Väinämöinen

[2] The first extant mention of Väinämöinen in literature is in a list of Tavastian gods by Mikael Agricola in 1551, where it says: "Aeinemöinen wirdhet tacoi."

The Karelian and Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, tells of his birth in the course of a creation story in its opening sections.

[6] In the eighteenth century folk tale collected by Cristfried Ganander, Väinämöinen is said to be son of Kaleva and thus brother of Ilmarinen.

He possessed the wisdom of the ages from birth, for he was in his mother's womb for seven hundred and thirty years, while she was floating in the sea and while the earth was formed.

It is after praying to the sun, the moon, and the great bear (the stars, referring to Ursa Major) that he is able to leave his mother's womb and dive into the sea.

Väinämöinen is presented as the 'eternal bard', who exerts order over chaos and established the land of Kaleva, and around whom revolve so many of the events in Kalevala.

His search for a wife brings the land of Kaleva into, at first friendly, but later hostile contact with its dark and threatening neighbour in the north, Pohjola.

The 50th and final poem of the Kalevala tells the story of the maiden Marjatta, who becomes pregnant after eating a berry, giving birth to a baby boy.

In reply, the newborn child, mere two weeks old, chides the old sage for his sins and transgressions, such as allowing the maiden Aino, sister of Joukahainen, to drown herself.

In the original 1888 translation of Kalevala into English by John Martin Crawford, Väinämöinen's name was anglicised as Wainamoinen.

[9] In art (such as the accompanying picture by Akseli Gallen-Kallela), Väinämöinen is described as an old man with a long white beard, which is also a popular appearance for wizards in fantasy literature.

In music, Finnish folk metal band Ensiferum wrote three songs based on/about Väinämöinen, called "Old Man", "Little Dreamer" and "Cold Northland".

Yet another well-known Finnish metal band, Korpiklaani has released a song about the death of Väinämöinen, Tuonelan Tuvilla, as well as an English version named "At The Huts of the Underworld".

Väinämöinen is also the theme of a composition for choir and harp by Zoltán Kodály, "Wainamoinen makes music", premiered by David Watkins.

This book's main plot is the ingress of several characters - the Slavic thunder god Perun, O'Sullivan, a werewolf, a vampire, Finnish folk legend Väinämöinen, and Taoist fangshi Zhang Guolao - into Asgard to kill Norse thunder god Thor, all for their own varied reasons.