Finnic mythologies

Finnish mythologies are the various mythologies of the Finnic peoples , such as the Volga Finns, Baltic Finns, Permians, and Sami.

The mythologies of the Finnish and Samic peoples have some common aspects; the Sami people are deeply shamanistic, and these traits are present also in Finnish-Karelian mythology. Baltic Finnic mythologies are additionally related to shamanism in Siberia on one hand, and to Indo-European Baltic and Germanic mythologies on the other. The mythologies of the Baltic Finns, especially, were directly influenced by their Indo-European neighbors, the Scandinavians, the Slavs, and the Baltic peoples.
The Baltic Finns share some common religious and historical traditions that were transmitted orally via the art of ancient rune singing, estimated to be 2500–3000 years old.

Shamanism has been an important influence on the mythologies of most (but not all)of the Finnic peoples, especially those that lived by hunting. One aspect in common to many of the Finnic peoples is the myth that the world was created from an egg. Another central aspect of these mythologies has been astronomy, which includes several Milky Way myths and ideas about the existence of the World tree or pillar while the star formations were thought to represent animal spirits. Similar myths are also found among many neighbouring non-Finnic peoples; for example, the Scandinavians believed in the world tree. The myth of world egg is almost universal.

The Sami People, who were primarily hunters, were animistic; they worshipped spirits called the haldi, who watched over nature and existed in many places. In the Sami animal cult, Bear was considered to be the animal lord. This is a kind of totemism. The forest god Laib olmai ruled over all forest animals. Some Sami had a thunder god called Tiermes, or Horagalles and a sky-ruling god Radien or Vearalden. The Sami symbol of the world tree or pillar was marked by a stytto.

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