Kivutar
Figure in Finnish mythology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kivutar (lit. 'Lady Pain'), Kiputyttö (lit. 'Pain Girl') or Vammatar[1] (lit. 'Lady Injury') is a spirit or goddess in Finnish mythology who is asked take the pains and injuries of humans to herself. She lives on Kipumäki/Kipuvaara ("Pain Hill") or Kipuvuori ("Pain Mountain"), and is often called a maiden of the underworld (Tuonen neito).
She is the remover of illnesses and ruler of pain who takes pains back to where they originate from.[2]
In runic songs
Kivutar appears in runic songs used as spells to illeviate some kind of pain, such as a burn wound or pain caused by a rock. She is typically described to be sitting on a pain rock (kipukivi) on Kipumäki, on a hill on Kipuvuori ("Pain Mountain"), which is at the confluence of three rivers[3] or rapids.[4] Pains can be moved into stones, as they don't feel pain,[3] which she can gather for herself into a container[2] or a glove,[5] and even throw them in the pitch black sea.[3] A runic song tradition connected to North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu also describes her as boiling pains in a pot.[6]
Kainuu songs of the origin of iron state: "It is aching to be in pain, / Ailing to live in injury. / Pain belongs to Kivutar, / Ailment to the daughter of injury!" ("Kipiä on kivussa olla, / Vaiva vammassa elää. / Kipiä on Kivuttarelle, / Vaiva vamman tyttärelle!")[7]
She also helped with the pains of giving birth.[2]
Interpretations
Christfried Ganander called Kivutar Väinämöinen's daughter[8] and called Vaavutar or Vauvutar her sister.[9] The former claim is based on the fact that Kivutar is called Väinän tytär ("daughter of Väinä"). Seto poetry also features this epithet (Väänä tütär) with the clear meaning of a "female inhabitant at the river Daugava" (in Finnish, Väinä river).[10]
Kivutar has sometimes been mixed with Virgin Mary in runic songs due to Christian influence. Kaarle Krohn believed Kivutar was always Virgin Mary from the very beginning. Anna-Leena Siikala instead believed Kivutar existed in Finland before the arrival of Christian influence, and while she did get features associated with Mary, the idea of a mother of pain who lives in the underworld is common in Eurasian religions. She thought Kivutar had more in common with the Norse Menglöð than Mary.[2] Martti Haavio believed she was a translation of something such as hē mḗtēr tōn pathēmátōn ("mother of pains"), who was sent by the Devil to harm people in a Byzantine spell. A 1514 Danish magic spell also mentions alle vndeskabs modher ("mother of all pains"), who in turn has been connected to Lilith.[11]
The pain rock Kivutar sits on is said to have a hole in it which pain can be banished to. This is why it has been theorized the pain rock would mean a cup marked stone which were used for offerings in earlier tradition.[1]
Epithets
| Epithet | Epithet meaning | Regions |
|---|---|---|
| Kivutar, kipiä neito[12] Kivutar kipuinen neito[4] Kivutar, kipiä neitoh[13] |
'Kivutar, painful maiden' | South Savo |
| Kivutar kipujen vaimo[14] | 'Kivutar wife/woman of pains' | North Savo |
| Kivutar kipujen eukko[5] Kivutar, kipuin eukko[15] |
'Kivutar old woman of pains' | North Karelia, White Karelia |
| Kivutar kipuin neito[4] Kivutar, kipeän neiti[16] |
'Kivutar, maiden of pain(s)' | Kainuu, South Savo |
| Kivutar kauhia emäntä[17] | 'Kivutar dreadful mistress' | Ostrobothnia, South Savo |
| Kivutar hyvä emäntä[3] | 'Kivutar good mistress' | Forest Finns, Ladoga Karelia, North Karelia, White Karelia |
| Kipulan neito[18] | 'Maiden of Kipula' | Ladoga Karelia, Ostrobothnia |
| Kipumäen iso emäntä[19] | 'The Great Mistress of Kipumäki' | Ostrobothnia |
| Kiputyttö Tuonen neito[14] Kiputyttö Tuonen neitsy[17] Kiputyttö, Tuonen tyttö[20] Kiputyttö, Tuonen neiti[21] |
'Kiputyttö, Maiden of Tuoni' | Central Finland, Ingria, Kainuu, Ladoga Karelia, North Karelia, North Savo, Ostrobothnia, South Savo |
| Kiputyttö, tyyni neiti[22] | 'Kiputyttö, calm maiden' | North Karelia |
| Kiputyttö, ilman neiti[23] | 'Kiputyttö, maiden of air' | North Karelia |
| Kiputyttö, neiti Kiire[24] Kiputyttö, kiijän neiti[25] |
'Kiputyttö, a maiden in a hurry' | Kainuu, Olonets Karelia, White Karelia Note: Ganander explained "kiire" in this context to refer to kiirastuli ("purgatory") instead of hurry.[26] |
| Kiputyttö, nuori neito[27] | 'Kiputyttö, young maiden' | North Savo |
| Kiputyttö, vuoren neiti[28] | 'Kiputyttö, maiden of mountain' | North Karelia |
| Kipunatar kiltti piika[29] | 'Kipunatar kind maid' | Ladoga Karelia |
| Vaiviotar, vanha vaimo[30] | 'Vaiviotar, old woman/wife' | Unknown |
| Vammatar valio vaimo[29] | 'Vammatar outstanding wife/woman' | Ladoga Karelia, North Karelia, White Karelia |