The Creation of the Bear

Far off in distant realms, connected to Suomi (Finland) by spirit and heart, lay a forest dripping with golden honey. The trees swayed gently in the constant wind, the sound of their creaking comforted all creatures that walked under the thick canopy of needles and leaves. For all woodland creatures were safe in the lands of Tapiola, protected and guarded from harm, and the reindeer and the bird, the elk and the wolf walked under the swaying boughs knowing that Mielikki, Goddess of the Forest, would keep them safe.

Now, Mielikki was a peaceful Goddess, usually, and together with Tapio, the Lord of the Woodland, She guarded the borders of Tapiola and watched over all that walked through Her forests. Hunters would pray to Her before they went out on their hunts and She meted out game as She saw fit.

It happened one day that Mielikki was walking through Her lands, resting after a long season of planting crops. The sun gleamed golden through the canopy of green boughs, casting a glowing hue the color of peridot on everyone and everything in the glade. The bees had been busy; their hives dappled the forest like shaggy patches of moss clinging to the sides of the birch trees. Some of the trunks glistened with long strands of the amber liquid as it dripped down their sides.

Mielikki was especially fond of the sweet nectar, and occasionally She would stop to sample honey from one hive or another, and the bees swarmed around Her as if She were their Queen.

As She licked Her fingers, sampling one especially good batch made from wildflowers, Mielikki looked around and smiled. Once again, there was more honey than they needed, much more than the Metsanhaltija (the wood sprites and dryads who called Mielikki their Queen) could eat and so it had been every year for years on end.

It was such a pleasant afternoon that Mielikki settled in under a tree near one of the myriad streams that ran through Tapiola. The babbling water eased Her mind. After so much activity during the spring, Mielikki was feeling worn out and in need of something new. But She couldn't decide what to do, so She pulled out Her sewing bag and found a thick hank of brown wool. Tapio, Her beloved, needed a new cap. Every year Mielikki made Him a new cloak of the velvet moss He loved so much, and then She would knit a brown cap to go with it.

But as She was fiddling with the wool, twisting it this way and that, Mielikki suddenly had a vision. She saw a new animal, one She could create from the wool. It would be furry and huge, both lovable and fierce. Excited now, the Goddess stretched out the wool and carefully examined the dark thatch of fur.

She fell to work immediately, for the vision was so strong that She could not think of anything else. Mielikki worked the thread strand by strand, weaving it between Her fingers.

The animal would be large, for Mielikki loved large animals, and its coat would be dense, to withstand the icy winters that blanketed the forest lands with snow. She stopped for a moment while fashioning its stomach, then decided the creature would be omnivorous so that it wouldn't starve if a lack of game should come upon the land or a drought choke off the vegetation.

Mielikki provided it with a strong sense of smell, so strong that there wasn't enough creation-energy left to give it good eyesight and so the animal's eyes became weak, but with its ability to sniff out food, the handicap seemed really very slight.

It would hibernate through the winters, She decided. Too many animals died during the harsh storms when they could not find food, and something about this new creature had already touched Mielikki's heart in a way that few others had before. She wanted very much for it to survive.

While She was weaving its ears, a drop of honey from the tree above her fell onto the animal's snout and, with a little cry of laughter, Mielikki smeared some of the honey on its lips, decreeing that it would share Her love for the sweet liqueur.

And so at last, Mielikki came to its claws and teeth. These She could not fashion Herself, for only Ukko-Jumala, the Ancient Father Who Rules the Heavens, could give the creature such potentially dangerous weapons.

So Mielikki left Tapiola, taking her new animal with Her, and traveled far on the Puhuri, the North Wind, to the high peaks from where Ukko-Jumala ruled over all of Kalevala and Suomi-land. There, She knelt before the Father God and presented Her creation.

Ukko circled the animal. He peered in its eyes and stroked the soft, woolly fur that now covered the great beast. He played with its ears and tickled the fat, jiggling belly that would keep it safe through the long winters.

Finally, the Sky Father turned to Mielikki and said, "It is of hardy stock, Forest Daughter. You have done well. I will allow it claws with which to climb trees and catch fish and teeth with which to grind its food. But first it must promise never to use these weapons for evil. It must never align itself with the monster Hiisi and the realms of Hiitola or Pohjola."

Mielikki bowed Her head. "I understand, Old Father. If it will not promise these things, then I will destroy my creation." A tremor ran through Her heart as She spoke. Mielikki already loved the creature and to destroy it would wound Her deeply.

Ukko knelt by the animal. He held its paw and said, "Do you pledge to never use your fangs or claws for the sake of evil? Will you abide by the rule of Mielikki, Goddess of the Hunt, and live under Her rules, as She lives under mine?"

The creature squinted at them, (for in truth, its eyes were very weak). When it spoke, its voice was gruff but clear and all of Mielikki's fears drained away.

"I will abide by your rules and never raise my paws in evil against the world. This I pledge to the Forest Mistress and the Sky Father."

And so Mielikki held out Her hand and Ukko took a sliver of her fingernail and from it He fashioned the first claws and teeth for the animal. When He had finished, He turned to the Goddess and said, "What will you name this creature?"

Mielikki thought for awhile and finally said, "He will be my darling Otso, beloved of Mielikki. He will wander freely through my forests and eat honey and fish and berries."

She took Otso home with Her and introduced him to the forest. Then, after She had fashioned a mate for him, She left them alone to multiply and thrive—the pledge Otso had given to Ukko aligned all bears, Otso being the father of his kind. In time, Mielikki introduced the bears into Suomi, where they spread to other lands and grew in numbers.

So it was that the bear was created by Mielikki, Goddess of the Forest and the Hunt. And so it is that a bear will never raise its paw in evil intent, for all bears remember the original pledge that Otso, who still lives with the Forest Mistress, gave to Ukko.