kertovat runot ➜ proosakertomuksiin liittyvät säkeet
Saarten synty
islands
1
kertovat runot ➜ proosakertomuksiin liittyvät säkeet
Virren synty
hymn
2
lyriikka ➜ laulut laulusta
Tupakan synty
tobacco
11
häärunot ➜ ennen hitä ➜ kihlajaiset
Ei tuli kivettä synny
1
loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Maa kiven kovaksi laati
9
loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Tiijän tiaisen synnyn
7
loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Vesi vanhin veljeksistä
water, the oldest of brothers
206
loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Vuoresta veden synty
water from a mountain
65
loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt
Elias Lönnrot's 1880 edition selects synnyt on the following fifty-one topics:
Lönnrot number
subtypes
Abercromby number
Lönnrot title
Abercromby title
1
183
Ampiaisen synty
Wasps
2
184
Etanan synty
Snails
3
a–g
185
Hammasmadon synty
Tooth-worm
4
186
Hauvin synty
Pike
5
187
Hevosen synty
Horse
6
188
Hirven synty
Elk
7
189
Horkan synty
Ague
8
190
Hylkeen synty
Seal
9
191
Ihmisen synty
Man
10
192
Kaalimadon synty
Cabbage worm
11
a–c
193
Karhun synty
Bear
12
194
Keräjäin synty
Courts of law (folk-moots)
13
195
Kissan synty
Cat
14
a–b
196
Kiven synty
Stone
15
197
Koin synty
Cancer (whitlow)
16
a–b
198
Koiran synty
Dog
17
199
Koivun synty
Birch
18
a–b
200
Korpin synty
Raven
19
201
Kuvun synty
Swelling on the neck
20
a–b
202
Kyykäärmeen synty
Viper
21
a–g
203
Käärmeen synty
Snake
22
a–c
204
Liinan synty
Flax
23
a–f
205
Läävämadon synty
Cow-house snake
24
a–b
206
Maahisen synty
Earth elf (skin eruption)
25
a–b
207
Noidan synty
Sorcerer
26
a–b
208
Nuolien synty
Arrows
27
a–b
209
Oluen synty
Ale
28
a–c
210
Pakkasen synty
Sharp frost
29
a–d
211
Pistoksen synty
Stitch or pleurisy
30
a–i
212
Puiden synty
Trees
31
213
Raanin synty
Cancer
32
a–f
214
Raudan synty
Iron
33
215
Riiden synty
Rickets, atrophy
34
a–e
216
Rikkeitten synty
Injuries caused by spells
35
217
Ruosteen synty
Rust in corn
36
218
Rupien synty
Scab
37
219
Sian synty
Pig
38
220
Siikasen synty
Particles of chaff in the eye
39
a–e
221
Sisiliskon synty
Lizard
40
a–c
222
Suden synty
Wolf
41
223
Suolan synty
Salt
42
a–e
224
Tammen synty
Oak
43
225
Tijasen synty
Titmouse
44
a–f
226
Tulen synty
Fire
45
a–b
227
Vasken synty
Copper
46
a–d
228
Veden synty
Water
47
229
Veneen synty
Boat
48
a–c
230
Verkon synty
Net
49
231
Viinan synty
Brandy
50
a–g
232
Voiteen synty
Salves
51
a–c
233
Ähkyn synty
Gripes (colic, constipation)
Literary adaptations
Literary adaptations of the synnyt appear in the Kalevala, for example the origin of oak and arrows in Runo II, flax in Runo IV, iron in Runo IX (an account which influenced oral tradition in turn),[23] and the serpent in Runo XXVI.[20]: 119
Editions and translations
The first substantial, scholarly collection of synty poems was Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, ed. by Elias Lönnrot (Helsinki: Suomen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48751. A very large part of this was translated into English by John Abercromby, The pre- and proto-historic Finns, both Eastern and Western: with the magic songs of the west Finns, Grimm Library, 9-10, 2 vols (London: Nutt, 1898), vol. 1, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 2. Lönnrot adapted his sources extensively, however, such that this edition should be viewed, like the Kalevala, more as a literary work by Lönnrot than as a direct representation of oral traditions.[20]: 120–21
Further texts, closely representing the field records of folklore collectors, were published in the Suomen kansan vanhat runot series.[24]
References
^Frog, 'Shamans, Christians, and Things in Between: From Finnic-Germanic Contacts to the Conversion of Karelia', in Conversions: Looking for Ideological Change in the Early Middle Ages, ed. by Leszek Słupecki and Rudolf Simek, Studia Mediaevalia Septentrionalia, 23 (Vienna: Fassbaender, 2013), pp. 53–97 (p. 62), https://www.academia.edu/4049431.
^Kaarle Krohn, Suomalaiset syntyloitsut: Vertaileva tutkimus [Finnish Origin-Incantations: A Comparative Study], Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia, 157 (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1917); Magische Ursprungsrunen der Finnen, trans. by Arno Bussenius (Kerava: Keravan Kirjapainossa, 1924).
^Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Nykysuomen sanakirja, 6 vols (Helsinki: Söderström, 1953--61), s.vv.; Erkki Itkonen et al., Suomen sanojen alkuperä: Etymologinen sanakirja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1992-), s.vv.
^ abcdeAnna-Leena Siikala, Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry, FF Communication, 280 (Helsinki: Suomen Tiedakatemia, 2002).
^Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967); cf. Lotte Tarkka, 'Interpretation at a distance (Review): Thomas A. DuBois, Finnish Folk Poetry and the Kalevala. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995. 328 pp.', Folklore Fellows Network, 15 (April 1998), 22-28, http://www.folklorefellows.fi/?page_id=776.
^Keitolainen is the name of a demon, but is misunderstood by Lencquist as having something to do with the verb keittää 'to cook'.
^Christfrid Ganander, Mythologia fennica, eller förklaring öfver de nomina propria deastrorum, idolorum, locorum, virorum, &c. eller afgudar och afgudinnor, forntidens märkelige personar, offer och offer-ställen, gamla sedvänjor, jätter, trol, skogs- sjö och bergs-rån m. m. Som förekomma i de äldre finska troll-runor, synnyt, sanat, sadut, arwotuxet &c. samt än brukas och nämnas i dagligt tal; til deras tjenst, som vela is grund förstå det finska språket, och hafva smak för finska historien och poëin, af gamla runor samlad och uttydd (Åbo: Frenckell, 1789), p. 88.
^Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, ed. by Elias Lönnrot (Helsinki: Suomen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), pp. 317-18 (no. 32b), http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48751; John Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern and Western: With the Magic Songs of the West Finns, Grimm Library, 9-10, 2 vols (London: Nutt, 1898), pp. 351-52 vol. 1, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 2.
^Thomas A. Dubois, Finnish Folk Poetry and the ‘Kalevala’, New Perspectives in Folklore, 1/Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, 1895 (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 184-201.