The Land

THE LAND The Nordic people were born into a natural environment, with a cultural connection to the land and the seasonal cycles of life. From the early beginnings, the children raised to learn and interact with the natural environment that stored up lifelong memories of all the seasonal changes. From the hibernating deep snow and ice-covered winters to the awakening sounds of a spring season, with the thousand songs of the migrating birds, singing in the endless sunlight days of the midsummer solstice.  

Nordic People instinctively knew the natural environment with its biodiversity, and what the habitats had to offer according to the seasons. Their life depended entirely on natural resources. The people moved and traveled like nomads to optimize the seasonal changes according to local knowledge and the wisdom of the tribe leader’s collective experience.   It was a fascinating life environment to be born into, with the unmistakable signs and the unforgiving extreme cold elements of the natural world in charge of the life cycles, commanding respect from people for life in the natural world.

Memorable winter night skies that opened high to the star-filled heaven gates, to a mysterious deep dark universe. There were dancing ribbons of light with pastel-like rainbow colors and sounds, creating the atmosphere of awe and wonder in the inquisitive minds as they watched the extravaganza of the aurora borealis lights in the night sky.  

The Nordic people did experience the extreme powers of Nature that were so beyond human and animal reach. Stories and myths were inspired and created based on the visible night skies. The same natural phenomenon has presented itself ever since the beginning of the ancient people’s collective recorded memory.

Over the cycle of seasons, from winter to spring season, the starlit night skies put on an impressive starlight display, which is beyond human capability.   The minds of the observing people wondered as they looked up high into the shifting distant night skies, but they could not unlock the cause of the ribbons of light dancing up and down and all around the panorama above the snow-covered rounded tundra hills.

Winter nights were a time for storytelling and sharing the lights with the minds of the younger generation. From there, new ideas formed, and everyday events were placed into future storytelling, which was also developing a bigger worldview in the young people’s ever-growing inquisitive imagination. Consciously becoming aware of life and the elements of the natural world.  

SWANS IN FINLAND MYTHOLOGY AND ANTIQUITY  

In the rock art of Karelia, there is a picture outline of swans; the creators of those pictures are sometimes called the “water bird nation” (Fin. Vesilintu kansa).
According to the belief of the Karelian people, the white swans not to be harmed; if they were, then the same fate would return to that person as the injured Swan. Because when swans are feeding, their heads are submerging under the surface of the water; therefore it is believed that swans have access to the underworld and hades as well. The White Swans inspire Artists, Musicians, and Poets in Finland.  

Jean Sibelius, (8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957) was a composer, violinist of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. Sibelius fame recognized as Finland’s most celebrated composer and, through his music, is often credited with having helped Finland to develop a national identity during the early independence years, to the First World War fighting against Russian Bolshevism and Stalinism. (Jean_Sibelius, 2018)

  In the Suite, Lemminkäinen is about a vague concept of a mystical swan swimming around Hades, the island of the dead. The mythological figure Lemminkäinen has been tasked with killing the sacred Swan, but on the way, he is shot with a poisoned arrow and dies himself.  

Eino Leino (6 July 1878 – 10 January 1926) was a famous poet and journalist. Considered as one of the pivotal pioneers of Finnish poetry. His Swan of the Hades poem, inspirational in the symbolism that first started in picture arts. The poem translated from Finnish brings out thoughts like this:  

“Oh! The visiting white birds of the Lapland summer, the great ideological beings, Feel welcomed here! Please stay, make the nest there, and tarry, and do go to the lands of the south! Oh, we do a study and learn from the Swans! They leave in the autumn and return in the spring. There is peace on our shores and safety on the breast of the Tundra.” (Leino, 2018)  

THE EARLY PIONEERS

The early pioneer’s many thousands of years ago traveled northwards, exploring the unknown, uninhabited Nordic north-land. Nomadic peoples were living along the waters of the Arctic Sea, the shores of the Barents and the Norwegian Sea. The indigenous people tribes East and West of Siberia, thousands of years ago, have left cave paintings in Norway, that the modern-day scientific dating methods translate the cave painting to be some 8000 years old.

