Written and published by Linden Alexander Pentecost on the 20th of July 2026. This article/blog post is unrelated to and separate from any and all of my publications, even if some of the things I discuss here about my experiences with Ilmarinen, I have discussed in a different way and in different contexts elsewhere; this publication on this page is nevertheless completely unique and contains much information I have not discussed elsewhere. No AI was used and this article was published in the UK. The photo was also taken by me, the author. This blog post contains 925 words.
Those interested in the Vikings and in Norse culture will well be aware that the Vikings were polytheistic, i.e. whilst there was in a sense a first giant, Ymir, the creation is by and large a joint process of many entities, with Óðinn as the leader of the Æsir gods, appearing after the original creation. Ymir himself is said to have been created from eitr a yeast-like (fungal-like?) substance associated with creation in Norse mythology, and also with the saliva of serpents etc.
Finnish traditions are very different however. Whilst Finnish spirituality does have many gods and spiritual beings, the Finns were arguably not “polytheistic” in quite the same way, because there is some evidence that in Finnish, and more generally in Uralic and many other North Eurasian (e.g. Turkic-speaking) cultures - there was an idea of an original sky god or creator god, long before Christianity later reframed this truth somewhat.
In Finland, the god of thunder and generally of the skies is known as Ukko, also meaning “old man” and being used as an honorary title, whilst Ilmarinen came to be seen more as the god of smithery, also associated with the skies and with having made the sky vault.
But it is likely that the two aforementioned deities in a sense stem from an older, original sky deity, who could be called Ilmarinen or perhaps more correctly, Ilmari, with Ilmarinen being a specific form of this name and title containing the Finnish -nen suffix, which may result from the original name being adapted to the trochaic meter of Finnish rune singing.
Descriptions of Ilmarinen throughout Finland, also imply a deity of far more importance than that known as Ilmarinen in the Kalevala, keeping in mind that Elias Lönnrot edited and altered the original rune poems to turn them into a certain narrative of the Kalevala, and I have heard some implications that the original rune poems contain some truly profound things, not included in the Kalevala at all.
The names Ilmari and Ilmarinen are related ultimately to the word ilma - “air”. And we can see an association here between an original creator god and the idea of air, breath, wind as manifestations of the most divine part of the self, the spirit. Similarly in the Bible, God, and sometimes angels, are associated with magical winds.
Photo below: a photo of the birch forests on the side of Eiterdalen, when the wind was blowing in the trees, and around when the name Ilmarinen suddenly came to my mind.
As I have gone into a bit elsewhere, in 2019 I was experiencing a painful breakup in Norway. I remember on one June evening I walked and scrambled up a steep path to the west of Eiterdalen close to Narvik in Northern Norway. I wrote a kind of poem if I remember rightly, to the Norse goddess Freyja, asking if she could help to heal the Romantic connection if it was possible and right. This did not happen, which makes sense.
But something did happen, as I walked up that hillside, clad in moss and forested by birches blowing in the evening wind. The name Ilmarinen just came into my head, mysteriously. I wasn't thinking about, nor deeply knowledgeable about Finnish beliefs at the time. But I remember, on that slope, on the path, as the wind blew through the birches, the name Ilmarinen just suddenly came to me.
This experience does also inform me about one of the significant factors in terms of why I am so drawn to Finnish spirituality and to the Finnish language. Namely because, I have chosen it, not even consciously at first. But also, I feel like it has chosen me.
And the fact that on a Norwegian mountain (in the area of which there are some Finnish/Kven connections), when I tried to reach out to a Norse goddess, it wasn't Freyja, a Norse goddess, who replied, but it was Ilmarinen, the Finnish god of the skies, of the breath of spirit itself, and of creation, and arguably, of divine love, who replied.
I feel deeply that that which our heart truly seeks, is also seeking us.
Another very unusual thing happened to me either the night before or after that experience, or a few nights either side of it. I meditated with earphones on and felt entirely weightless. Of course, I wasn't actually hovering, but I felt like I was. A very strange and difficult thing to describe, but very beautiful. Especially when I hardly ever meditated back then, hardly ever, and then the one time that I did, I felt weightless. Meditation is good, I recommend it.
I hope that this blog post was inspiring - thanks for reading :) This blog post is dedicated to Freyja and to Ilmarinen, and to my cats and to all that I love.
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