Syöjätär
A Finnish folklore figure with some characteristics similar to Ajatar.
↻ synthesized from 5 sources
When
- First attested
- 1800 CE
- Attested period
- 1800 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Appears in Elias Lönnrot's compiled lizard origin song in his book Magic Songs of the Finns.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Ježibaba, Jędza, gorska maika, vasorrú bába, Baba Korizma, Gvozdenzuba, Baba Roga, šumska majka, jaga baba, Pehta, Pehtra baba, kvatrna baba, kvatrnica, Baba Cloanța, Holda, Holle, Chlungeri, akka, Ilmarinen, Hilahatar, Kasaritar, Uparo, Vingas, Vangas, Vangamoinen, Mammotar, Mammelainen, Maanhuten maan emäntä, Lemmetär, Äijo, Louhi, Loviatar, Muma Pădurii, Perchta, Tempo, Hiisi
- parent of
- snakes
- syncretized with
- Ajatar
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“Äijo, Louhi, and Loviatar, and Syöjätär—Finnish folklore figures with some similar characteristics.”
#5640 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“The Karelian figure Syöjätär has some aspects of Baba Yaga, but only the negative ones, while in other Karelian tales, helpful roles akin to those from Baba Yaga may be performed by a character called akka ('old woman').”
#5853 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Runo XXVI includes the tale of the creation of snakes by Hiisi and Syöjätär.”
#8404 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Elias Lönnrot combined the above-mentioned elements, creating a lizard origin song where Syöjätär spits a bubble on the sea, and Kasaritar swallows it”
#27249 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“In some runic songs of the origin of snakes, snakes were born out of Syöjätär's spit, but there are also versions where a snake is born out of a bristle of the brush of Maanhuten maan emäntä 'Maanhuten, Mistress of Earth'; Maanhuten could also be Maanhutar or Manutar according to Adolf Ivar Arwidsson). In Martti Haavio's opinion, Mammotar comes from Latin mater or Greek mḗtēr 'mother' and refers to the mother of demons such as Lilith. The name does sometimes appear alongside Syöjätär”
#27284 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001