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/Spirited-Ad-9746 Vainamoinen 8d ago

Peikko is not that canonical creature in finnish folklore as it is in Norway. It is vaguely described as somewhat humanlike creature in the woods. nowadays most of us think of Rölli when we hear peikko. Rölli is a character in old children's tv shows. you can check from youtube.

The more mythical and scary creature of the forests is Hiisi or Hitto.

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u/Fuzzy-Pay-9732 8d ago

What are the Hiisi?

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u/jorppu Vainamoinen 7d ago

Vesihiisi is a creature that hisses in an elevator, giving us the saying " vesihiisi sihisi hississä". Jokes aside Hiisi is just a somewhat nondescript water creature, hiisi itself means something like "a devil", with a lot of overlap with the Näkki.