Pohjola

Pohjola (Finnish pohja 'base, bottom', but used in derived forms like pohjois- to mean 'north' + -la 'place'), sometimes just Pohja, is a location in Finnish mythology. It is one of the two main polarities in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, along with Kalevala or Väinölä.

Christfried Ganander, in his 1789 Mythologia Fennica, characterised Pohjola as 'the most extreme North, described as a dark and terrible place. Tartarus and Ultima Thule'.Elias Lönnrot, one of the principal collectors of Finnish folk poetry and composer of the Kalevala, went to some lengths to interpret Pohjola as a real region, considering whether its inhabitants might be Saami or Finns, and precisely where areas such as Luotela/Luode ('North-West region'), Pimentola ('region of darkness'), Sariola, and Untamola/Uni ('region of sleep') might be; many other scholars followed in the same vein. However, the idea of an otherworldly far north is a widespread motif in both Classical and medieval European literature, and has a corresponding concept, boasso, in Saami culture. Thus Pohjola can be thought of as a purely abstract place, a literary trope standing as the source of evil — a foreboding, a forever cold land far in the north.

In The Kalevala, Pohjola's main function is to be the home of women whom the male heroes, from the land of Kalevala, seek as wives. The Mistress of Pohjola is Louhi, an evil witch of great power. The great smith Seppo Ilmarinen forges the Sampo at her request as a payment for the hand of her daughter in marriage. The Sampo is a magic mill of plenty like the Cornucopia, which churns out abundance, but its churning lid has also been interpreted as a symbol of the celestial vault of the heavens, embedded with stars, revolving around a central axis or the pillar of the world. Other Kalevala characters also seek marriage with the daughters of Pohjola. These include the adventurer Lemminkäinen and the great wise man Väinämöinen. Louhi demands deeds similar to the forging of Sampo from them, such as shooting the Swan of Tuonela. When the proposer finally gets the daughter, weddings and great drinking and eating parties are held at the great hall of Pohjola.

...
Wikipedia