The world of the indigenous peoples is very different from the Imperial States’ colonization. A long slow history of humanity lived out before the industrial revolution, which made way to new concepts to enlighten the human conscience, and how people view themselves and the world that they inhabit.  

The biblical record of the patriarch Abraham goes back some 4000 years, and the days of Moses and the Exodus of Israel takes us back more than 3460 years. The recorded events and dates of the biblical timeline are a reliable source as a reference because of the context of the five books of Moses are qualified by many generations of spiritual integrity.

Two thousand years ago, people were living on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, Bothnia Bay, Lake Ladoga, and the Karelian Isthmus. The region later became known as the Suomi-land and the Suomi people. Translated into English as Finland or Finnish. The word Suomu translates to the English word is scales, as in fish scales.   The alternative autonomy part of a fish is the fin. Therefore, Finland.

The original meaning of the word Suomi in Finnish is not precise, but there are several suggestions where the name Suomi originates. The word Suomi is mentioned early in the Treaty of Nöteborg 1323.

It was the first settlement between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic regulating their border. A peace treaty of 1323 between Sweden and the Novgorod. (Treaties, 2018)  

It was a starting point in the description of the region with a local name, Somewesi or Suomenvesi (Some-wesi, Some-vesi. Translated Fin-land-water). It was describing the area of the Suomi waters in the Bay of Vyborg.

The written word Suomi has also appeared at the time of Mikael Agricola (1510 – 9 April 1557), a Lutheran clergyman who worked pioneered the Finnish literary language. Also, a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden and Finland.  

Several words rhyme with the word Suomi, which can be used as a guide for the origin of the word. Here are two suggestions. Suo = swamp. Finland has over 100,000 lakes and many more swamps. Suomu = scales, as in fish. Clothes made in the Stone Age years from the skin of fish.

The other guide for searching out the meaning of words is anthropology. As in the study of human cultural behavior, in the Finland region nomads, pioneers, language, and societies. The vital clue is found on how and why specific people formed and used their language and named their geographical region, according to the association, according to what their people valued and experienced at the time. Also revealing the specific cultural values from 2000 or more years ago.

In Lapland, there is a town called Kuolajärvi; the word is from the Sami people’s language. It means a lake with plenty of fish. Similarly, the Sami people have named the Kuolanmaa. Translated into English as the Kola Peninsula. Meaning; a land with plenty of fish.

That is the indigenous people’s relationship to the creation, food, and life. Food sources gave freely by the Creator of Life.   Therefore, the Creator of Life instructions for humanity needs to be taken seriously. Otherwise, most likely, people fall onto the wrong side of God’s Holy Angels.

There is an old cultural connection to the name Suomi land. It refers to the lakes and the fish. From the early hunters and gatherer’s perspective, what would be the most paramount concern that they had during the summer season? Naturally, the natural resources for food. There were abundant supplies of food provided by the Creator of Life. Moreover, each person could express their soul in gratitude, according to their soul experience, about the provision that they gathered and hunted.   In the early days, the salmon and pike skins were so plentiful and practical as a waterproof material, once tanned, it is soft and light material to use. The Native Inuits of current Alaska also made Salmon skin clothing. The fish skin leather is waterproof, and waterproofing is vital in the extreme sub-zero temperatures. Wet clothing can be life-threatening in the freezing exposed sub-zero temperatures. If the clothing becomes wet, then it will work like a conductor for body heat to escape; the clothing freezes solid once the physical activity stopped, and the body temperature drops, the clothing freeze solid, and the freezing of skin begins.   The fish skin was processed to be durable leather, especially for the outer waterproof layer.

