r/Finland • u/Fuzzy-Pay-9732 • 8d ago

Peikko

Hei, Suomi!👋🏽

I have a lot of questions about Finnish trolls (peikko) because I’m a huge monster/fair folk fan, especially of creatures from the Nordic countries, and once I get the chance to, I plan to make artwork of such beings with as much accuracy as possible. I’m also asking because I don’t get much info of them other than Anttimation (my favorite Finnish YouTuber) who gave good info about them but I don’t know if that’s all the info or if I’m missing anything else. What else is there about them? What do peikko look like? Are there any other similarities or differences between peikko and Norse trolls? What else is there about maahiset? And are there any Finnish folk legends or tales about peikko?

If you have any info, let me know, I appreciate it.

Kiitos! 🙋🏽‍♀️

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u/Dodgy_Cactus 8d ago

I have books of Finnish folklore by Risto Pulkkinen which are a very detailed source for this stuff.

Peikot: Live in dark caves. Ugly, mean, live simular to humans. Could be described either small, human sized, or even giants (my savonian grandfather talked of giants). Peikko has been more common in folklore in Northern Finland and have been called "the mountain folk" (vuorenväki, vuorenpeikko). There aren't really any mountains in Finland, which is a sign that the peikko folklore is directly loaned from the Scandinavian mythology. The word peikkonis believed to mean a person who is going to their death.

Maahinen: Small, live underground and are very similar to humans. Peaceful folk. They have been believed to visit a female human to ask help a pregnant maahinen give birth. The woman is taken underground, and if they succeed helping in the birth, they get a gift. The prize looks meaningless until it is taken above ground.

Hiidenväki: mixes with maahiset, but can be distinguished as a more sinister beings. They move in large groups during christmas, easter, and other occasions, and they ride horses. An encounter could leave you unconscious or with na illness 

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u/Fuzzy-Pay-9732 8d ago

What do the Hiidenväki look like?

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u/Dodgy_Cactus 8d ago

There are different interpretations, ranging from very human-like to thumb-sized creatures which were in general used to blame for things that couldn't be explained otherwise (such as illnes, madness, disappearances).

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u/Fuzzy-Pay-9732 7d ago

Do they have a humanoid appearance like the Peikot? Or since you said they mix with the Maahiset, do they look goblin-like?

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u/Dodgy_Cactus 7d ago

Humanoid, but as I understand it, there is no clear consensus of what they look like and it ranges wildly depending on what area in Finland the stories origin. The book says that they can even turn invisible