To Christopher Bretherton 16 July 1964 76 Sandfield Road, Headington, Oxford
Dear Bretherton, ….I made the acquaintance of languages not usually studied by the modern English, each with a powerfully individual phonetic aesthetic: Welsh, Finnish, and the remnants of fourth-century Gothic. Finnish also provided a glimpse of an entirely different mythological world. The germ of my attempt to write legends of my own to fit my private languages was the tragic tale of the hapless Kullervo in the Finnish Kalevala. It remains a major matter in the legends of the First Age (which I hope to publish as The Silmarillion), though as ‘The Children of Húrin’ it is entirely changed except in the tragic ending…
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Letters of J.R.R.Tolkien. A selection edited by Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Aarnivalkeat – are spots where an eternal flame associated with Will o’ the wisps burns (Virvatulet in Finnish). They are claimed to mark the places where faerie gold or a other treasure is buried. Although clearly folklore, the claim has been made that the Outokumpu (“weird hill”) coppermine — the largest coppermine in Europe at its time — was discovered due to some light phenomena or another.
Etiäinen – a human-like spirit that goes ahead of you in your life. If you meet this spirit you can see things that aren’t yet happened to you or to someone else. The word etiäinen is a commonly used in other parts of Finland and is a part of everyday vocabulary meaning a sign or an omen.
Ihtiriekko or liekkiö (“flamey”) – a ghost of a bastard child. Ihtiriekko is a bastard child that has been killed by child’s mother and after that buried outside of the graveyard becouse the child is not accepted by the church or sosiety. Baby can’t go to heaven and becomes a ghost. This ghost could make terrible noise until somebody dugs up his/her body and buries it in graveyard. Such ghost people call Ihtiriekko. Ghosts could also be quiet, but she/he might be seen as a flame in forest, like will o’ the wisp. Such ghost people call Liekkiö.
Itse (“self”) – a part of the soul that is not attached to other parts of the soul. Itse is described to be your a look-a-like even if it can be separate from your body and it can go ahead of you like etiäinen. You can also loose your itse and then you’ll become sick and depressed. The dead ones are maybe taken your itse to Tuonela (Underworld). It was also believed that alcoholism can take your itse away because under the influence of alcohol you’re not yourself.
Sielulintu (“soulbird”) – means the home of your soul. It is believed that when a new baby is born, the bird brings a soul to him/her. And when a person dies the bird comes to take a soul away. Sieluluntu also means a wooden bird that people kept besides of themselves when sleeping so that the bird can look after your soul when you sleep.
Tuonela – is a realm of the dead or the Underworld. Tuonela is best known for its appearance in the Finnish national epic Kalevala. In Kalevala Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero, travels to Tuonela to seek the knowledge of the dead. On the journey he meets a girl, Tuonen piika (Death’s maid), who takes him over the river of Tuoni.
But I’m pretty happy with them so far I’m just gonna post how they look right now~
Gondolin lords: Galdor, Rog, Salgant, Maeglin (w/ his ‘I’m gonna fuckin kill you Tuor’ face), Turgon, Eärendil…his hair is so wild here and I fockin love it (T^T)/ ❤
MisbehavingMaiar: Tumblr Archive 