Matti Kurki (also Matias;[1] Swedish: Matts Kurck) was a legendary Finnish chieftain of the birkarls.
[2] If he was a real person, he is thought to have lived in the late 13th century, at that time when king Magnus Ladulås ruled the Kingdom of Sweden.
Folklore tales tell about Matti Kurki, particularly in the Satakunta province (Vesilahti, Pirkkala), but also in Lapland.
[citation needed] The best known tale concerns his duel with Pohto, a Russian-Karelian warrior.
The lands of the Laukko Manor were, according to legends, either compensation for subjugating some of the Sami to the Swedish crown by extracting taxes from them, or for his valor and deeds in the wars against the Danish enemies of the King of Sweden, or defending the eastern frontier from Novgorodian raiding parties.