Lalli

[1][2][3] The story begins with an expedition of one of the first Christian missionaries in Finland, Bishop Henry, during the alleged first crusade of Sweden.

In their hunger, Bishop Henry and his men then forcibly take the food and hay but leave payment before continuing on with their journey.

[5] The legend is enshrined in a famous Finnish folk poem called Henrikin surma ("The Slaying of Henry").

[7] Lalli's axe, along with Bishop Henrik's mitre feature in the coat of arms of the former municipality of Köyliö and now from 2015 the merged Säkylä.

[9] Martti Haavio, a researcher of Finnish mythology, theorised that this was not part of the original story, but added later on.

It is possible that the legends marking these areas as Lalli's settlements were manufactured by the church, as it would grant them rights to the land.

[8] The story of Lalli and Henry’s death on the lake is the subject of the song Köyliönjärven jäällä, by Finnish metal band Moonsorrow.

He claims to have found records that state a missionary by the name of Heinrich (or "Heinärikki" as called by Finns) was slain in the early 12th century, only a few decades before the Bishop Henry of legend.

According to him the fictional character of Bishop Henry was mostly based on Heinrich but was then conflated with the legend of Eric IX of Sweden, who is also storied to have met his end gruesomely murdered.