Louhi

Description: Magic working ice giantess. Princess of Pohjala, far to the north.
Goddess of sorcery, evil, dark magick. Rules over sorcery, evil, dark magick.

Louhi

Louhi, Mistress of the North Country, appears in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. She is a Finnmark (Finno-Ugric) witch who protects the Pohjola, the back country or North Land. She may, in fact, be its ruler. Tuonetar, queen of the Finnish realm of death, may be her sister.

Louhi controls winds, fog, illness and wild creatures. She is a master spell-caster and the mother of the beautiful, alluring Maid of the North. The name Louhi is etymologically related to a word indicating a magical, shamanic trance. Louhi features prominently in the mythof the Magic Sampo, an enchanted device that grinds out salt, flour and gold from thin air.

Female characters are given short shrift in Finland’s heroic epic, the Kalevala; most interpretations of Louhi are negative. She is painted as an evil witch. An exception is a retelling of the portion of the saga devoted to Louhi and her daughter in Ethel Johnston Phelps’ The Maid of the North (Henry Holt & Company, 1982).

SEE ALSO:

Tuonetar

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by :Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.

Louhi (witch of the wind?) In the Finnish epic poem The Kalevala, evil gap-toothed mistress of Pohjola, the Northland. Louhi had two daughters, the lovelier being the Maiden of Pohjola, who was wooed by all three heroes in the epic: Vainamoinen, Ilmarinen, and Lemminkainen. Finally, after Ilmarinen forged the magic sampo for Louhi, he was given the bride. The sampo made Pohjola prosperous, and Vainamoinen decided to steal it for his land. He succeeded but was pursued by Louhi and her men. A great battle ensued in which the sampo was lost in the lake, with only a few pieces left floating on the waters. Louhi, angered because her land became barren after the loss of the sampo, sent a plague to Vainamoinen’s land, but the hero healed his people by the use of magic. Not satisfied, the evil mistress then sent a great bear to ravish the herds, but Vainamoinen was again victorious. Finally, out of desperation, Louhi stole the sun and moon as well as fire from all of the hearths in Vainamoinen’s land, but new fire was kindled by a thunderbolt from Ukko, the sky god. Ilmarinen then forged chains for Louhi, and out of fear Louhi released the sun and moon.

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante

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