Ukko

Ukko depicted in the painting Lemminkäinen tulisella järvellä by Robert Ekman

**Ukko** was the Finnish god of the sky, weather, thunder, sky, and agriculture, as well as the head of the pantheon.

## Overview

### Role

Ukko was Finnish god of the sky, who appeared in the form of an old human male. He was usually paired with the Rauni, producing a common mythical sky-earth pair. It is also speculated that Ukko might have appeared in the form of an eagle, who gifted fire to to humanity. This tradition might connect him to ancient Indo-European religions, where eagle-imagery was also common.

It is speculated that Ukko might not have been the original sky-god in the Finnish pantheon, the first one being Ilmarinen, who constructed the dome around the world. At some point to Ukko rose as the head god, which Ilmarinen becoming an earthly hero and blacksmith.

### Appearance

Ukko shared warrior-attributes with other European thunder-gods (Thor, Perun, Perkūnas), and he was usually depicted as an old man wearing blue coat (connected to both the sky and the spiritual) and carrying either a hammer called Ukonvasara. Other weapons used by Ukko included the sword and the club as well as his bow and arrow, which manifested as natural phenomena: his bow was the rainbow and the arrows the lighting which hit the ground. Another source for thunder was when he rode in his chariots across heaven or made to love to Rauni.

### God magic, protection and agriculture

Ukko was a very revered deity in ancient Finland, since he was the god of the weather and the rain, he was very important for the practice of agriculture. As the head of the pantheon, he was also often invoked in spells, such as healing and was called to protect both women and newborns during childbirth. He was also seen as a protector of against superntural forces, which too was a common motive among thunder gods, his control over the weather was to be both feared and respected.

## Legacy of Ukko

### Ukko and Christianity

With the arrival of Christianity in Finland, the role of Ukko and other Finnish deities and spirits in the local religion started to change.

In some parts Ukko was compared to the God of the Bible, YHWH, as both were seen as the supreme being in resprective cultures, who reigned over all other spiritual and earthly beings. In some folk traditions Ukko became the most high angel and servand of God, but kept many of his old thunder and warrior-aspetcs. He was also asscoiated with the prophet Elijah (Elija or Elijas in the local languages) from the Old Testament, since according to the Bible, who was taken up to Heaven by YHWH in a fiery chariot.

On the other hand his alternative name Perkele (likely derived from the Baltic god Perkunas) became associated with the figure of Satan, and 16th-century Finnish theologican Mikael Agricola describes him as a demonic being in his catalogue of Finnish false gods.

### Ukko in place names

Ukko's name has remained in several places around Finland, such as *Ukonniemi* (Ukko's peninsula), *Ukonsuo* (Ukko's swamp) ja *Ukonlampi* (Ukko's pond).

## Ukko in the Kalevala

The Kalevala, the national epic of Finland compiled in the 19th century by poet Elias Lönröt, has a tedency of depiciting Ukko as an ideal universal and almost monotheistic deity, despite acknowledging the other gods of he pantheon as well.

## Ukko in Pop Culture

* Ukko is featured as a minor figure within the universe of the Marvel-comics.
* Ukko appears in the 2014 free-to-play online social strategy game *Destiny of Spirits*.
* Ukko (or Perkele) is featued in the DMM R-18 online game *Kamihime Project*.
* Ukko (or Perkele) is featured in the Japanese digital collectible card battle game *Rage of Bahamut*.
* In the 1968 book *The Time Twister* by Emil Petaja, an extraterrestrial being poses as the god Ukko.
* Ukko is the name of dwarf in the *Sláine*-comics in British magazine *2000 AD*.

## References

1. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto, and Stina Lindfors. *Suomalaisen kansanuskon sanakirja.* Gaudeamus, Helsinki (2016).
2. ↑ Gajetti, Giuliano. *Toward a cognitive definition of the Estonian Thunder god "Pikne"*. Etnolingwistyka 34 (2022).
3. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto, and Stina Lindfors. *Suomalaisen kansanuskon sanakirja.* Gaudeamus, Helsinki (2016).
4. ↑ Anttonen, Veikko, *Religion in prehistoric Finland*, in Christensen, Lisbeth Bredholt, Olav Hammer, and David Warburton. *The handbook of religions in Ancient Europe.* Routledge, 2014.
5. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto, and Stina Lindfors. *Suomalaisen kansanuskon sanakirja.* Gaudeamus, Helsinki (2016).
6. ↑ Salo, Unto. *Agricola's Ukko in the light of archaeology: a chronological and interpretative study of ancient Finnish religion.* Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis 13 (1990): 92-190.
7. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto, and Stina Lindfors. *Suomalaisen kansanuskon sanakirja.* Gaudeamus, Helsinki (2016).
8. ↑ Siikala, Anna-Leena. *Suomalainen šamanismi: mielikuvien historiaa.* Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 1992.
9. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto, and Stina Lindfors. *Suomalaisen kansanuskon sanakirja.* Gaudeamus, Helsinki (2016).
10. ↑ Siikala, Anna-Leena. *Suomalainen šamanismi: mielikuvien historiaa.* Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 1992.
11. ↑ Siikala, Anna-Leena. *Suomalainen šamanismi: mielikuvien historiaa.* Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 1992.
12. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto, and Stina Lindfors. *Suomalaisen kansanuskon sanakirja.* Gaudeamus, Helsinki (2016).
13. ↑ Lurker, Manfred. *The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge.* (2005).
14. ↑ Pulkkinen, Risto. *Suomalainen kansanusko: samaaneista saunatonttuihin.* Gaudeamus., 2014.
15. ↑ Aalto, Tiina. *Ukon jäljet paikoissa ja paikannimissä: Tutkimus ukko-elementin sisältävistä nimistä.* (2019).