Golden King of the Forest
The Lore of the Northern Bear

by Juha Pentikäinen, translated and edited by Clive Tolley. Helsinki: Etnika, 2007.

This book presents the bear, the divine being who descends from heaven and begets the forefathers of the clan, as he appears in the myth and folk tradition of the northern world of Finland and its neighbouring lands. It describes how, though a god, the bear was ritually hunted; his body was then reverently buried, while his skull was hung upon a sacred pine tree, symbolising his ascent back to his heavenly home. The ancient Finnish poems, set down in writing from the seventeenth century on, are examined in both Finnish and English translation, and the continuing significance of the bear within Finnish culture up to the present day is put before the reader.

ISBN 978 951 97 8897 5

Out of print