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- Title
Vanemuise sünd. Lisandusi eesti pseudomütoloogia ajaloole.
- Authors
Põldvee, Aivar
- Abstract
Kristian Jaak Peterson, Friedrich Robert Faehlmann and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald are considered to be the men who shaped Estonian pseudo-mythology. Research of Vanemuine, the god of song, permits the addition of Garlieb Helwig Merkel and Thomas Hiärne as a prologue to this three-stage scheme of development. The chronicle completed by Thomas Hiärne in 1670, which remained in manuscript form, includes a transcript of Bishop of Turku Mikael Agricola's description of Tavastian (Häme) and Karelian gods in verse from 1551. The god of song and poetry Äinemöinen (Ainemoinen according to Hiärne), the indirect prototype of Vanemuine, is also included in Agricola's list. Hiärne placed an equals sign between the ancient Finnish and Estonian religions, citing the kindred nature of the two languages, which can be considered the first application of the principle of analogy in describing Estonia mythology. Hiarne's chronicle was published in 1794 and Merkel used it as a source when writing his work Livonian Prehistory (1798). It is possible that Merkel borrowed the principle from Hiärne in particular by which he shaped an eclectic ensemble of Estonian-Finnish gods, using literature found concerning Laplanders and other peoples with kindred languages. Merkel borrowed the god of song Wainamöinen from Finland and justified it by reference to the great love of Estonians for singing. Thus Merkel laid the foundation for the myth about Estonians as a great singing people. The engraving by Conrad Westermayr published in the book depicting the Finnish god of song dressed in Estonian peasant clothing is the first known pictorial depiction of Väinämöinen-Vanemuine. Peterson again put forth the hypothesis that Estonians also could have had a god similar to Väinämöin-en in the corresponding commentary of Christfrid Ganander's translation of Finnish Mythology (1821). In terms of method we can consider Peterson the last full-blown representative of the principle of analogy that extends back to the 17th century. Ganander was for Peterson basically the same as what Agricola was for Hiärne and Jessen, the researcher of Laplanders, and others were for Merkel. Faehlmann ushered in a new era in shaping Estonian pseudo-mythology. Vanemuine was his greatest success. Even though Faehlmann was familiar with Finnish Mythology through Peterson's translation and with Kalevala (at least at the level of its summary in German), he could have acquired the initial impetus for creating the figure of Vanemuine from Merkel instead. Faehlmann introduced the Estonian god of song Wannemunne (later Wannemuine) in 1838 at the Õpetatud Eesti Selts (Estonian Learned Society). In the latter half of the 1840's, some time after spending time together with Elias Lönnrot in Tartu, Faehlmann added an entourage for the god of song (Ilmarine, Lämmeküne, Wibboane), whose names resembled characters from Kalevala. From the very beginning, Faehlmann claimed that his tales about Vanemuine and others originated from folk tales, which allowed him to freely invent plotlines in the style of romanticism on the one hand, and to give his work in creating myths an Estonian impression on the other hand. At the same time, this meant abandoning the principle of analogy. Faehlmann claimed that Estonians had a different religion from Finns in ancient times and that unlike Finns, Estonians had already arrived at monotheism before Christianisation. Kreutzwald took over Faehlmann's image of Vanemuine. He fabricated and published several folk songs and wrote the epic of Vanemuine into the opening verse of Kalevipoeg in order to legalise the god of song. Kreutzwald also had his own ancient god "project" -- Turis, the god of war (originally Turisas), whom Alexander Heinrich Neus rediscovered. Turis had at least as good "genes" as Vanemuine (Agricola, Hiärne, Boeder, Ganander-Peterson). Kreutzwald also fabricated a folk song about Tursis and tried to construct a polytheistic treatment of four main Estonian gods with the god of war in a key role, but he later abandoned the promotion of Tursis and also polytheism altogether. The creation of Estonian pseudo-gods can be viewed as the fabrication of fakelore, which grew to be a widespread phenomenon throughout Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Faehlmann and Kreutzwald used typical approaches in their mystification like "finding" pseudo-authentic material from the periphery, the alleged fragmentariness and (partial) inscrutability of fabricated folk creation, mysterious informants, commentaries that appear to be academic, and so on. Pseudo-mythology and fakelore were not created only out of literary fashion and imitative folklore pursuits, rather they also had deeper socio-cultural and national psychological roots. Beginning in the 1860's, pseudo-gods that had hitherto existed in the German language speaking cultural space became the symbols that shaped Estonian national identity. The way the people received the gods turned out to be different. Vanemuine and Turis are good examples of this. The Vanemuine Society, song festivals and patriotic poetry made the god of song part of the people's psyche. The image of the god of war, on the other hand, had no credible background in the past and no spirit or conditions for living in the present.
- Subjects
FINNO-Ugrian mythology; MERKEL, Garlieb Helwig; HIARNE, Thomas; GODS; SINGING -- Religious aspects; PETERSON, Kristian Jaak
- Publication
Tuna, 2013, Issue 1, p10
- ISSN
1406-4030
- Publication type
Article