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The Kalevala refers to the Sauna on a number of occasions, it tells of Sauna bathing and heating skills, as well as the miraculous powers of Sauna bathing. The blacksmith Ilmarinen possesses mighty powers, and he can hammer the Sampo, a wealth making machine, a kind of perpetual motion machine. Ilmarinen is preparing himself for the journey he will take to the North to woo the Daughter of the North. He asks his sister Annikki to warm up the Sauna bath. Originally Väinö has persuaded Ilmarinen to travel with him to the North and has promised him in reward the Daughter of the North. In fact, Väinämöinen´s purpose is to take the Sampo, wealth making machine and also claim the Daughter of the North for himself. The Mistress of the North tells that the price of her daughter would be the Sampo. The Kalevala men then finally rob the Sampo and the Mistress of the North starts to chase the men and finally the Sampo is lost in the depths of the sea. The revenge of the Mistress of the North is to send terrible diseases to Kalevala, but Väinämöinen heats the Sauna, calls the God to help him and cures the people by the Spirit of the Sauna.
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The production of Sauna products for tourists is developing in Finland. Large selections of Finnish Sauna toiletries, towels and textiles are on sale for visitors. The herbal wellness products make a whole new line of products, as well as the clean Finnish nature products from peat and the vasta (bunch of birch twigs.) There is still, however, a big space on the market for new innovative products and services. The Sauna is a true cultural heritage; a sustainable production can create a lot of new and beneficial souvenirs and handicraft products for the visiting tourists and their well-being.
Lappish stories contain many kinds of mythological creatures, similarly Finnish mythology is also full of old spirits. The Sauna elf in old folklore was called the Spirit of the Sauna. The name in Finnish for the Elf is “Tonttu”, and this word has been obtained from the Swedish language. The word for Elf, Tonttu is similar to the word for a plot of land which is Tontti. The similarity between these two words indicates who the ancient people believed really dominated their land. The land owner, that is to say the rightful owner of the land, is the Elf who has lived on the land permanently throughout the ages. The humans are allowed to live and work on the land, but, if they misuse the land, the Elf might get angry and bring misfortune to the offender. The philosopher Eero Ojanen has considered the spirit of the land and has found an Elf on the plot of land:
"A plot of land is where a man and nature meet. The plot is a physical place, where there is a sense of nature, but nature in which a man can introduce his own culture. It is nature and culture in the same place at the same time and therefore it is itself a third party. But what would such a third party be, how could it be described in concrete terms? It is the Elf. The Elf makes the plot. The Land itself has no content without the birth of the Elf, the space maintainer, the upkeeper of appearances. Without the Elf the land is empty, a vague concept with no concrete content. The land needs the Elf; the Elf makes the land suitable for man." Ojanen (2004).
The Sauna Elf is the protector of the Sauna and the spirit, both in good and bad. Sauna Elf stories are very old and tell of people invited to use the sauna in a calm and quiet way, giving respect to the Sauna Elf.
I wonder if the tourist who looks for the spirits in a certain places and hears stories of Elves would like to buy an Elf and in doing so, buy an Elf for himself.
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6.2.1. The Iron Age | 6.2.3. Arts and Crafts and the National Image |
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