I'm a Finn and I enjoyed this so much! It is sad how little we know about our history and religions before Christianity, because like you said, we were culturally behind and nobody was there to write it down. All of oral tradition almost died too, probably because we more like tribes and didn't have sense of nationality under the rule of Sweden & Russia. Our holy groves have been turned to churchyards and we have been forced to forget our traditional magic... Luckily viking sagas managed to preserve some bits and pieces.
That is because we finns are not actually very homegenous group of people. Every tribe is bit different from eachother. There is huge genetic difference between western and eastern finns. Ancient finnish tribes HATED eachother. There was many bloody tribal wars between different finnish tribes. For example Tavastians and Savonians didn't like eachother. Not one bit. This is pretty much the biggest reason why Finns lacked the national identity. They saw themselves more like small tribes but not as one big nation.
@@perkele8806 No tietysti ihmiset on pidettävä erossa totuudesta kaikilla elämänaloilla, sitähän mediakin tekee päivittäin. Koko historiankirjoius ja kaikki virallinen on pelkkää sepitystä. Sillä tavalla hallitaan. Myös suomalaisiin kuningaskuntiin suhdaudutaan pelkkinä myytteinä vaikka ulkomaisia lähteitä löytyy
@@perkele8806 No pitää katsoa kuka virastoa pyörittää. Mahtaako kolonialismi jatkua yhä edelleen. Miksi pakkoruotsi ym alistus. Asiat yhdistyy aika helposti kun hieman raottaa verhoa
We share common ancestors in East Siberia. 11 women and 2 of them were from Finnish tribes and 1 from Nepalian tribes walked to lands of west before Ice Age, these made "Americans". My grand mother is from this tribe and is connected to "Americans" very highly... Just to respect our tribes. How you call your land? It sure hell is not America.
I've understood that's why Finn's and natives both have alcohol issues. Can't just take one glass.. prone to alcoholism. They share the same blood types or something
Possibly. Us 'Indins don't have the enzyme that breaks down ETOH alcohol . Now, that's not for ALL Native Americans, but for most. Including my tribe. And is also why haven't had any alcohol in 36 years. @@karlkuoppala6555
My father faught in the winter war. And our family farm in Vipuri was taken by Russia. My dad lived to 95. He always mourned for the farm he was born on. It was our farm for a thousand years.
I feel pretty happy that no matter what has happened or who happens to own the forests I roamed as a child, I can take a bus and visit it any time I would like. This reminded me to be very grateful.
My great grandpa came to the US in 1903, unfortunately the traditions and language didn't survive the generations of separation and now my family only has the name left. But at least I can learn more as info gets clearer. I'm sorry for your family's loss, I can't imagine losing something so closely tied to your family and ancestors.
@@akuhiiri6873 Yeah, I was able to learn that much when I got older, but for at least 3 generations we've pronounced it with the English W sound at the begining. Most of my older relatives passed when I was young so I only ever heard how my dad and grandmother pronounced it.
The Finns are my favorite Europenas as well, for so many reasons. Totally humble, calm and unpretentious, but arguably some of the most bad-ass fighters that have ever lived, when they get pushed into it. The Finns never seemed to have started shit with anyone, but anyone that's ever messed with them has paid for it. Ask Russia. Their ability to consume alcohol is ltruly impressive. And their profanity is beyond compare in its hilarity and sheer vulgarity.
We have really foggy history because almost nothing was written down before christians came here and then our history and myths were christianised so its even more foggy and fragmented
Sauna is also kinda funny "nyanse" in that Finnish "indian" style culture. American Indians have also "hikimaja". "Sweat ´shag´" (dunno what they are called in english / among American Indians. Hot tents maby? :D... So: Indians go to hot tent, add steam and smoke drugs. Wonder does Siberian tribes have had somekind of Sauna?
And could Sauna be somekind of mark how triibes has mixed trough Siber, and has those other aboriginal tribes in the world, who has Saunas, something to do with Finnish sauna..? Interesting.
Here's some extra info about Vikings and Finns: On a saga Finnish area is mentioned as "land of fires" too. Finns used a warning/signal bonfires on the highest points along the sea shores what gave time to prepair and gather men against raiders/invaders and weaker people; elders, children and women had time to escape to forests. Many times Finnish areas wasn't easy targets for raiding and one reason was those bonfires. Also second most viking age swords are found in Finland after Norway, so im sure they were capable of defending themselves, especially combined with ambush tactics and using forests as an advantage. According to saga of "Battle of Herdaler" Norwegian viking leader Olav Haraldsson and his men (later king of Norway) went raiding in Finland; Finns escaped or pretended like they escaped to deep forests and vikings gave up by chasing them to inland. They returned to the shore/ships, but Finns ambushed them there, Olav almost died on the battle and they had to escape and sail on the storm. Finns used the retreat and ambush tactic even on a war against soviets. Im a history freak by myself and i've read that most of the viking era Vikings had good relations with Finns/Karelians and were mostly trading partners, not enemies. There was more benefits being friendly with Finns because they got most of the fur stocks from Finnish tribes by trading and the locals knowledge of further connections was important too. Vikings were aggressive towards Baltics, but with a Finnic people it was quite the opposite, most likely because they saw them so useful 🙂 Furs were expensive valuables on south where vikings sold them to muslim silver. Finns and Norse even had common settlements on Finnish shores and especially on Karelia/Lake Ladogan area. Finns went also trading to Sweden in Mälaren and Sigtuna areas. Viking route to Novgorod and far south to muslim areas went alongside side of the Finnish shores through Karelian isthmus and Lake Ladoga was like a main gate to Olkhov (Nevajoki) river what lead to Novgorod and south. Almost forgot, but Vikings accually needed Finns/Karelians help and knowledge when they were searching new lands on the east/south. Locals knew the river routes and connections, but they also helped as an translators between vikings and slavic people. Vikings also changed their longboats to smaller Karelians river boats at Staraja Ladoga (Laatokanlinna), because rivers past that are shallow and narrow at many points.
