Of the minor deities of the earth, who severally govern the plants,
such as trees, rye, flax, and barley, Wirokannas only is mentioned in
The Kalevala. Once, for example, this "green robed Priest of the
Forest" abandoned for a time his presidency over the cereals in order
to baptize the infant-son of the Virgin Mariatta. Once again
Wirokannas left his native sphere of action, this time making a most
miserable and ludicrous failure, when he emerged from the wilderness
and attempted to slay the Finnish Taurus, as described in the runes
that follow. The agricultural deities, however, receive but little
attention from the Finns, who, with their cold and cruel winters, and
their short but delightful summers, naturally neglect the cultivation
of the fields, for cattle-raising, fishing, and hunting.

The forest deities proper, however, are held in high veneration. Of
these the chief is Tapio, "The Forest-Friend," "The Gracious God of the
Woodlands." He is represented as a very tall and slender divinity,
wearing a long, brown board, a coat of tree-moss, and a high-crowned
hat of fir-leaves. His consort is Mielikki, "The Honey-rich Mother of
the Woodland," "The Hostess of the Glen and Forest." When the hunters
were successful she was represented as beautiful and benignant, her
hands glittering with gold and silver ornaments, wearing ear-rings and
garlands of gold, with hair-bands silver-tinseled, on her forehead
strings of pearls, and with blue stockings on her feet, and red strings
in her shoes. But if the game-bag came back empty, she was described
as a hateful, hideous thing, robed in untidy rags, and shod with straw.
She carries the keys to the treasury of Metsola, her husband's abode,
and her bountiful chest of honey, the food of all the forest-deities,
is earnestly sought for by all the weary hunters of Suomi. These
deities are invariably described as gracious and tender-hearted,
probably because they are all females with the exception of Tapio and