Hiisi
Description: Tree god, said to reside in pine forests. After Christianization, he was reduced to a troll. Also described as a group of evil spirit that worked with Lempo and Paha and ruled over evil, skilled sorcerers, necromancers, spells, sacred drums, trance, chanting.
Hiisi (Hisi, Lempo, Jutas) (dread place) In the Finnish epic poem The Kalevala, the devil, sometimes called Juutas, from Judas, revealing the Christian influence on the final form of the epic. Hiisi is also used as a general term for demons who haunt Hittola (demon’s domain), a dreary region with charred and burned heaths and hills, not far from Pohjola, the Northland.
The Kalevala (runes 13–14) tells of the Hiisi Elk, a magic elk created by Hiisi. The hero Lemminkainen had to subdue it to win the Maiden of Pohjola as his wife. Lemminkainen defeated the Hiisi Elk by the use of magic charms and prayers. Hiisi originally referred to a sacred or sacrificial grove.
In some parts of The Kalevala the term is used for dread or haunted places. Paha Mies (evil man) is another designation of the devil in Finnish mythology. Paha Mies rules over Paha Valta, another name for hell.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