@@magnusnyberg3512 Where does the information come from, what exactly are the Swedes? The fortress was founded on the territory, which was already inhabited by various Finno-Ugric peoples. And the most ancient layer is the Finno-Ugric one.
@@kainptz Exacto. Coastal "swedes" during the viking age according to archeogenetics were a whole separate population from inland/modern day swedes. Swedes have zero claim to them or the varangians, historically speaking.
@@kainptz I don't recall my response, but we're probably talking about Aldeigjuborg - present-day Staraja Ladoga - the place where Rurik (Rörek) started out. Dendrochronology shows that the first Svear houses were built in 753. You can read a lot about Rurik and the town on the net, or else in any biggish Nordic library.
Thank you for a very informative video. I have Finnish ancestry and would definitely enjoy learning more in further videos about their history and culture.
As a Finnish woman who always thought that what the heck ..there MUST be vikings in Finland no one talks about..Thank you VERY much for this video 😍❤️🇫🇮
Most of the nations around Baltic sea practiced raiding. Its just that Scandinavians turned into a damn religious practice. Most of the early medieval period of what is modern Finland was battle grounds for tribal warfare as testified by ridiculous number of "viking swords" found here only surpassed by the number found in Norway.
Jep, tosi yllättävää että joku persu haluaa uskoa suomalaisten olleen viikinkejä ja joku mahtava kuningaskunta. Suur-Suomikin varmaan tulossa pian? Nää ei ikävä kyllä oo vaan uskon asioita vaan täytyy luottaa arkeologisiin ja historiallisiin faktoihin. Tosiaan mistään muualta noita viikinkiesineitä tai -hautoja ei löydy kuin rannikolta missä kävivät tekemässä ryöstelemässä ja joskus tekemässä kauppaa.
I think it's kind of "Nordicversial" that today we all love the Finns 🙂 They are badass, really friendly, and even if they talk that strange language, they feel familiar to be around. They also have a great humor, that I as a Dane is totally compatible with 😀 I've been with them as a civilian and as a soldier. They are skilled. And they have some beautiful women !
😹 great comment! Im finnish. At least what it comes to my genetics, family members, and where i ve luved most of my life. Though i never felt like part of this nation and culture 🙀 i feel more like you Erik, they ve got great humor and i feel respect for them many ways 😼
I’m a little late to this but I love you danes. Working in a danish company I’ve had a couple of insanely nice trips to Denmark. Such a friendly and welcoming people and just as rowdy as us, you make for great drinking buddies! Latest trip was a company birthday and we had employees from all around the world. It was awesome sitting at a table with all the nordic bros literally all: us finns, danes, norwegians, swedes and icelanders. And like you said we do speak a language none of you will ever understand at all but despite there being a ”language barrier” there is no cultural barrier whatsoever. We don’t speak a similar language but you don’t feel foreign at all. We speak about the same things, all we know is the same stuff. And we grow up around alot of the same things in all the nordic countries. I think mostly it’s the very relaxed social culture that is just so similar in all the nordics.
Cheers. While because of the language thing I find Scandinavians even more relaxed amongst each other, there's definitely a strong Nordic cultural love connection there. Personally, while you'd think our connection to the Swedes (ie. the Sweden Swedes, not the Swedish-speaking Finnish minority since they're just as Finnish as anyone else, really) would be the closest, I tend to prefer Danes on average :D And Icelanders, too! Maybe it's more of a cliche, and even simply due (to a small extent) to the silly-sounding rikssvenska accent, but the average Swede often feels a bit uptight and somehow pretentious to me. And maybe because of the common history and profound effect Swedes (and later Finland-Swedes) have had on our culture, society, our elites, history, political and legal institutions, even the birth of Finnish nationalism, I can't help but to feel a bit irritated every time it turns out that while your regular Swedes are friendly and all, they usually know next to nothing about Finland* and can even appear a bit condescending in various minor ways... Not that regular Danes would be any less ignorant - but lets say it's more understandable. But yeah, maybe it's a bit personal too, but I tend to get along with Danes a bit better. Fun company, no bullshit dark humor. Also, I grew up loving von Trier (earlier the better) and Vinterberg, for example. Given how easy it is in writing, I just wish I could understand even like half of what you speak, tho' 🧏😁 But how I ended up watching this video, I don't know. Is this guy serious? Magic? What's wrong with people? Also, a lot of his non-imaginary "Finnish" prehistory (just using "Finnic" half the time instead would've made him seem less obviously brain-dead btw) is way off, but I can't be bothered - there's always one more person wrong on the internet. (*) I mean, in principle, following all things Finnish would be super-easy because of our Swedish-language media sphere. I know it's not super-interesting, though, but you should at least know something about the common history etc., so you don't end up, for example, complementing a natively Swedish-speaking Finn about their good Swedish, or switching to English because of their "foreign" accent! 😂
These are some of my favorite videos that you do. I know you THINK you're boring but it is told in a way that sounds like you're talking to me, it is relatable and digestible.
