Mythology · 08

Tuonela

Tuonela is the dwelling place of the dead, behind the black river — the otherworld that separated the living and the dead. All go there who are not reborn or have not found the light. Tuoni's mistress and master guard the gates.

MythologyWhat the old tales tell

Tuonela was beneath the earth, behind the black river — the otherworld that separated the living and the dead. The river divided the worlds, and there was no bridge across — only a raft, rowed by Tuoni's maiden. The swan swam silently on the river, and the gates were iron. All the dead went there, good and evil alike, and no light came there.

Pixel art: a ghostly figure among ruins — The ruin's old man

Pixel art: shadows play on a ruin wall — Shadows at play

The journey to Tuonela began immediately after death. The deceased needed escorts, provisions and gifts for the journey. Food, tools and jewellery were placed in the grave — not luxury, but necessities. After the funeral the dead's clothes were burned, hands washed and purification performed. The kalmanväki easily clung to those who did not observe the ritual.

Tuoni's mistress and master guarded the gates. The mistress was stern but fair, the master steady and quiet. Tuoni's maiden rowed the raft and asked each one: who are you, where do you come from, what do you want? The answers decided whether one was let through or turned back.

A seer might travel to Tuonela while alive to seek knowledge, but returning was dangerous. Väinämöinen went there and escaped as a swan, a snake, bleeding — a shape-shifter who knew that a human cannot survive the land of the dead. Entering Tuonela alive required giving part of oneself there.

The kalmanväki was the force of death that clung. It remained in graves, places of death, the clothes of the dead. That is why hands were washed after funerals, clothes burned and death places avoided for the first summer. Kalma was not evil — it was simply a force that sought a new host if the old one was gone.

Pixel art: an old burial ground among ruins — An old burial ground

Tuonela was not hell. It was a borderland where the living and the dead were apart, but close. Burial grounds were sacred places visited in summer and at Christmas. The dead were remembered, for a forgotten dead might return — not to revenge, but to seek the one who had left them.

In the game worldHow this appears in Sammuneet Revontulet

Kipinä dies in the eighth episode and sinks to the gates of Tuonela. The black river, Tuoni's swan, Tuoni's Mistress and Master.

Tuoni's Mistress and Master do not attack: 'Did you come too early, or did you come to fetch someone?' Kipinä answers: 'Not to fetch. I came to see what I protect.'

Tuoni's Bear stands between the trees, its pelt woven from darkness. It sniffs Kipinä and lets them through. 'You have been tempered. The fear of death has receded.'

Tuoni's mistress

Tuoni's master

Kalman väki

Tuoni's swan

Soul fire