The Alaska region Inuits traditionally used it for boots, mittens, and pants. Waterproof hats are practical. A waterproof fish skin roof for a tent may also be practical because they are very light to carry. Large fish were caught, gutted, skinned; they were scaled and dried. The tanning process cured and manipulated the skin soft. Once the skin was tanned, then it was colored with natural colors. The tanned skins are made into carrying bags, clothes, and other items with various practical uses. The indigenous peoples were creative, living off the land and made use of whatever resources the Creator of life provided them in the natural environment.  

Many thousands of years ago, nomadic people’s pioneers traveled towards unknown destinations due to seasonal changes that caused people to look for new pastures. Ever growing communities, population, and stock numbers caused nomadic pioneers to explore further West and south from Siberia until they come across the people that were heading northwards, with the same intent in searching for unconsumed natural resources in the wilderness of the natural world.

The extreme cold Nordic winters did persuade people to find shelter from the extreme climate to warmer regions. Whether it was 100 km, 500km or more distance, they headed south for winter. Few thousand years ago, there was plenty of room for the nomads to travel the full length of the country from the Kola Peninsula to the shores of the White Sea, all the way to the Gulf of Finland.

No Imperial monarchies or ambitious political states were lording it over the early pioneers of the lands. The state of Nature ruled the people, and the people were in tune with the natural environment.   The early pioneers lived amid a natural environment that provided everything that they needed for survival. The spring season bloomed fresh with many millions of migrating water and land birds arriving from the south, as the new living environment was sprouting and welcoming with a vibrant green environment filled with colorful flower-scented meadows.

The summer season was the busiest season for building projects, houses, barns for stock feed, boat repairs, and cutting the vital firewood for winter survival. The summer season was the most fun season for children, time for swimming and fishing, and foraging for berries.

An old traditional Nordic custom, the entire family would go and forage for wild strawberries, raspberries, bilberries, and mushrooms. The wild berries prepared into conserved jams, concentrated juices, crushed lingonberry barrels, and stored in the underground cellars.

The summer season was also crucial for the harvesting of building material timber, gathering up for the winter season firewood stocks, and restoring the old and re-building new projects.   The autumn season was unique for the grains crop harvesting season and foraging of lingonberries, various mushrooms, net fishing, and game hunting for ducks and moose.

Planning was the key to survival and healthy living by keeping ahead of the seasonal changes. The stock feed was harvested from the open wild grass meadows, to be cut down and dried. Dry grass then gathered and placed inside the log cabin shelter with water and snow resistant roof. The 6-month long winter consumed much stock feed; it had to be sufficiently dry so that it would not go moldy and rot. With the increase in the human population, there was more demand, and the old forests were thinned out or cleared. Increase of supplies required for all the stock animals for the cold dark winter months.

Life for the people of the land was active and busy, even under the most favorable conditions of the natural resources.   The children of families grew to be young adults, the young adults mixed and mingled with other young adults of the communities; there was the natural social life, community life, and commitment for new families.

Children were born to young parents; new families created. Children had to be raised and cared for, guided, and instructed, even educated, in the wisdom of the people elders. Life was a fierce struggle in keeping everyone alive. The elements of Nature tested everyone’s will, intelligence, and resolved to keep going, regardless of how bitter, cold, how sick, or how miserable, how dark and gloomy the situations turned out to be.

There was a strength to be found in the shared values of the community, who respected the Spirit of the Natural Law for the common good. Valued the principles that contributed and ensured survival.   Morality is a resource for inner strength when the circumstances change, and the times are uncertain, even when foreign military powers invade to exploit the local resources. War is often a moment for truth, time for a reality check before the Creator of life, and claim the promises made in the books of the Holy Bible, for the believers. For those that respect the Spirit of the Natural Law in words and deeds and obey the instructions. They do not initiate violence or rely on unscrupulous means for selfish gain.”

Victor Leinonen. A Claim For A True Worldview (Kindle Locations 421-429)