Loviatar

Loviatar (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈloʋiɑtɑr], alternative names Loveatar, Lovetar, Lovehetar, Louhetar, Louhiatar, Louhi) is a blind daughter of Tuoni, the god of death in Finnish mythology and Tuonetar, the underworld queen. Loviatar is regarded as the goddess of death and disease.[1] She was impregnated by wind and gave birth to nine sons, the Nine diseases. In some poems, she also gives birth to a tenth child who is a girl.[2] She is mentioned in the 45th rune of the Kalevala.[3]

In the Kalevala

Loviatar appears in Rune XLV :

The blind daughter of Tuoni,
Old and wicked witch, Lowyatar,
Worst of all the Death-land women,
Ugliest of Mana's children,
Source of all the host of evils,
All the ills and plagues of Northland,
Black in heart, and soul, and visage,
Evil genius of Lappala,
Made her couch along the wayside,
On the fields of sin and sorrow;
Turned her back upon the East-wind,
To the source of stormy weather,
To the chilling winds of morning.

— Kalevala, Rune XLV, from the translation by John Martin Crawford

Relation to Louhi

When Elias Lönnrot compiled Kalevala, he made Loviatar and Louhi two different characters. However, in the old folk poems the names are often used interchangeably. Some poems specify Louhi as the mother of the Nine diseases[4][5] and others give Loviatar the title "Whore Mistress of Pohjola".[6][7]

There is one difference between Louhi and the various forms of Loviatar in the poems. The Loviatar name family occurs only in spells where diseases are banished to go back to her while Louhi occurs also in epic poems. She gives quests to heroes,[8] and opposes Lemminkäinen in a spell contest.[9]

One hypothesis is that Louhi and Loviatar were regional variant names for the same goddess and that the epic poems were composed in an area where Louhi was the primary name. A large portion of the epic poems speak only about the Mistress of Pohjola and don't call her by name at all.[10]

See also

• Syöjätär, in some versions of Finnish folk songs, Syöjätär is the offspring of Loviatar's tenth child.

References

1. Bonser, Wilfrid. "The Mythology of the Kalevala, with Notes on Bear-Worship among the Finns." Folkore Enterprises, Ltd. 39.4. (1928.) pp. 344-358.
2. Suomalainen mytologia. By Martti Haavio. Published in 1967.
3. Kalevala, Rune XLV. Translated by John Martin Crawford (1888).
4. For example, poem 2104 of part I4 of Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (SKVR), the corpus of old Finnish folk poems (in Finnish).
5. Bonser, Wilfrid. "The Mythology of the Kalevala, with Notes on Bear-Worship among the Finns." Folkore Enterprises, Ltd. 39.4. (1928.) pp. 344-358.
6. For example, poem 2039 of part VII4 of SKVR.
7. Bonser, Wilfrid. "The Mythology of the Kalevala, with Notes on Bear-Worship among the Finns." Folkore Enterprises, Ltd. 39.4. (1928.) pp. 344-358.
8. Such as poems 1020 of part I2 and 364 of part VII1 in SKVR.
9. Poem 815 of part I2 of SKVR.
10. There are about 50 such poems in part I1 of SKVR.