Tapio
Also known as: Metsän kuningas (King of the Forest)
Mythological Narrative
The god of the forest and giver of game, named by Agricola in 1551, whom hunters in the runo-songs and the Kalevala address with his wife Mielikki to open the forest's storehouse to them.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## Attestation
Agricola's list of 1551 says of the Tavastians that Tapio gave them game from the forest. In folk poetry and charms, Tapio is the old king of the forest, with a beard of lichen and a hat of fir, living in Tapiola with his wife Mielikki, their son Nyyrikki, and daughter Tellervo. Hunters sang to him to ask for game, promising respect and offerings, and avoided offending the forest by loud boasting or careless behavior.
## In the Kalevala
When Lemminkäinen must capture the elk of Hiisi, he prays to Tapio and Mielikki to open their forest to him, promising gifts of gold and silver, and the elk is driven into his hands. In another rune, cattle charms ask the forest powers to protect the herds while they graze in the woods.
## The forest in Finnish life
For a people whose land was mostly forest, Tapio stood for the forest as a society with its own rulers, rights, and moods. Sibelius's last tone poem, *Tapiola* (1926), takes its name from his realm.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Tapio.
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The mistress of the forest and wife of Tapio, who holds the keys to the forest's storehouse of game and whom hunters and herders, and Lemminkäinen in the Kalevala, entreat for luck and protection.
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