View source for Tellervo

{{short description|Finnish goddess of forests}}
{{For|the insect group|Tellervo (genus)}}
{{one source|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Finnish
| name         = Tellervo
| image        = File:Erottaja Kolmikulma.jpg
| caption      = A statue of Tellervo in [[Kolmikulma]] Park by {{interlanguage link|Yrjö Liipola|fi}}, 1928<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tellervo Tapio’s daughter |url=https://hkn.fi/en/helsingin-kalevalaiset-patsaat/tellervo-tapion-tytar/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=hkn.fi}}</ref>
| deity_of     = Maiden of Tapio
| other_names  = Tillervo, Tellervö
| gender       = Female
| ethnic_group = [[Finns]], [[Karelians]]
| father = [[Tapio (spirit)|Tapio]]
| mother = [[Mielikki]]
}}
'''Tellervo''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈtelːerʋo}}) is the [[Finnish mythology|Finnish]] goddess of forests. She is the daughter of [[Tapio (spirit)|Tapio]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kirby |first1=William Forsell |title=A Hand-book to the Order Lepidoptera |date=1894 |publisher=W.H. Allen |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbcBp-mTf6QC |language=en}}</ref> the King of the Forest.

Mentions of Tellervo in [[runic song]]s are limited to [[Kainuu]], [[North Karelia]], the [[Karelian Isthmus]] and [[White Karelia]]. In Kainuu and White Karelia, Tellervo is asked to help with hunting a bear;<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1835 |title=SKVR XII2 6482. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-069142 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2024-04-09}}</ref> in North Karelia, to find help against an illness that came from the forest; on the Karelian Isthmus, to protect cattle.

It has been suggested that the Tellervo name is a variant of Hillervo, Mother of Otters, mentioned in one runic song. This view has been supported by e.g. [[Matthias Castrén|M.A. Castrén]] and [[Martti Haavio]].

==Name==
The name Tellervo has been theorized to originate from [[Sampsa Pellervoinen|Pellervo]], associated with an agricultural god. The name would have morphed into ''Tellervo'' in order to share [[alliteration]] with ''Tapio'', the epithet developing from ''poika'' ('son') to ''paimen'' ('shepherd') to ''tytär'' ('daughter'), as explained by [[Kaarle Krohn]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Krohn |first=Kaarle |date=1914 |title=Suomalaisten runojen uskonto |url= |location=Porvoo |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |page=184 |isbn= |access-date=}}</ref> [[Jacob Grimm]] suggested the name to come from ''telta'', ''tellan'' '[[Seed coat|tegmen]]'. M.A. Castrén believed the name Tellervo to have developed from earlier Hillervo. One White Karelian poem also mentions "Killervö, Maiden of Tapio", which Martti Haavio connected to Hillervo and Tellervo as well, suggesting that the original name could have been Killervo after ''killeri'' 'trap'. However, Haavio believed it more likely that Hillervo came from ''hilleri'' '[[polecat]]'. He considered Castrén's Tellervo–Hillervo connection the best explanation, as Tellervo's name also appears in the forms Tillervo and Tellervö.<ref name="mh">{{cite book |last=Haavio |first=Martti |date=1967 |title=Suomalainen mytologia |url= |location=Helsinki |publisher=WSOY (original), Finnish Literature Society |pages=45–47 |isbn=978-951-858-026-6 |access-date=}}</ref>

== Hillervo, Mother of Otters ==
Hillervo was first mentioned by [[Christfried Ganander]] in 1786. He called Hillervo an otter goddess, the Mother of Otters.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1789 |title=SKVR XII2 6581. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-069251 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2024-04-13}}</ref> This name, Hillervo, only appears in one collected runic song, and the same song mentions Juoletar, a beautiful man and, according to Ganander, Hillervo's husband and the Finnish [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1789 |title=SKVR XII2 6582. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-069252 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2024-04-13}}</ref> However, Juoletar is an explicitly feminine name with the final suffix ''-tar''. According to Haavio's theory, Hillervo was originally the Mother of Polecats, but as polecats only lived in Finland between the 13th and 17th centuries before returning in the 20th century, Hillervo in songs was originally for polecat hunting spells, only later being reutilized in otter hunting spells after polecats had disappeared. Therefore, Juoletar would be the original Mother of Otters, or the Elder of Otters (whether the rune singer referred to Juoletar as a mistress or a king).<ref name="mh"/>

==Epithets==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%; width: 100%"
!Epithet
!class="unsortable"|Epithet meaning
!Regions
|-
|Tellervo, Tapion neiti<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1835 |title=SKVR XII2 6482. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-069142 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref><br>Tellervo, Tapion neito<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1892 |title=SKVR XIII3 9684. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-081267 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref><br>Tillervo, Tapion neiti<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1834 |title=SKVR I4 1397. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-003848 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref><br>Tellervö, Tapion neiti<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1834 |title=SKVR I4 1095. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-003531 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref><br>Killervö, Tapion neito<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1836 |title=SKVR I4 1095 a). |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-003532 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref>
|'Tellervo, Maiden of Tapio'
|[[Kainuu]], [[Karelian Isthmus]], [[North Karelia]], [[White Karelia]]
|-
|Tellervo, Tapion paimen<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1888 |title=SKVR I4 1197. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-003638 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref>
|'Tellervo, Shepherd of Tapio'
|[[White Karelia]]
|-
|Hillervo, oma emuu<ref name="un">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1786 |title=SKVR XV 338. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-088240 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref>
|'Hillervo, mother of one's own'
|[[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]], unknown
|-
|Hillervo, hyvä emäntä<ref name="un"/>
|'Hillervo, good mistress'
|[[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]], unknown
|-
|(About Hillervo:) Vejen ehtosa emäntä<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1789 |title=SKVR XII2 6581. |url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-069251 |website=skvr.fi |location= |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref><ref name="un"/>
|'generous mistress of water'
|[[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]], unknown
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Kalevala}}

[[Category:Finnish goddesses]]
[[Category:Nature goddesses]]
[[Category:Characters in the Kalevala]]

{{deity-stub}}
{{Finland-myth-stub}}