Lemminkäinen

For other uses, see Lemminkäinen (disambiguation).

Lemminkäinen (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈlemːiŋˌkæi̯nen]) or Lemminki (pronounced [ˈlemːiŋki]) is a prominent figure in Finnish mythology. He also appears in Karelian and Estonian folk poetry. He is one of the heroes of the Kalevala, where his character is a composite of several separate heroes of oral poetry. He is usually depicted as young and good-looking, with wavy red hair.

The original, mythological Lemminkäinen is a shamanistic figure. In the Kalevala, he has been blended together with epic war-heroes Kaukomieli/Kaukamoinen and Ahti Saarelainen.

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