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Concept
Ukko
Summary
Ukko (ˈukːo), Äijä ˈæi̯jæ or Äijö ˈæi̯jø (Finnish for 'male grandparent', 'grandfather', 'old man'), parallel to Uku in Estonian mythology, is the god of the sky, weather, harvest, and thunder in Finnish mythology.
Ukkonen, the Finnish word for thunder, is the diminutive form of the name Ukko.
Unto Salo believes that Ilmari, another Finnic sky god, is the origin of Ukko, but that as Ukko Ilmari experienced very significant, although far from total, influence from the Indo-European sky god especially in the form of Thor. Some believe that Ukko's original name was Baltic Perkūnas.
Ukko is held the most significant god of Finnish mythology, although it is disputed by scholars whether this is accountable to later Christian influence. In the folk poems and prayers he is also given the epithet Ylijumala ('Supreme God'), probably in reference to his status as the most highly regarded god and on the other hand his traditional domain in the heavens. Other names for Ukko include Pitkänen (pitkä, 'long'), Isäinen (isä, 'father'), Isoinen (iso, archaic form of the above, modern meaning 'great', 'big' or 'large'). Although portrayed active in myth, when appealed to Ukko makes all his appearances in legend solely by natural phenomena. According to Martti Haavio, the name Ukko was sometimes used as a common noun or generalised epithet for multiple deities instead of denoting a specific god.
It is likely that the figure of Ukko is mostly Indo-European, possibly Baltic, in origin. Ukko is held by researchers of religion to be parallel to Indo-European patriarchal sky deities, for example to Zeus and Jupiter of the Classical Greco-Roman pantheon, the Indian Hindu god Indra, the Balto-Slavic god Perun-Perkūnas and the Norse god Thor. Tuuri, a Germanic loan and cognate of Thor, was possibly an alternate name for Ukko. Tuuri is rarely encountered in Finnish mythology, and had been relegated to the mere role of deity of harvest and success.
It is possible that when Ukko took the position of the preceding sky god Ilmarinen, Ilmarinen's destiny was to become a mortal smith-hero.
Official source
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