Like most Minnesotans, I have Scandinavian roots. A Finnish grandmother and Danish grandfather. Thanks for keeping my past alive and relevant through your information!
Swedish/Finn/Saami here, I want to thank you as well for showing interest in our past. A lot of people do not care, so it is always nice to see someone who has an interest in where we came from. I also have a decent amount of American family in Minnesota, us Nords seem to litter the area lol.
@@billywiththebulgingbaloonb5105 Har jag berättat ett skämt? I don’t get what’s funny? “Our past” is in reference the the history of the culture and heritage of our ancestors.
Finnish pagan here 👋🏻! Since I was a small child I was interested in old believes, old traditions and magic what old relatives practiced in my family. I found Vikings when I was 11, long before internet, TV shows etc. Same time I start to read Native Americans history. I have found many similarities between old Finn / Norse and Native Americans. I wish to see more this kind of videos!
I have Finnish ancestors and enjoyed learning about this kind of history. I wish Grandpa could see this video! He loved telling stories about his dad,who came from Finland to USA. :)
Did you hear about the U.S. court case that allowed Finns to get citizenship? In 1908 their citizenship was contested because they were deemed “Mongols” and “China-Swedes.” A U.S. judge had to legally declare them white so they could get citizenship. the Judge’s name was William Cant.
There is actually quite a lot simularity in the old gods of Finns and vikings. Ukko was a god of thunder, storms and rain. He wields a hammer or axe. You can see the connection 😁 Also some stories tell that finns were feared and respected but also hired for raids cause they could raise winds or storms so they were good for sailing long distances as long as you stayed on the right side with them. As you said you dont want to get to the wrong side. There are couple hundred thousand soviet troops on the border few meters deep as proof 🤔
I hope there’s a movie someday like the Northman but from a Finnish perspective. Those dudes were warriors from day one I’d like to see them in cinema. Especially seeing a deep dive into the Finnish magic practices.
The Finnish deities, and Finnic deities as a whole, being similar to Norse ones is rather due to influence from the proto-Baltic people rather than interaction with the later Norse. And since both Baltic and Norse originated from Indo-Europeans, their pantheons were similar due to sharing the same origin.
really great video, it was great to hear stories from the Viking era as a Finn 🇫🇮 A lot of Viking swords and jewelry have been found in Finland recently when amateur metal hunting has become more common. it would be great to hear more stories from Finland after the Viking Age, I hope you manage to make a new video about them.
Over 400 Viking age swords have been found in Finland at a rate of roughly 10 more finds each year. A large portion are also +Ulfberht swords. Finns probably both bought and manufactured swords. This is not something poor hand to mouth communities do. Some years back it was estimated those best swords would be worth (to the average person) £24000 (a years wage) in high end and £2000 in cheap end. After all the inflation that comparison needs adjustment. The smith is a central part of Finnish mythology as well, so all in all we can speculate that society was a combination of practical primitive and carpentry technology together with excellent knowledge and work of iron technology.
@@haliaeetus8221 I was metal detecting with my brother near one of the dried out ancient tibutaries of Aura river this summer. Not 30mins in till I found the first sword blade, hilt and pommel. Countless boat rivets(ship burial site apparently), skillfully made jewelry, spearheads... No ordinary people were buried in ships. Metal detector was beeping nonstop. The place turned out to be an ancient burial ground. Finland is FULL of places like this, grounds full of mysteries and untold history.
@@Siemenkarju22 WOW, Niilo, thank you for sharing, that is absolutely AMAZING! And what a hobby you and your brother have: Revealing the secrets of history! You guys are just fantastic.
Wow, you have done a lot of research on the Finns, We never talked about the Viking age at school so widely during history lessons and the Finnish national history prior to the middle ages was pretty much ignored in the late 80s and early 90s when I was in school, a very good and educational video that was fun to watch, your English is phenomenal and easy to listen, looking forward to learn some more, Good job and Greetings from Finland!
When i was kid, they actually taught christianity in schools. Teach how to believe, how absurd is that? And that is how history is suppressed. I resigned from church when i was in legal age to do it, after i(and many others) was forced into it on birth. It never felt even real, and i rebelled against it through my school years.
Yes in school we didnt talk about vikings in Finland, when it was told finns were not vikings and vikings had not much anything to do with Finland, when attacked elsewhere mostly, but I did not know this finns magic thing, when heard other nomadic tribes, like in native america also practice magic and that was funny this how the swedish kings always wanted the most beutiful woman, when maybe they appreciated finnish women beuty more, than the typical swedish woman beuty.
Unluckily we are not taught about our real history. Just the history about some godly like man not even close to us. We are still not fully converted to christianity as we have pagan ways.
Don't forget Ulfberht swords 😎 "unique swords with the inscription +VLFBERHT+ on the blade, dated between the 9th and 11th centuries. In the Viking Age, the privilege of having such a sword belonged exclusively to the elite, because an Ulfberht sword’s unmatched strength could only be had at a high cost. Norway and Finland are where the largest numbers of these swords have been found."
I am a purebred Finn living in So.Calif. Your video spoke to my soul hopefully to remind me of what I am. Peaceful, loving nature, but if messed with...well...things happen. I wish I knew how old Finns controlled the winds. On windy days, as soon as I get outside with my kite...no wind....
