from Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, compiled by Elias Lönnrot (1880)

The karhun synty — the Birth of the Bear — is the origin charm at the heart of Finnish bear religion. It was sung during the karhun peijaiset, the bear feast: the elaborate ceremony held after a bear was killed, in which the bear's skull was carried home in procession, its spirit honoured with song, food, and drink, and its bones returned to the forest so that it might be reborn. The birth charm tells the bear where it came from — heaven, the stars, the lap of the sky — so that it will forgive the hunter and return again.

This is not narrative poetry in the Kalevala sense but functional ritual verse: words of power spoken to the bear's spirit at the moment of maximum danger, when the boundary between the human and animal worlds has been broken by the kill. The charm-singer reminds the bear of its divine origin, its oath of peace, and the golden cradle in which it was rocked by the forest's mistress. The purpose is reconciliation. The bear must not be angry. It must go home to the sky willingly.

Lönnrot collected these variants from across Finland in the early and middle nineteenth century and published them in his 1880 compendium of Finnish charm songs — the most comprehensive pre-twentieth-century record of Finnish shamanic verse. The four variants presented here range from the brief liturgical question-and-answer of variant (a) to the magnificent sky-maiden narrative of variant (c), which is among the finest surviving specimens of Finno-Ugric sacred poetry. Variant (d) is rougher and earthier — a tietäjä's direct address to the bear, claiming to have been present at its creation as the highest juryman.

The Christian and pre-Christian layers are inseparable. The King of Heaven christens the bear; Virgin Mary is its godmother; but Mielikki the forest-mistress raises it, and the oath is sworn before the old woman of Pohjola. This is the Finnish genius for integration — every source of power drawn into the same ritual stream. These incantations have never before appeared in English.

a.

Where was the bear born,
The honey-paw reared?

There was the bear born,
The honey-paw reared.
Near the moon, beside the sun,
On the shoulders of the Great Bear stars.
From there it was lowered to earth,
Into the honeyed wilderness,
Beside the green trail,
To the liver-brown glade.

The blue tit, maiden of the forest,
Rocked it, swayed it,
In a cradle of gold,
On straps of silver,
Under the flowering spruce-top,
Under the bushy pine.

Then the bear was christened,
The thin-furred one baptized,
By the thundering rapids,
At the whirl of the holy river.

Who became the christener?
The King of Heaven himself —
He became the christener,
The baptizer of the thin-furred one.
Virgin Mary the mother,
Holy maiden, little one —
She became the godmother
And carried it to baptism.

What name was given?
Lullamoinen, Lallamoinen,
Beautiful-furred, tousled one,
Honey-paw, the tumbled one.

b.

My bear, my only one,
My honey-paw, my darling —
Well do I know your lineage,
Where you were born, bear,
Where you were got, blue-tail,
Where your clawed foot was fashioned.

There were you born, bear,
High in the heavens,
On the moon’s peaks, above the sun,
On the back of the Seven Stars,
Near the maidens of the air,
Beside the daughters of creation.

Fire flickered from the sky,
The air turned on its spindle,
When the bear was being planned,
When the honey-one was being made.
From there it was lowered to earth,
Beside the honeyed trail,
For Hongatar to tend,
For Tuometar to rock,
At the foot of the creaking tree,
Under the forked top of the aspen,
At the edge of the forest stronghold,
In the home of the golden wilds.

Then the bear was christened,
The grey-furred one baptized,
On a honeyed hillock,
At the mouth of the Sarjoki strait,
In the lap of Pohjola’s daughter.
There it swore its oath
At the old woman of Pohjola’s knee,
Before the open God,
Under the blessed beard:
Not to wrong the guiltless,
Not to harm the innocent,
To walk the summers beautifully,
To tread gracefully,
To live the joyful times
On the backs of bogs, at the world’s navels,
Beyond the contest-heaths;
To walk barefoot in summer,
In autumn without a coat;
To dwell through the harder times,
Through winter’s cold, curling up
Inside an oaken chamber,
At the edge of the needle-branch hall,
At the foot of the handsome spruce,
In the juniper thicket’s arm.

c.

A maiden walked the edge of the sky,
A girl along the navel of heaven,
Went along the cloud’s rim,
Along the border of the sky,
In shimmering stockings,
In patterned mittens,
A wool-basket in her hand,
A fleece-box under her arm.

