Brown Bear importance in European cultures

[Montezuma]

Bears are revered and feared creatures all over the world. Yet, some places venerate the bear more than other people just like the Europeans. Since ancient times the bear is respected and feared all over europe which included bear-worship and bear festivals among Northern europe (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark etc), Western Europe (France, Spain, Germany etc) and Eastern europe (Greece, Romania, Bulgaria etc).


Lets start our journey about bear from Finland!




A brown bear from the Finland wood, the most sacred animal.

"The role of bear deity in Finn and Finn-Ugri calender is found much acrosd northern regions. The Finns divided their year into four by two Bear Days in January and July."

"The late iron age Finns divided their year into many months including a Bear month."

"The bear calendric significance can be traced as far as Paleothic in Eurasia, the bear as calendric part of lunar and solar of Finns can be as past as Neolithic."




"Just like the Finns, other northern people like Sami or Finn-Ugric revered the bear on different lattitudes and just like Finns would worship the bear."

"As seen in 19 century Eastern Finland peom, the bear was though to be desended from sky, in stellar form."





www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://maajournal.com/Issues/2016/Vol16-4/Full46.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiP2sqcja73AhW6RvEDHXXjA3sQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw17HBJgWweeLUAo9q6eS-by

[Montezuma]

"In other variants of the stories, it is tild that the bear was born "on the back of seven stars" or "on the top of honka". The bear deity creator and ultimate female ancestor are thought to be made by Hongotar."





"A poem tells that the bear was born and raised on the small cloud's tail. Since, like the Indo-europeans, the pole star was considered the upmost part of the sky where the sun sit. So just like Sun, the bear diety was thought to seat on the highest level of the sky."




"As seen in the peom, the bear is desended to human from the heaven in a cradle of garden with sliver and gold chain which were associated with sun, moon and stars. It shows that the bears were thought to be divine."




www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://maajournal.com/Issues/2016/Vol16-4/Full46.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiP2sqcja73AhW6RvEDHXXjA3sQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw17HBJgWweeLUAo9q6eS-by

[Montezuma]

"Among the Finns and Ugric-Finns, the bear was thought to be the governor of seasons."





"The bear was though to desended from Ursa Major, Otava in finnish. The bear original name is not known since bears were considered sacred and partly had little-tabboo."

"The finnish called the bear as Old man, Ancestor, honey-paw, birdly, the old man of the forest, apple of the forest, (golden) king of the forest or forest itself. On some occasions, they were called son of Otava but even Otava itself."




www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://maajournal.com/Issues/2016/Vol16-4/Full46.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiP2sqcja73AhW6RvEDHXXjA3sQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw17HBJgWweeLUAo9q6eS-by

[Montezuma]

In ancient Finland, there were over 200 different names for the bear!

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://hugovk.github.io/finnish-bear-words/&ved=2ahUKEwj7r_ihmK73AhVNzoUKHbr_BxQQFnoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0zZzqXBwB0xGEZagYzjEX5

Karhunpeijaiset - Finnic bear hunt festival






"Karhunpeijaiset is a celebration held for the soul of a bear after a bear hunt. Traditionally, a bear was never "hunted"; it was merely brought down. A single man could claim to have hunted and killed a bear, but when the entire community was involved, the bear was simply said to have died. The bear's spirit had to be told that it had simply fallen into a pit or that it had otherwise killed itself by accident, not by the hunters: this was done to appease the bear's spirit so that it would not be offended and possibly enact some kind of revenge upon the hunters. The ceremony was always a much more elaborate affair than what the most influential member of the community would have merited. In eastern Finland it would have copious mourners and wailers, and the people would address the bear as a relative, or the son of a god. Its flesh was not eaten — that would have been cannibalism — or, if it was, an elaborate show was made to symbolically render the meat into that of another animal, e.g. venison. The bear's head was usually mounted on the top of a young tree, or on a pike, so as to help the bear's spirit climb up into the stars, where it was believed bears' souls had come from. Carrion-eaters would then eat it, leaving only the skull, which would then become an object of veneration. A courtyard would also be cleared around the skull. Traditionally, only bears were honoured thus."

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peijaiset&ved=2ahUKEwjJ5pCxmq73AhXFRPEDHZ0uAkUQFnoECDYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0YgzU4-rbCiS5jjZd88N3T

[Montezuma]

"Juha say that bear cult and folklore is found in Sámi and finnic cultures. He notices that there are more than 200 words for bear in finland but the real name for bear us not used since it could provoke a bear assault. It is only used by a powerful shaman."

