Universe
The Estonian word for world – maailm – is a compound of maa ‘earth’ and ilm ‘weather, air’, the latter meaning probably ‘sky’ in the ancient language, before it came replaced with a newer loan word taevas. The sky, according to the peasant worldview, was like a giant cauldron set overturned above the ground. The stars were attached to the cauldron and they revolved with it around the North Star that was called Põhjanael ‘North Nale’ as it held the sky up. According to another opinions, the sky was a dome or a cover supported by arches. Among the constellations were seen rather practical things, such as Flail and Rake (Koot ja Reha), Great and Little Cart (Suur ja Väike Vanker) and Old Cart (Vanad Reinad) – they are Orion, part of Great and Little Bear, and Lyra.
Just as people have a habit of representing the unknown through the familiar, the sky and constellations were given explanations from everyday life. In oral tradition different opinions could exist side by side in some matters, influenced by the cultural loans and the development of ideas and knowledge.
Under the earth, the abode of the dead was Manala. The word might be derived from older Estonian grammar forms maan alla ‘under the earth’ or related to the Sami term muonesje 'a good or evil spirit; a ghost that foretells sickness or death; an illness caused by witchcraft'. Such a worldview may reflect the Finno Ugric people's ancient idea of the three-part world – the upper, middle and lower worlds – which later probably got mixed by Christian images of Paradise and Hell. The words for heaven (taevas) and hell (põrgu) are borrowed into Estonian from the names of the Baltic gods Dievs and Perkons.
At the Estonian coastal area were told stories about reaching the edge of the world by ship, where the sailors had to crawl due to the lowness of the sky. Scientific explanations about the Earth rotating in the sky were considered implausible, because water would have flowed from such a land and people to walk upside down from time to time. It also seemed impossible that the Earth revolved around the Sun, as the "solar wheel" visibly traveled across the sky; and rolled slowly along the horizon on summer evenings. The earth was thought to rest on some base, such as rocks, or to float in water. Of course, according to daily experience, he had to be flat…The idea of the World Pillar Ilmatugi (‘Sky Prop’; in North Estonia often called Ilmasammas ‘Sky Pillar’) occurs mainly in the proverb that says, no one remains a World Pillar i.e. does not live forever. This is sometimes joined by the advice not to be stingy and covet too much, because man would not be able to use it in his lifetime anyway.
This, of course, said a lot about the peasant's way of life. After the conquest of Estonia in the 13th century, the local people gradually became serfs and lived in this condition until 1816-1819, which meant that they belonged to the landlord together with their little house, land, and property. Even after the abolition of serfdom, the Estonian peasants remained in such a low class that they could not afford luxury, even if they had some money.
According to folklore, in mythological time, people could sometimes communicate with the heavenly bodies. For example, the Sun, the Moon and the Star could meet people and take part in their events – thus they also had a living aspect. There is also mentioned the Moon's son or the Sun's boy, as if they had a kind of family.
The Moon was not thought to be seen and not, as we know today, but it was born, grew and died. It may have come into existence like a bird, as during the dark time was said, “the Moon was in the nest”, or “the creation of the Moon”. In stories of reaching the edge of the world, there were seen the old moons stacked behind the edge of the sky. The influence of the Moon was considered crucial, because folklore gives countless teachings, how to relate various jobs rightly to the lunar cycle. There were counted not only the various half and full Moon, but also special soft and hard times, which meaning has partly lost.
According to the Estonian cosmogonic myth, existing in old folk songs regilaul (runosong), the world and heavenly bodies were created from bird eggs. A mysterious bird, often with a red head or neck, just appears or is born from the apples blown from an apple tree into the water. The bird, after making a nest and hatching her offspring, throws it’s youngs to the sky, were they become the Earth and celestial bodies. In another regilaul lyrics, a girl, who was born from a mysterious egg, is wooed by the celestial bodies. The maiden marries the Star and leaves for heaven, scorning the Sun and the Moon because they are too busy with their work.
The nature beings, including the Sun and the Moon, seemed to miserable people sometimes closer than real people. Poor people and children, especially orphans, turned to the heavenly lights for help, for example shepherd children asked the Sun to come out in rainy weather to give warmth, or to set in the evening to let them to go home. One tired orphan was picked up by the Moon.
Estonian folk religion probably did not have a supreme God. In older language, the word for God jumal may have used as a generic name for deities. The impressive God of lightning and sky, who has a special ruling role in folklore of many peoples, did not dominate over others in Estonian pre-Christian worldview.
A lot of discussion have been caused some ancient reports about the supposed god Taara of the Estonian island of Saaremaa, written as Tarapita by Henrik of Livonia in his chronicle of the 13th century. It has been associated with the Germanic god Thor - given the islanders' close ties to the Old Norse. For example, the contacts to vikings are proved by two ship burials in Saaremaa from around AD 700–750, in the Nordic Iron Age.
The rural people trusted immediate experience, so the realistic stories might have strongly influenced their worldview. Some marine explorers of Estonian German origin, made famous round-the-world voyages, first of them Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Otto von Kotzebue in 1803-1806. The stories about their journeys could spread in Estonia through media and oral tradition. The education and Estonian language books also spread the scientific ideas about the world.
References: Masing 1995; Loorits 1949, 1951, 1957; Loorits 1990; Paulson 1997, ETY, SES.
Taive Särg