As a Finn I salute you sir! 🫡 You're research is spot on as always. Finnish paganism has been my interest for a long time but never have I heard anyone talking about these things with such passion and knowledge. So thank the allfather for a one crazy Norwegian who always makes my day perfect when a new video pops out. We Finns fought tribal wars with ourselves since the bronze age. So we only united against when some assholes came with longboats from the sea and tried to raid our villages etc. We still have high hills overlooking lakes that were used as a warning system by burning bond fires just like Gondor did calling Rohan for help in the Lord of the rings 🪓
Thank you for this fascinating video. Some of the stories you told, I’ve heard before but I was really astounded how much Finnish magic had influence back in the Viking era. My maternal grandparents are of Finnish Lappish origin and they and their parents still used the old - nowadays mostly lost - magic (wisdom). They might have used it to protect their life stocks or for good luck in hunting, for healing or to find out where their reindeers were or why the salmon wouldn’t rise up the rivers. They did their magic still very recently. I remember my grandfather telling me a true story how when he was a young boy he would often cut himself accidentally with a knife or hurt himself with an axe when cutting wood. So his uncle did some magic on him and told my grandfather that “from now on, no iron or steel never again make your blood spill”. Long story short, my grandfather believed until his dying days that his uncle’s magic saved his life in the 2nd WW against the Soviets (Russians). And he was part of a special troop, so called Long Distance Patrol, twice decorated for bravery.
It is easier to be brave if you are invulnerable. My grandpa was serving in a similar unit, long range recon behind enemy lines. Wounded twice during the wars. He should have got himself one of dem spells too.
There is still celebration in southern finland called "muinaistulien yö" (night of the ancient fires) which is celebrated because of fires that warned mainland of upcoming viking raid.
Moi! A lot of viewers might think you are wearing Thor's Hammer around your neck, but it is actually the Finnish version you are wearing: Ukonvasara (Ukko's Hammer) See this: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukonvasara
Is that why they had such a difficult time trying to come over to the US in the early 1900s? They were called China-Swedes and almost not allowed to get citizenship in the US. They literally had to be designated “white” by the Supreme Court in 1908 in order to get American citizenship in Missouri. There were so many people in the midwestern US calling them “Mongrels” becsuse they didn’t look “white.”
@@basicallyno1722 those are sami people. They live in far north of Sweden and Finland. Big blue/green eyed and blonde haired people are far from looking Chinese. So are tall guys with round big brown eyes and brown hair. Sami people only have those distinct eye lids which most Asians have.
Great vid and learned a lot! As a Finn I really appreciated your words and I really think that we, as a nordics, share a brotherhood and a lots of love for ya Norsks as well!
My great-grandparents were off-the-boat Finns. They had passed before I was born, and my grandmother completely Americanized and we never were introduced to the cultures, not including saunas, of course. Thank you for sharing this; I plan on exploring my roots a bit closer now.
This is my favourite part of the Viking Saga: "The Finlanders conjured up in the night, by their witchcraft, a dreadful storm and bad weather on the sea" (Battle of Herdaler)
Thank you for this video. I have been trying to find more information about Finnish history to learn more about my ancestors, and you actually list sources unlike most other RU-vidrs so I know which direction to go next. I'd love to learn more.
You should take a look at the Viking age on Estonian lands (Particularly Saaremaa aka Ösel) - they have the second richest findings after Gotland and the oldest and biggest Viking ship burial called Salme. It's definitely gonna be interesting to research. Btw spiritually, Estonians aren't far from Finnish people. Even with different recent history, they still share natural way of human life because of their hardship. Estonians and Finns don't have much to do other than roast each other with dark humor, it's a national sport.
As a Finn I would be ecstatic to hear about Estonian peoples role in this saga, for to me I have always felt great brotherhood to you my Estonian brothers and sisters and would love to see the historical differences on how our nations divided before the soviet times (and of course times before imperialism) that most of us know/don't know about these days.
Norseman: Never thought I die fighting side by side with a Finn Finnishman: What about side by side with a friend Norseman: ... Aye ... I can do that Much love to our Northern Finnish Cousins
I'm a finnish digital artist who likes vikings & norse mythology, as a finn its nice to learn about our "vikings",also all the spiritual stuff about finns is so damn cool
Swedish talking finn here. I learned a couple of years ago that my family has practiced magick for generations, without us realizing it was some old magick. 😂 We just thought it was a quirky family thing. It goes like this: Whenever someone loses a tooth, you throw the tooth into the fireplace. In the fireplace lives a magical creature (sorry it has a lot of names, can't remember what it was called!), who collects your teeth and he'll reward you, either with a new healthy tooth or a silver tooth. 😋 Spoiler alert: Never got silver teeth!
I thing there lots of old myths taught to children and you are so just to them that you dont recognise them to be paganism. Still i think if you are strong In your main values these other drops away.
I 'm Finnish and into Vikings , history and magic. One guy from work once said I remind him of Floki. That was the coolest thing anyone has ever said about me as I recall . He was from Philiphines, which is cool in it's own right that a guy from the other side of the World knows his Vikings. Good and interesting video. Here, have a like.
see one of Europe's first largest kingdoms and ruling houses was created by Finno-Ugric people. The first Hungarian kings were close to the Finns and not to today's Hungarian people.Here in Hungary, what happened was that the Finno-Ugric brought the peoples living here under their rule.