She cast the wool upon the waters,
Let the fleece upon the waves,
On the clear sea’s back,
On the broad swells.

The wind rocked it,
The gentle air swayed it,
The water’s spirit cradled it,
Bore it as a woollen lock,
As a linen bundle by moonlight,
To the shore of the honeyed wilderness,
To the tip of the honeyed cape.

Mielikki, mistress of the forest,
Keen wife of Tapiola,
Ran from her belt into the water,
From the stocking-thread into the thaw,
From the belt-flap into the waves.
She scooped the lock from the waters,
The fine wool into her lap,
Wrapped it deftly,
Swaddled it beautifully,
In a maple-wood tub,
In a lovely cradle.

Then she went into the spruce wood,
Into the blue wilderness,
Beside the golden hillock,
Under the copper-breasted mountain.
She saw the flower-topped spruce,
Flower-topped, golden-leafed.
She raised the swaddling-ropes,
Carried the golden cords
To the stoutest branch,
To the broadest bough.

She rocked her dear one,
Swayed her beloved,
Under five woollen blankets,
Under eight wraps,
Within the blue wilderness,
In the midst of the golden ring.

There she raised her bear,
Nurtured the noble-furred one,
In a pine-bough nest,
In a spruce-branch thicket.

The bear grew beautiful,
Rose exceeding handsome:
Short of leg, blunt of knee,
Flat-snouted, broad-pawed,
Wide of head, snub of nose,
Beautiful-furred, tousled.

It had no teeth yet,
Nor had its claws been fashioned.

Mielikki, mistress of the forest,
Herself spoke these words:
“I would fashion claws for it,
I would seek teeth for its jaws,
If only it would not fall to evil,
Would not turn to wicked work.”

So the bear swore its oath
At the knees of the forest’s mistress,
Before the open God,
Under the face of the Almighty:
Not to do evil,
Not to begin foul deeds.

The Creator himself was judge,
The Creator’s children were the jurymen.

Mielikki, mistress of the forest,
Keen wife of Tapiola,
Went to seek for teeth,
To inquire after claws:
From the tight-grained rowans,
From the coarse junipers,
From the tangled root-clumps,
From the hard summer-stumps.
From these she got no claw,
Nor found a tooth.

A pine grew on the heath,
A spruce rose on the hill;
On the pine a silver branch,
On the spruce a golden branch.
These the maiden seized by hand,
From these she fashioned claws,
Set them in the jawbone,
Planted them in the gums.

Then she released her darling,
Sent out her beloved
To tread the lands of the North,
To wander the wildernesses,
Set it to squelch the bogs,
To brush through the thickets,
To walk the clearing’s edge,
To climb the heaths —
But gave no leave
To come to the cattle-paths,
Nor within hearing of the bell,
Nor to the tinkling of the cowbells.

d.

I remember, growler, your birth,
Your earth’s dread raising:
There were you born, dark one,
Grown in the earth’s armpit,
In the long back of the North,
In Lapland’s wide wilderness,
On the slopes of Alder Ridge,
On the shoulders of Needle-Branch Hill.

A reed was your father,
A reed-maiden your mother,
Reeds the rest of your kin,
A reed yourself too.

You were got on the mosses,
Grown in the heather,
In thick willow brush,
In dense bird-cherry,
North side of the brook,
Sun-side of the hill.

I too was there
As the highest juryman
When the creature was being made,
When it was being built from the tub.
The broad-pawed old woman of Pohjola
Slept a head from the tussock,
Snatched a back from the pine,
Teeth from a water-stone,
Eyes from moonstone,
Ears from shoe-leather;
Then dragged it to christening
And carried it to baptism.

Colophon

Source: Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Ancient Charm Songs of the Finnish People), Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880. Section 11: Karhun synty (Birth of the Bear), pp. 278–281. Variants a–d.

Translation: Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated independently from the Finnish source text. No prior English translation of these incantations is known to exist.

