Iku-Turso (creature)

For the submarine, see Iku-Turso (submarine). For the asteroid, see 2828 Iku-Turso.

Iku-Turso (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈikuˌturso], "the eternal giant"; also known as Iku-Tursas, Iki-Tursas, Meritursas, Tursas, Turisas among others) refers to one or multiple giants in Finnish mythology. In the Kalevala, Iku-Turso is a malevolent sea monster.

The name Turisas is probably an early loanword from the Proto-Germanic *þurisaz 'giant'. In 1551, Mikael Agricola mentioned Turisas as the god of war: Turisas voiton antoi sodast 'Turisas brought victory in war'. There is no consensus among scholars if the multiple Tursas mentions in runic songs refer to one being or multiple different ones.

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