Tapio (spirit)

Tapio (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈtɑpio]), Kuippana or Hippa^[1] is a Finnish forest spirit or god in Finnish mythology.^[2] He is called the King of the Forest (Metsän kuningas). Hunters prayed to him before a hunt. His wife is the goddess of the forest, Mielikki. He is the father of Tellervo, Tuulikki and Nyyrikki (Pinneus). Fitting the Green Man archetype, Tapio has a beard of lichen and eyebrows of moss.^[3]

For other uses, see Tapio.

Tapio
King of the Forest
Other names	Hippa, Kuippana
Gender	Male
Ethnic group	Finns, Karelians
Genealogy
Spouse	Mielikki
Offspring	Tellervo Tuulikki Nyyrikki

Mikael Agricola mentions Tapio as a Tavastian god in the prologue to his Finnish translation of the Book of Psalms, Dauidin Psalttari [fi]. In runic songs, the name Tapio often refers to the feminine ruler of the forest, Mielikki^[4] (as well as the feminized version of the name, Tapiotar), or appears as a synonym for the word metsä ("forest").^[5]

Name

According to E.A. Tunkelo in 1914, the Baltic Finnic word tapa ('lock of a hunting trap') could be the origin of the name Tapio.^[5] However, the name Tapio is seen to be Western Finnish, and Western Finnish dialects have not been recorded to include the word tapa for a lock of a hunting trap. This is why Janne Saarikivi theorized the name would come from the word tavata (dialectical meaning 'to reach; to catch up to').^[6]

Hippa means a pointed cap, which could have been a symbol of a forest haltija, and it is the name of the chaser in the game tag, much like a hunter would chase after prey. A theory suggests the name Kuippana would be connected to the Roman Catholic saint Hubert, patron saint of hunters.^[5]

In contemporary culture

He lends his name, in the form of Tapiola, to:

• one of the major urban centres within the city of Espoo outside Helsinki; and
• an unincorporated community in the US state of Michigan.

He has appeared various times in songs by Finnish metal bands. For example, in the symphonic metal band Nightwish's song, "Elvenpath", he is referred to as "Tapio, Bear-king, Ruler of the forest".^[7] The name has also been used extensively by the folk metal band Korpiklaani'.

Jean Sibelius' tone poem Tapiola (1926) is a depiction of the forest Tapio inhabits.