“Go outside often and look at the moon/
observe the Great Bear Runo 23, Kalevala
KARHU
In the Finnish language
over 238 ways to say “bear”
because if you say the name
of the bear
he kills you.
The bear can ascend
to the constellation
and come back.
BROWN BEAR, Ursus arctos
(arctic from arctos)
Kontio (the way the bear walks),
Metän elukka (beauty of the forest),
Otso (the apple of the forest),
Jumalan mies (the man of God),
Suuriherra (mighty master),
Mesikämmen (lazy honey-pawed one),
Mesikkäinen (honey-eater).
Metsän- vaari (grandpa of forest),
Tätinipoika (the son of my aunt),
reminders of the belief
that a man and a bear
are related to each other.
When adults scare children,
They don’t say boo. They call
“Pöppö,” “Mörkö” (bugbear),
“Mönninkäinen,” “Kurko.”
In Scandinavian petroglyphs
lots of bears,
but none in the Finno-Ugric.
Karhu beer is the most famous in Finland.
Bear beer.
Ancient Finns divided
the year into 5 parts
like the bear’s year
—the bear is born
—he sleeps
—he turns around in his nest in midwinter
—he is hunted from his nest
—he is sent to mate.
The procession to hunt the bear
is led by women.
They call it circling the bear.
They find his den,
wake him up.
The men shoot him when he emerges.
20 names celebrate his sex.
Women were said to mate
with bears in the woods—
the bear is our son, our brother.
They banned the women from the ceremony
when the body of the bear
was brought into the village.
Hunters celebrated without their wives.
The wedding of the bear
a ceremony of 7 days,
women dressed in white
with high headgear.
The leader of the clan
had the picture of the bear
as he led the procession.
Then the singing of the poems,
then the carrying of the bones,
then the eating of the meat,
then the procession to bring
the bear in anatomical order.
I take his brow to help my brow.
I take his snout to help my snout.
I take his tongue to help my tongue.
Place his mouth to the east.
his eyes to the north,
on top of a fir tree
so the dogs will not disturb him,
because he is going
to become Ursa Major,
turned in the moon
in the cleft of the sun.
© Jane Piirto. All Rights Reserved.
Published in Piirto J. (2008). Saunas. Woodstock, NY: Mayapple Press.