There's no doubt that Finnish Magic is alive and well. It has been passed through generations one after the other. Instilled in our spirituality. I'm one of those people, who others say things about that He/She just knew things without learning from writings. Those stories you hear. That feeling you know that is oh so familiar. That picture in your mind you can recall down to every small detail,all the while knowing you've never been there in this life. It is as common as we know our blood line is through our DNA. Some will believe what they will. Some will never receive clarity. Our brains are huge yet we use very little of it. How much have we lost because of little use? Passing down history through writings is extremely satisfying to gain knowledge. But, do we know everything in this world from writings? Some things you just know.
Fun fact to those that don't know, he mentions a Finnish tribe known as ''Kvens'', in Norway a ''Kven/Kvæn'' is the word used to describe a Norwegian person who is part Norwegian and part Finnish, with a Finnish ancestry. (For example, a Norwegian with one of his/her parents being Finnish or part Finnish, or one or more Finnish grand or great grandparents, or otherwise having strong emphasis on Finnish ancestry in their bloodline.) Most commonly living in the far northern part of Norway, in the region known as ''Finnmark'', in the far north and far north-east of Norway, the region bordering Finland and the Barents Sea/North-East Norwegian Sea.
@@Aervund Kieven as in the city Kiev from Ukraine? I have no idea, but I do know that the city of Kiev was established and created by the Vikings, much like the city of Dublin in Ireland also was.
One of the most brutal, and extensive witch huntings in the whole world took place in Finnmark. Probably something to do with the influence of Kvens, and the closeness of the Finns, and their magic.
A Finnish historian told me the Finns had early warning system for Viking raiders. The raiders always came in from the south, so the first southern coastal village to spot raiders would make a huge bonfire. The next village up the coast would do the same as soon as they saw their neighbors' bonfire. And so on, all the way up the coast threatened by a raid. Forewarned is forearmed so this was a pretty effective defense. So them Finns were clever dudes! This historian also told me about Norse people going to Finns to learn magic. She was a pagan Finn herself. I'm Norwegian but have always acted like a Finnish or Dutch girl. I can take it AND dish it out!
You're right. On a saga Finnish area is even mentioned as "land of fires". Those warning/signal bonfires gave time to prepair and gather men against raiders/invaders and weaker people; elders, children and women had time to escape to forests. Many times Finnish areas wasn't easy targets for raiding and one reason was those bonfires. Also second most viking age swords are found in Finland after Norway, so im sure they were capable of defending themselves, especially combined with ambush tactics and using forests as an advantage. According to saga of "Battle of Herdaler" Norwegian viking leader Olav Haraldsson and his men (later king of Norway) went raiding in Finland; Finns escaped or pretended like they escaped to deep forests and vikings gave up by chasing them to inland. They returned to the shore/ships, but Finns ambushed them there, Olav almost died on the battle and they had to escape and sail on the storm. Finns used the retreat and ambush tactic even on a war against soviets. Im a history freak by myself and i've read that most of the viking era Vikings had good relations with Finns/Karelians and were mostly trading partners, not enemies. There was more benefits being friendly with Finns because they got most of the fur stocks from Finnish tribes by trading and the locals knowledge of further connections was important too. Vikings were aggressive towards Baltics, but with a Finnic people it was quite the opposite, most likely because they saw them so useful 🙂 Furs were expensive valuables on south where vikings sold them to muslim silver. Finns and Norse even had common settlements on Finnish shores and especially on Karelia/Lake Ladogan area. Finns went also trading to Sweden in Mälaren and Sigtuna areas. Viking route to Novgorod and far south to muslim areas went alongside side of the Finnish shores through Karelian isthmus and Lake Ladoga was like a main gate to Olkhov (Nevajoki) river what lead to Novgorod and south. Edit: Forgot to mention that vikings accually needed Finns/Karelians help and knowledge when they were searching new lands on the east/south. Locals knew the river routes and connections, but they also helped as an translators between vikings and slavic people. Vikings also changed their longboats to smaller Karelians river boats at Staraja Ladoga (Laatokanlinna), because rivers past that are shallow and narrow at many points. Im happy to see respectful Norwegian who doesn't overlook Finns and Finnish history and claim how "vikings were superior to others".
@@trumpjongun8831 Well, thanks! That's some great info there! My Finnish historian friend had studied the Vikings a lot, too, because, she said, the 2 cultures have such an intertwined history. She told me in the sagas, many of the "Finns" are probably the Norwegian Sami in Finmark. "Finn" in Old Norse appears to have referred to any Fenno-Urgaric person.
My family was pushed out of Karelia, but culturally Finnish. So they moved to the US and most were foresters. They were very environmentally conscious about foresting. Always take a tree, leave a tree.
Great video, thanks! As a native Russian I will allow myself one piece of advice. Do not call those finno-hungarian people as Russians. They will not be abused, of course, as we have mixed quite a bit, but Komi people like to be called Komi, for one instance :)
I am a Swedish speaking Finn / Finland Swede (=a Finn with Swedish as native language, one of Finlands official languages). We live on the west coast and in the south of Finland + Åland Islands of course, and there were a lot more of us further back in time than nowadays. I have also heard some say Vikings lived here, on the coast. It would be very interesting if you have any content/or would make some content about us Swedish speaking Finns, and the history of us. Feels like we are something in between Finns and Swedes. Personally, I very strongly identify with being specifically a Swedish speaking Finn (not a "regular" Finn). Don't know how this video came up in my feed. I'm into spirituality, but I'm superbad at history and don't really watch any viking content. But this was VERY interesting! And this video made me a lot more curious about finding out more about my own ancestry. All I know about my ancestry is that we have been here for a long time and I come from a lineage of probably mostly Swedish speaking people (not Finnish speaking ones).
