“First a mysterious death, then the sauna burns down. There was always something very clear and explicit about burning down a sauna. If you want to get a Finn’s attention, if you want to tell your compatriot something vital and important, you burn down his sauna. Then he’ll get the […]
Taste the Sampo
Life somehow just feels a little less trite and meaningless when you discover that an entire series of Finnish beers based on The Kalevala exists. Of course, we may be all speeding headlong towards a final destination six feet below ground (and many Finnish bands do their best to remind […]
The Trials and Tribulations of Domesticating Wild Finnish Trolls
“When I get back home with a fresh pile of books, euphoric about my coming meeting with Martes—now so soon, so soon—the first thing that happens is I step on a troll turd. Anyone who would complain about miserable homecomings—the kids have been making taffy and not cleaned up, their […]
‘Tis the Season for Classic American Paintings of Pagan Finnish Santa Look-Alikes
THE MAGICIAN AND THE MAID OF BEAUTY“High in the sky he saw a rainbow, and on it the Maid of Beauty.” (Wainamoinen returns home on a sledge from his exile in the icy wastes of Pohyola and attempts—extremely unsuccessfully—to flirt with the most attractive woman alive in the sky.) Normally […]