"Bear ceremony with "Bear feast" was held in Southern England and Finland were some people are called Karhun Kansa meaning "People of the bears".



books.google.com.pk/books?id=imfiCgAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

[Montezuma]

"In the Kalevala are evident traces of arctolatry, bear-worship, once very common among the tribes of the north, Otso, the bear, according to Finnish mythology."



books.google.com.pk/books?id=1IO4DwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

"Old Finnish bear - killing rituals were rooted in the intricate pagan rites of the old cult of animal worship."




books.google.com.pk/books?id=PQDaAAAAMAAJ&q=bear+worship+in+finland&dq=bear+worship+in+finland&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ0qvgjrP3AhWDy4UKHTJ2Cqw4ChDoAXoECAgQAw

"Along with worshiping the principle God of thunder and sky, they also heavily worshiped and respected bears. "





www.google.com/amp/s/theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/the-fascinating-story-of-bear-worship/%3famp=1

[Montezuma]

Now before seeing about brown bears in Sami culture. I want to show this very good documentry of brown bear in sami hunting and mythology.

Brown bear hunting and the Sami traditions and mythology (www.wildlifefilm.com).

[Montezuma]

"Though it varied considerably from region to region within Sapmi, it commonly emphasized ancestor worship and animal spirits, such as the bear cult."




books.google.com.pk/books?id=YHSR9AMyvU8C&pg=PA71&dq=sami+bear+worship&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0h7KAk7P3AhU7gs4BHT6qAqwQ6AF6BAgJEAM

"Down into modern times, the Sami people of northern Scandinavia carried out a bear cult, which at least in some of its variants included displaying bear heads in trees, as the pagans in Frösö appear to have done."




books.google.com.pk/books?id=E26YDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA194&dq=sami+bear+worship&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0h7KAk7P3AhU7gs4BHT6qAqwQ6AF6BAgIEAM

"Edsman has illuminated the so - called bear songs which dramatically describe a dialogue between the bear and his slayers".





books.google.com.pk/books?id=3vXZAAAAMAAJ&q=sami+bear+worship&dq=sami+bear+worship&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0h7KAk7P3AhU7gs4BHT6qAqwQ6AF6BAgEEAM

[Montezuma]

The significance of Bear among Sámi culture


The Sami call the bear ìsaivoî (sacred)

"Bear ceremonies are no longer held in Sápmi. The veneration of the bear serves no purpose outside the context of the Sami's former religion. This ritual belongs to the old ways of hunting, fishing, and following the reindeer herds, when they believed all things to be animated by spirits. In their mythology various deities directed all manner of natural phenomena. The Sami's direct dependence upon the surrounding environment actively shaped this belief system. Humanity's relationship with the forces of nature was viewed quite differently from our current empirical model. Industrial society's limited first hand interaction with wildlife has led to the objectification of non-human animals. Our observations are now understood in terms of instincts, reflexes, environmental adaptations, and above all an assumption of superiority. We reckon our evolutionary kinship with other animals based on taxonomic classifications of phyla, order, classes, etc which we derive from morphological and genetic relationships."

"The ancient Sami's conception of the natural world was based primarily on utility but was greatly embellished with metaphysical notions. However, the underlying psychology behind this conceptualization is not as drastically removed from our own epistemology as one might assume. As Gonseth points out, ìgenerally speaking the natural sciences are not fundamentally distinct from indigenous and popular forms of knowledge; they develop as a result of a continual process of ëconceptual tinkering'î (Gonseth, 4) Thus their understanding was similarly rooted in the recognition of differences among certain elements of the environment. Nevertheless, beliefs regarding the relationship between these elements were manifested in the form of folk wisdom rather than theories. However, any outside commentator should remember that there are logical premises at work behind such seemingly irrational customs as the Sami's bear ceremony."