Such an interesting video. My hair is semi blonde on top, dark on the sides and my beard is black. Dark eyebrows. Family roots are in the lost part of Karelia that is Russia today. Exactly the same fate as Herson and other cities in Ukraine have met right now. Greetings from Finnish Karelia (Eastern Finland).
fun fact: hundreds of viking swords have been found from finland. if i remember correctly the number is 500. in the numbers of the swords finland is top 3 after sweden and norway. finland also has 5 ingelrii swords and 31 ulfberht swords. only norway has more of those rare swords
"To give a number, there are a total of 677 catalogued complete swords, blades and blade fragments (Fig. 2). This figure includes all finds from mainland Finland, ceded Karelia and the Åland Islands. In addition, only double-edged blades were taken into consideration, which means that scramasaxes and single-edged swords, which are sometimes hard to distinguish from each other, are excluded. Of all these 677 collection numbers, 18 have been found in the territory of ceded Karelia, whereas 62 are from the Åland Islands. The number of finds from the Åland Islands includes those catalogued in the Åland Museum, although these were not examined or radiographed due to practical reasons. 44 The number of separate hilt parts without any intact blade is 197, seven of which are from ceded Karelia and five from the Åland Islands. Altogether the number of swords and sword parts is 874 from the studied area. www.utupub.fi/…/10024/119919/diss2016Moilanen.pdf…"
While your point about 'living like beasts with nature' is a good one... to me it still sort of carries a slightly sour note. Living off of and together with nature doesn't need to mean that you are 'beastly' or 'behind'. It's a sort of simplicity. A denial of some of the things that 'civilization' brings - hoarding property or gold or other forms of wealth, fighting over it, building fortifications to protect what you own and fending off jealousy from others. What if the Finns (myself being a descendant) just never wanted or needed those things? We had culture, we had crafts to the degree we needed and desired, we had sauna, we had the clean, varied nature, we had ourselves and our stories and our beliefs. What more do you need? And why?
It's nice to see that our country and it's not so known history and myths gets some attention at times 🙂 This video was great I enjoyed it, keep up the good work 😊 Ps. My favorite country is Norway for it's nature, people and it's history. I visit there every year and plan on maybe moving there someday.
I am a Finnish Australian and my mum wad the only one who immigrated here from her family. We were indoctrinated but definitely felt we never really could follow religion. There was a big sense of believe what is true. We seek truth with determination. Thanks for sharing you wisdom on this topic ❤
The Fenni of Tacitus must be the ancient Finns. He writes, "...they have accomplished a thing of infinite difficulty; that to them nothing remains even to be wished." How Finnish!! The most content people of the planet...
Tacitus' description fits the proto-Sami more than it does the proto-Finns. At the time of Tacitus' writings, the proto-Finnic people were settled and practiced agriculture and had been doing so for a long time, even before they migrated into the region of the eastern Baltic. The proto-Sami on the other hand, due to their more northern migration, didn't pick up agriculture nor animal husbandry and remained largely as hunter-gatherers until the late Middle Ages/early Modern Period around the 1500s. Some Sami groups did however become settled due to picking becoming coastal fishermen along the northern Norwegian coastline during the Middle Ages. But then again, Tacitus never saw the Fenni with his own eyes and the description of them was passed on through different tribes and likely languages causing corruption of the original account. On top of all that, Tacitus as a Roman would have viewed this remote groups past even the Germanic tribes and further into the unknown as complete savages, even more so than the Germans.
Saami are what they called finn. This is why it is Finmark in Norway. Saami land. Tey called Suomi as finn too, but as the video said they said all uralics as finn.
