Louhi, Mistress of the North Country, appears in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. She is a Finnmark (Finno-Ugric) witch who protects the Pohjola, the back country or North Land. She may, in fact, be its ruler. Tuonetar, queen of the Finnish realm of death, may be her sister.

Louhi controls winds, fog, illness and wild creatures. She is a master spell-caster and the mother of the beautiful, alluring Maid of the North. The name Louhi is etymologically related to a word indicating a magical, shamanic trance. Louhi features prominently in the mythof the Magic Sampo, an enchanted device that grinds out salt, flour and gold from thin air.

Female characters are given short shrift in Finland’s heroic epic, the Kalevala; most interpretations of Louhi are negative. She is painted as an evil witch. An exception is a retelling of the portion of the saga devoted to Louhi and her daughter in Ethel Johnston Phelps’ The Maid of the North (Henry Holt & Company, 1982).

See also: Tuonetar