"Animals are believed to have essentially the same sort of animating agency which man possesses. They have a language of their own, can understand what human beings say and do, have forms of tribal or social organization, and live a life which is parallel in other respects to that of human society."
- Irving Hallowell, Bear Ceremonialism in the Northern Hemisphere, p.7

"Since the pre-Christian, shamanistic religion of the Sami was destroyed without leaving any written mythology, our understanding of how their pantheon of deities functioned is open to speculation. It appears that the Sami maintained a religion that was very similar, in most respects, to other circumpolar groups. Their beliefs centered on an ultimate creator deity, called R·dien·httje, and his wife and offspring who fulfilled various other roles associated with natural phenomena. The place of the bear in the ancient Sami belief system is as mediator between the gods and the people.The animal's soul was believed to be able to move freely between the natural world and the otherworld. Each condition of this belief-with different names for gods-could be found at one time from the Hudson Bay area, through the Yukon, across the Bering Straight to Kamtchatka, throughout Siberia, the island of Hokkaido, in areas of Northern Manchuria, and all the way west to Finland and S·pmi. In order to understand the origin and nature of these similarities I will now outline three of the best documented ceremonies we have on record: those of the Sami, the Gilyaks from the Amur region in South-Eastern Siberia, and the Ainus who inhabit Japan's northern most island of Hokkaido."

Particulars of Bear Ceremony among Sámi

"The hunting and killing of such animals is certainly necessary, but at the same time it is frequently a dangerous matter, because in doing so the hunter naturally incurs the anger of the animal killed.
-Rafael Karsten, Religion of the Samek, p.113

(1) Departure for the forest. Bear hunting usually takes place during the hibernatory season, late winter or early spring. Once a den has been located the hunters are assembled, the Noajdde and his drum are consulted, and they then depart for the forest. The one who has located the bear takes the lead. He holds a staff with a brass ring attached to it. A Noajdde usually follows him and precedes the hunter elected to strike first.

(2) The Hunt. The one who located the bear is sent into the den to awaken it. The Sami were known to have used firearms, bow and arrow, lances or spears, and even axes as a means of slaying the bear. The animal was not attacked directly if a spear was being used, the weapon was held in reverse until the beast began its attack and impaled itself.

(3) ìBirchingî the bear. After the bear has been killed they drag it out from the lair and begin to whip it with soft twigs or birch branches. ìA switch is twisted into the form of a ring which is fastened to the lower jaw of the bear. It is tied to the belt of the principal bear-killer; the latter pulls at it three times singing (joiking) in a peculiar tone that he has become the bears masterî (Karsten, 116)

(4) The Bear Master returns. When the hunters return to the sijdda their wives greet them by spitting elder bark juice in their faces. The principal bear-killer brings the ring to his goahte, knocking three times at the door. If the bear is female he calls out s–ive neit (holy virgin), if the animal is male he shouts s–ive olmai (holy man) The bear master's wife keeps the ring in a linen cloth until after the ceremonial meal.

(5) The Feast. It was customary for the men to prepare and cook the bear meat in a specially erected goahte that no woman could enter. Women must cover their heads and during the next five days can only look at the bear killer through a brass ring. After this prescribed period of three days, the bear's skin is stretched out in the center of the banquet area where various libations of tobacco and foodstuff are offered to its spirit. After an apologetic speech is given the feast of bear meat begins.

(6) Ringing Him in. After the feast the ring is removed and the women and children attach pieces of a brass chain to it, which is then tied to the bears tail. Next, the ring is given to the men who bury it with the bones. Great care is taken to ensure that the bones are arranged in their original form.
Immunizing the women. Finally, the skin is laid out on a stump and the blindfolded wives of the bear slayers take turns shooting at it with arrows.

(7) This last feature is the most outstanding of the Sami ritual. Special care must be taken to guard women and children against the bear's vengeful spirit. By shooting the carcass they conquer this fear."

www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/diehtu/siida/religion/bear.htm

[Montezuma]

Berśerkers - The Norse most fierce elite Bear warriors







"It is proposed by some authors that the berserkers drew their power from the bear and were devoted to the bear cult, which was once widespread across the northern hemisphere. The berserkers maintained their religious observances despite their fighting prowess, as the Svarfdæla saga tells of a challenge to single-combat that was postponed by a berserker until three days after Yule. The bodies of dead berserkers were laid out in bearskins prior to their funeral rites. The bear-warrior symbolism survives to this day in the form of the bearskin caps worn by the guards of the Danish monarchs."

"In battle, the berserkers were subject to fits of frenzy. They would howl like wild beasts, foam at the mouth, and gnaw the rims of their shields. According to belief, during these fits they were immune to steel and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. When the fever abated they were weak and tame. Accounts can be found in the sagas."