More than 400 Viking swords have been found in Finland. The amount is greater than, for example, those found in Denmark. Only Norway and Sweden have found more. The Vikings must have gifted them to us out of their kindness, thank you for that. ;)
"To give a number, there are a total of 677 catalogued complete swords, blades and blade fragments (Fig. 2). This figure includes all finds from mainland Finland, ceded Karelia and the Åland Islands. In addition, only double-edged blades were taken into consideration, which means that scramasaxes and single-edged swords, which are sometimes hard to distinguish from each other, are excluded. Of all these 677 collection numbers, 18 have been found in the territory of ceded Karelia, whereas 62 are from the Åland Islands. The number of finds from the Åland Islands includes those catalogued in the Åland Museum, although these were not examined or radiographed due to practical reasons. 44 The number of separate hilt parts without any intact blade is 197, seven of which are from ceded Karelia and five from the Åland Islands. Altogether the number of swords and sword parts is 874 from the studied area. www.utupub.fi/…/10024/119919/diss2016Moilanen.pdf…"
I want to add to that Origin part, when you say nobody really know where Finno-Uralic people came from, the N1c Haplogroup is believed to Originate from Indo-China about 15,000-20,000 Years ago. There are some maps showing even the immigration route. From Indo-China, to Machuko, and from Siberia to the Urals and from Urals to baltics and then to Nordics. also i wouldn't say Finns were weaker and easy targets for Vikingr raids. >9th Centry Kvens raid Sweden. Story of Norma-Gest tells of raids done by Kvens to Sweden. Ohthere of Halogaland tells of skirmishes between Finns and Norwegians. (Finnic Victory) >1228, Finns make campagin against Novhgorod. Finns make a campaign to lagoda with over 2000 men (Karelian Finnic Victory) >1226 Karelians make annother expedition to Norway with Novgorod. Karelians make another expedition against Norwegian settlements in Northern Scanndivania withNovgorod (Finnic Victory) >1253 Karelians make a raid againsnt Germans, Karelians raid against Germans in the area of Narca (Finnic Karelian Victory) >1257 Karelians make expedition to Sweden, Karelians make a devastating campagin to Sweden whgich lead King Valdemar to equest Pope Alexander IV to commence a crusade against them. (Finnic Victory) >1284 Germans make campaign to Karelia. German warlord Trunda makes campaign by boats and ships to Karelia via river neva. His goal was the taxation of Karelians. Truda and his men are defeated at the mouth of the river by Novogrodians with the men of Staraya Lagoda on the 9th of September. (Finnic Victory) >1241 Karelians ally with Novgorod against Germans in Koprye. Kareliasn, Ingrians and men from Straya Lagoda participate in campaign lead by Laexander Nevsky against Germans in the castle of Koporye. (Finnic Victory) >1229 Finns proper fight to eradicate Christianity from their lands. Pope Gregory IX condems Gothland in his letter on 16. February for provoking Finns propher with weaponsm horses, ships and supplies which they use in their battle to eradicate Christian faith from their lands. (Finnic Victory) >1189 Pillage of Sigtuna. Karelians (or Estonians) pillager the city on 12 july. The bishop of Uppsala and the Yarl are killed. (Finnic Victory) >1008 Battle of Herdaler. Olaf II of Norway is defeated by Finns somewhere in Uusimaa. (Finnic Victory). So it is safe to say that it was no easy raids and wars against Finnic tribes. Which by the way were very developed on human warfare, since being at war all the time with each others. + Finnish Pagans (some call them Baltic Vikings) attacked the Swedish capital of Sigtuna in 1187 and burned the city to the ground. This is the reason why the capital of Sweden moved further south to the small fishing village "Stockholmen", which later became Stockholm.
@@zinsanez if you are looking up the battles, use your search engine, they aren't hidden. Though not all of them are in English. If you are looking for the origin of N haplogroup well.. use your search engine. You can as plus search up the immigration routes of that haplogroup.
Thank you for the very interesting video. Few points though. On genetics, we also have to remember the mixing of Scandinavians. The recent genetics study of Scandinavia showed that a) during the Viking Age both Sweden and Norway were "danisized", genetically, for example Viking Age Gotlanders and Uplanders were in many respect closer to modern Finns than modern day Swedes. I think the reason for this is the ancient pan-Scandinavian hunter gatherer cultures' genes; and b) Scandinavians have been heavily mixed by central Europeans, especially Germans, in the Middle Ages. This I understood to have been strongest in Sweden Also, on the West Coast of Finland there lived people speaking proto-Germanic and Germanic languages but they changed their language to Finnic languages 1500-2500 years ago. Thus, there were strong genetic and cultural ties between these regions regardless of difference in languages. The most recent research considers that the language shift to have had bigger impact than the migration. However, also many Sami people shifted their language (and lifestyle) to Finnish, especially after Viking Age, so that admixture is more recent. In any case it is hard if not impossible to distinguish a sami from a Finn living in the same region. I guess it is the same in Northern Norway.
Thorir Hundr, his mother was Sapmi. He knew how to use the shamans mushroom (fly agaric) to adjust his bodies' vibratory frequency. He wasn't just a good warrior chieftain he was also a shaman, of sorts. I dream of him, it used to be often when I was younger. My family is from north of Tromso, they were Sapmi/Norse mix, which is common.
What is mindblowing to me, is how there is such a stark difference when it comes to preserving the pagan ways in Finland versus the Scandinavian countries. We know so much more about what magic and worship of the otherworld looked like here. But then again, Finland did not accept christianity for a long time, so i guess we had more time to preserve a lot of the information. Though, i wish we had more stories of the gods. We know how to worship deities and spirits, but there's not much to go as far as campfire stories go. Sure, there's some about Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen, but for gods like Ukko, there's not a ton.
@@finnicpatriot6399 I mean, Ilmarinen literally is NOT Ukko. The two are their separate entities, with Ilmarinen likely being an older deity. Ukko as an supreme deity might be a christian influence. Also i never said that Väinämöinen wasn't a god. What i meant was, there's stories of the gods that later got turned into 'heroes' by the influence of Kalevala. But you rarely if ever hear actual stories of Ukko or Tapio etc. There's only information on how to honor Ukko for example, but you don't actually know much about what he has done.
@@HandOfTyr The idea of supreme upper gods being Christian is an idea only propogated by ideologically charged orgy-fans and hippies like Gimbutas. Ob-Ugrians always had a superior sky God, as did all other fugs. Reason you don't hear stories of Ukko, is because it's a euphemism for Ilmarinen. Similar to mesikämmen or karhu or otso for the real name of the bear. As for Tapio, more like the head-spirit of specific forests, so in no way comparable to Ukko and essentially has no narrative value.
