Tuonela

Tuonela is the realm of the dead or the Underworld in Finnish mythology. Tuonela, Tuoni, Manala and Mana are used synonymously.[1][2] In Estonian mythology, it is called Toonela or Manala.

For the Amorphis album, see Tuonela (album).
By the river of Tuonela (Tuonelan joella) by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1903
Lemminkäisen äiti by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The mother of young Lemminkäinen has gone to the river of Tuoni to find the corpse of her dead son. One of the myths told in Kalevala.

According to traditional Finnish religion, the fate of good and bad people is the same and the dead wander the afterlife as shadow-like ghosts. Tuoni and his wife Tuonetar are the rulers of Tuonela. At times living people visited Tuonela to gather information and spells. The trip there required weeks of trekking in a desert, and finally the crossing of the river with the help of a ferryman (similar to Charon in Greek mythology). Shamans could visit Tuonela by falling into a trance[3] and tricking the guards.

Tuonela is best known for its appearance in the Finnish national epic Kalevala. In the 19th song of Kalevala, Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero, travels to Tuonela to seek the knowledge of the dead. On the journey, he meets the ferryman, a woman, Tuonen tytti, or Tuonen piika (Death's maid), who takes him over the river of Tuoni.[4] On the isle of Tuoni, however, he is not given the spells that he was looking for and he barely manages to escape the place by turning into a snake. After his return, he curses anyone trying to enter the place alive.

Tuonela is used as the translation for the Greek word ᾍδης (Hades) in Finnish translations of the Bible. In Finnish Christianity it is often interpreted as the place of the dead before the Last Judgement.

References
  1. Pentikäinen, Juha (1999). Kalevala Mythology (Expanded ed.). Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253213525.
  2. "Tuonela". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. Korte, Irma (2020). Samaanin sampo. BoD - Books on Demand. ISBN 9789526900940.
  4. "Kalevalan maailma". Kalevalaseura. Retrieved 14 July 2020.

See also
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