Note: The karhun synty is classified among the syntyloitsut (origin charms) — incantations that recite the mythic origin of a being or force in order to gain ritual power over it. The bear-origin charm was the centrepiece of the karhun peijaiset, the bear feast, which survived in rural Finland into the nineteenth century and has deep parallels with the bear ceremonies of the Khanty, Mansi, and Sami peoples. The four variants show the range of regional tradition: from the brief catechism of (a), through the oath-narrative of (b), to the magnificent sky-maiden cosmogony of (c), and the rough earth-birth of (d). Together they constitute one of the finest surviving expressions of Finno-Ugric bear religion.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Karhun synty

Finnish source text from Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), pp. 278–281. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. Variant notations (Toisin:) are omitted for readability; the OCR text preserves the original orthography with minor corrections of obvious scanning artifacts.

a.

Miss’ on otso synnytetty,
Mesikämmen käännytelty?

Tuoli’ on otso synnytetty,
Mesikämmen käännytelty.
Luona kuun, tykönä päivän,
Otavaisten olkapäillä.
Sielt’ on maahan laskettuna
Sisälle salon simaisen,
Vierehen vihannan viian,
Maksenkarvaisen malohon.

Sinisirkku metsän neiti
Tuuditteli, liekutteli,
Kultaisessa kätkyessä,
Hihnoissa hopeisissa,
Alla kuusen kukkalatvan,
Alla pensovan petäjän.

Siitä otso ristittihin,
Harvakarva kastettihin,
Korvalla tulisen kosken,
Pyhän virran pyörtehellä.

Ken rupesi ristijäksi?
Itse Himmerkin kuningas,
Tuo rupesi ristijäksi,
Harvakarvan kastajaksi,
Neitsy Maaria emonen,
Pyhä piika pikkarainen,
Sepä kummiksi kuvautui,
Sekä kantoi kastehelle.
Mikäs pantihin nimeksi?
Lullamoinen, lallamoinen,
Karva kaunis röyhetyinen,
Mesikämmen käkeröinen.

b.

Otsoseni, ainoiseni,
Mesikämmen kannoiseni,
Kyllä mä sukusi tieän,
Miss’ oot otso syntynynnä,
Saatuna sinisaparo,
Jalka kyntinen kyhätty:
Tuoli’ oot otso syntynynnä
Ylähällä taivosessa,
Kuun kukuilla, päällä päivän,
Seitsentähtien selällä,
Ilman impien tykönä,
Luona luonnon tytärien.

Tuli läikkyi taivahasta,
Ilma kääntyi kehrän päällä,
Otsoa suettaessa,
Mesikkiä luotaessa.
Sieltä maahan laskettihin
Vierehen metisen viian,
Hongattaren huolitella,
Tuomettaren tuuditella,
Juurella nyrynärehen,
Alla haavan haaralatvan,
Metsän linnan lepehellä,
Korven kultaisen kotona.

Siitä otso ristittihin,
Karvahalli kastettihin,
Metisellä mättähällä,
Sarajoen salmen suulla,
Pohjan tyttären sylissä.
Siinnä se valansa vannoi
Pohjan eukon polven päässä,
Eessä julkisen jumalan,
Alla parran autuahan,
Tehä ei syytä syyttömälle,
Vikoa viattomalle,
Käyä kesät kaunihisti,
Soreasti sorkutella,
Elellä ajat iloiset
Suon selillä, maan navoilla,
Kilokangasten perillä;
Käyä kengättä kesällä,
Sykysyllä syylingittä,
Asua ajat pahemmat,
Talvikylmät kyhmästellä,
Tammisen tuvan sisässä,
Havulinnan lepehellä,
Kengällä komean kuusen,
Katajikon kainalossa.

c.

Astui impi ilman äärtä,
Neiti taivahan napoa,
Kävi pilven piirtä myöten,
Taivahan rajoa myöten,
Sukassa sinertävässä,
Kirjavassa kaplukassa,
Villavakkanen käessä,
Karvakoppa kainalossa.
Viskoi villan pään vesille,
Laski karvan lainehille,
Selvälle meren selälle,
Lake’ille lainehille.

Noita tuuli tuuditteli,
Ilma lieto liikutteli,
Ve’en henki heilutteli,
Viinnä villakuontalona,
Kuunna pellavaskupona,
Rannalle salon simaisen,
Nenähän metisen niemen.