@@finnicpatriot6399 "Reason you don't hear stories of Ukko, is because it's a euphemism for Ilmarinen." There is absolutely no basis for this claim. None whatsoever. Ukko might be an euphenism, yes. But also it might not be, similarly to how Freya or Freyr are widely acccepted god names, despite being more like titles. So just because Ukko might not be "Ukko's" actual name, doesn't mean that it's a concealed identity of Ilmarinen. Also, i didn't mean that an idea of supreme deity is influenced by christianity, i meant that Ukko being the supreme deity might be. Because it doesn't make sense for him to be the head of the finnish pantheon. If Ukko is euphenism, i personally think that it could be one for Virankannos. A deity that once must have held massive significance. I don't have a source at hand, and i'm honestly not going to dig it up for this occasion, but one of my books on finnish myths does contain a poem that refers to Virankannos as being "ylijumala", and while this certainly could well be a shared title, i do think it's significant. And in the great ox poem, one of the few poems that the gods are actively doing something, excluding kalevala poems, there are variation of the poem where the butcher is either Virankannos or Ukko, sometimes both.
Thank you so much for this “cousin”. 😂 Am largely Finnish and have been sadly lacking in my connection to the biggest part of my ancestry. But this explains so much! 🖤🖤🖤
I love your stuff man. Keep on educating people. To much of history is lost and forgotten or twisted to fit today's narrative people like you help keep things alive.
You may be interested in Mikko Moilanen (Ph.D. in Archaeology and a trained blacksmith by apprenticeship), although his publications and popularisations are mostly in Finnish. His doctoral thesis "Marks of Fire, Value and Faith" deals with "Finnish Late Iron Age swords with ferrous inlays". According to his research 400 Viking Age swords have been discovered in Finland so far, 31 of those are Ulfberth swords. By comparison, there are 500 Viking Age swords discovered in Sweden, 17 of which are Ulfberths. 44 Ulfberths in Norway and if I recall correctly 2500 Viking Age swords in total. Of course, this is just a tally of discoveries, but it also suggests that the previous impression of poverty stricken Finland may have to be re-evaluated.
"To give a number, there are a total of 677 catalogued complete swords, blades and blade fragments (Fig. 2). This figure includes all finds from mainland Finland, ceded Karelia and the Åland Islands. In addition, only double-edged blades were taken into consideration, which means that scramasaxes and single-edged swords, which are sometimes hard to distinguish from each other, are excluded. Of all these 677 collection numbers, 18 have been found in the territory of ceded Karelia, whereas 62 are from the Åland Islands. The number of finds from the Åland Islands includes those catalogued in the Åland Museum, although these were not examined or radiographed due to practical reasons. 44 The number of separate hilt parts without any intact blade is 197, seven of which are from ceded Karelia and five from the Åland Islands. Altogether the number of swords and sword parts is 874 from the studied area. www.utupub.fi/…/10024/119919/diss2016Moilanen.pdf…"
Wishes from magical Finland! I'm 100% finnish and my both grandmothers could do the magic things the time they lived. I think its going on and its coming from the mothermilk as well. And I love dark jokes by the way😅. Your channel is great. Please, make some video about varjags...they were pretty much finnish old vikings. Usually we though that there were no vikings in finland, but originally we were the first varjags before the vikings. It would be cool to learn more about them. You rock! Thanks for your channel. Kippis!❤🇫🇮
I remember leaving the church as soon as I could (age 18) because the whole "christianity" always felt foreign to me. I have instead had this weird unexplainable connection to the nature especially the forests (walking in a dark forest especially in the middle of winter ect you can just sense some primal power coming from within) and I think it's really intriguing knowing the heritage of the Finnish people. I love our ancestry and feel like we still have a lot of that nature respect and spirituality inside us eventhough it sometimes needs to be searched deeper from within.
I also resigned from Christian church due to tax benefits. But Christianity has never felt foreign to me. despite being me being edgy teenager. Over the years I have grown to admire Christianity especially the Lutheran branch of it. Because it was Lutheran priest who wrote codified Finnish language also we reached in 17th century high literacy rating. It was also Lutheran priest who inspired Adam Smith greatly his name was Anders Chydenius. Every religion creates a society of its image. We became part of the western culture when we adopted Christianity. Christianity civilized us more than pagan religion could ever do.
I am German (using my partner's account right now) and I recently found that my DNA is 20% Swedish and 10% Norwegian, which did come as a surprise, although it's also exciting!
It's funny that these things are not taught in Finnish schools at all. Our history teaching heavily focuses to insinuate that we were nothing before Sweden taking over. It is sad, since obviously we have rich culture beyond that - we were something. I've learned so much thanks to you and other people around the wold - not native Finns. Never would I have ever had heard about these things you just told, or old carvings on stones about finnish kings or stories about us in Tacitus writings. Thank you
There is some things that nobody never could take away from the Finns; Their spirit, their respect for nature and their language which is based on nature and the paganism and beliefs. Even if a Finn is a christian, the pagan values weigh heavy in the minds of the Finns even today. These things can never be taken away.
As a Finn quite frankly I don't think we have anything to do with the vikings, but you got the whole thing still going with the necklace and the symbols on those little flags, so keep it up 👍
As a Finnish woman, I'm just learning why I have so much magic, thank you for explaining. I don't think it's something I could teach a person to do, but I do help my children to understand the gift. We are something else.
