ABSTRACT
We have no information about the individual Häme people before the fourteenth century. Even their names must be reconstructed from the later medieval sources, which reveal a variety of old Finnish pagan names in usage. The lack of information concerns especially women, as elsewhere in early written records. Together with archeological findings and the sparse literary references, there is still one source, however, which aids in reconstructing the daily life and hints at the pre-Christian worldview of the Häme people. This is the evidence of folklore, which was enthusiastically documented in the nineteenth century during the Finnish national movement, the results of which were collected by Elias Lönnrot into the book of epic poetry entitled the Kalevala . The Kalevala preserved many of the pagan mythological motifs and beliefs long into the Christian era, such as mythical weddings of the bear, offerings to ancient gods and ancestors, and spells and charms, like the incantation to stop blood from bleeding, used also by the heroine of the vignette examined below, Kuutamo Hyväneuvo (Moonlight Good-Advice).