Mielikki metsän emäntä,
Tapiolan tarkka vaimo,
Juoksi vyöstähän vetehen,
Sukkarihmasta sulahan,
Vyölapasta lainehesen,
Koppoi kuontalon vesiltä,
Villat hienot helmoihinsa,
Nuot on liitti liukkahasti,
Kapaloitsi kaunihisti,
Vaahterisehen vasuhan,
Kätkyehen kaunoisehen.
Siitä kulki kuusikkohon,
Sinisen salon sisälle,
Kummun kultaisen sivulle,
Alle vuoren vaskirinnan.
Näki kuusen kukkalatvan,
Kukkalatvan, kultalehvän.
Nostatti kapalonuorat,
Vitjat kultaiset kuletti,
Oksalle olovimmalle,
Lehvälle leveimmälle.
Tuu’itteli tuttuansa,
Liekutteli lempeänsä,
Alla viien villavaipan,
Alla kahdeksan,
Sisällä salon sinisen,
Kehän kultaisen kes’ellä.
Siinnä otsosen sukesi,
Jalokarvan kasvatteli,
Petäjäisessä pesässä,
Kutiskossa kuusisessa.

Kasvoi otso kaunihiksi,
Yleni ylen ehoksi,
Lyhyt jalka, lysmä polvi,
Tasakärsä talleroinen,
Pää levyt, nenä nykerä,
Karva kaunis röyhetyinen.
Ei ollut vielä hampahia,
Eikä kynsiä kyhätty.
Mielikki metsän emäntä
Itse tuon sanoiksi virkki:
“Kyheäisin kynnet tuolle,
Kasvohon hampahat hakisin,
Kun tuo ei vioille saisi,
Painuisi pahoille töille.”
Niin otso valansa vannoi
Polvilla metsän emännän,
Eessä julkisen Jumalan,
Alla kasvon kaikkivallan,
Ei tehäksensä pahoa,
Ruveta rumille töille.
Itse oli Luoja tuomarina,
Luojan lapset lautamiesnä.

Mielikki metsän emäntä,
Tapiolan tarkka vaimo,
Läksi hammasta hakemaan,
Kynsiä kyselemahaan,
Pihlajilta pinkeiltä,
Katajilta karkeiltä,
Jukaisilta juurikoilta,
Kesun kannoilta kovilta;
Eipä sieltä kynttä saanut,
Eikä hammasta tavannut.
Honka kasvoi kankahalla,
Kuusi kummulla yleni,
Hongassa hopeaoksa,
Kuusosessa kultaoksa.
Ne kapo käsin tavotti,
Niistä kynsiä kyhäsi,
Niitä liitti leukaluuhun,
Ikenihin istutteli.

Siitä laski lallokkinsa,
Ulos lempensä lähetti,
Pohjan maita polkemahan,
Saloja samoamahan,
Pani suota sotkemahan,
Viitoa vitaisemahan,
Ahviertä astumahan,
Kangasta kapuamahan,
Vaan ei antanut lupoa
Tulla karjan käytäville,
Eikä kellon kuuluville,
Tiukujen tirinämäille.

d.

Muistan, murri, synnyntesi,
Maan kamala kasvantasi:
Tuoli’ oot sykkö syntynynnä,
Maan kainala kasvanunna,
Pohjan pitkässä perässä,
Lapin laajassa salossa,
Leppävaaran liepehillä,
Havuvaaran harteilla.
Putkinen sinun isosi,
Putkitar sinun emosi,
Putkisia muu sukusi,
Putkinen sinä itseki.
Sie olet saatu sammalilla,
Kasvanut kanervikoissa,
Paksussa pajupekossa,
Tiheässä tuomikossa,
Pohjaispuolella puroa,
Päivän puolella mäkeä;
Olinpa minäki siellä
Ylimmäisnä lautamiesnä
Tevanoa tehtäessä,
Saavasta rakettaessa.
Lavekämmen Pohjan eukko
Pään makaisi mättähästä,
Selän hongasta hotaisi,
Hampahat vesikivestä,
Silmät kuutilon kivestä,
Korvat kengän talluksesta;
Siitä ristille ritaisi,
Sekä kantoi kastehesen.

Source Colophon

The Finnish source text is reproduced from the OCR of Elias Lönnrot (comp.), Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), archive.org identifier suomenkansanmui00lngoog. Public domain. Variant notations (Toisin:) are omitted; obvious OCR artifacts have been silently corrected where the intended Finnish was unambiguous. The original orthography, including archaic spellings, is otherwise preserved.

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