"To "go berserk" was to "hamask", which translates as "change form", in this case, as with the sense "enter a state of wild fury". Some scholars have interpreted those who could transform as a berserker as "hamrammr" or "shapestrong" – literally able to shapeshift into a bear's form. For example, the band of men who go with Skallagrim in Egil's Saga to see King Harald about his brother Thorolf's murder are described as "the hardest of men, with a touch of the uncanny about a number of them ... they [were] built and shaped more like trolls than human beings." This has sometimes been interpreted as the band of men being "hamrammr", though there is no major consensus. Another example of "hamrammr" comes from the Saga of Hrólf Kraki. One tale within tells the story of Bödvar Bjarki, a berserker who is able to shapeshift into a bear and uses this ability to fight for king Hrólfr Kraki. "Men saw that a great bear went before King Hrolf's men, keeping always near the king. He slew more men with his fore paws than any five of the king's champions."

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker

[Montezuma]

Ancient relief from vikings shows a Berserker




A berserker biting his shield in fierce frenzy



A berserker performing some rituals

[Montezuma]

A berserker turing into a brown bear




Portrait of a berserk in full frenzy




Berserker were often released in the front of amry to break the enemy formation

[Montezuma]

"Berserker is an Old Norse word meaning 'bear skin' and berserkers were Viking warriors who went into battle wearing wolf or bear skins. Berserkers believed that Odin, the god of war, gave them superhuman powers and that they didn't need to wear battle armour for protection. They would get very worked up and charge fearlessly into battle. If someone says you have gone berserk they mean that you have gone wild and out of control, just like a berserker."





www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z939mp3/articles/zmgpf4j#:~:text=Berserkers%20believed%20that%20Odin%2C%20the

"The Viking berserker is another example: he wore a bearskin shirt (“bear-sark”) to take on the animal's strength in battle."





books.google.com.pk/books?id=vRAQm175ii0C&pg=PA112&dq=vikings+berserker+bear+rituals&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjX4a3HnbP3AhVIUxoKHYMzAK0Q6AF6BAgIEAM

"Men begin to act like animals. Such is the berserker. The Norse put bearskins to other ritual uses".





books.google.com.pk/books?id=llclAAAAMAAJ&q=vikings+berserker+bear+rituals&dq=vikings+berserker+bear+rituals&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjX4a3HnbP3AhVIUxoKHYMzAK0Q6AF6BAgKEAM

[Montezuma]

"Bear was seen as the forefather of man. The Norse Gods Thor and Odin often took the shape of a bear to visit the human world. The bear stands for strength, healing, inner wisdom and balance between the seen and the unseen world. The female bear was the symbol for the feminine aspect and principle and the male bear was the masculine principle."





"The polar bear, or Ice bear as we say in Norway, is the animal that will unblock suppressed emotions so that they can flow freely. The polar bear helps us to overcome difficult challenges and to be flexible."




talesfromthefairies.wordpress.com/tag/animals-in-norse-mythology/

"The Norse, much like the Sámi, considered bears sacred animals with powerful spirits. Thus, a polar bear was an impressive and potent Yuletide gift to Viking kings and chieftains in pre-Christian Scandinavia and Finland."






draugablikk.com/myth-mankind/the-norse-considered-bears-sacred-animals-with-powerful-spirits-there-are-many-related-berserker-rituals-in-the-sagas/

[Montezuma]

"Wolves were sacred to Odin while the bears were sacred to Thor."





books.google.com.pk/books?id=GIwvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA74&dq=odin+and+thor+bear&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0_bKXp7P3AhWuxIUKHeFtBa0Q6AF6BAgDEAM

Men names related to bears or meaning bear in nordic people:-

(1) Bjorn
The typical one! It is the Icelandic and Swedish (Björn) and Danish, Norwegian and Faroese (Bjørn) word for a bear. In the Nordic countries, it is important not to write a simple o in the middle of the name, which is a totally different letter with a different sound than an ö (Swedish, Icelandic, Finnish) or ø (Danish, Faroese, Norwegian). The Old Norse spelling is Bjǫrn or Biǫrn.

(2) Karhu
Less known but also a Nordic bear name is Karhu. It is the Finnish vocabulary word for a bear and, like Björn/Bjørn used as a given name.

(3) Bjarne
This is a variant form of Björn/Bjørn used in all Nordic countries. The Faroese and Icelandic form is slightly different: Bjarni.

(4) Bijáš
A Sami variant form of Bjarne is Bijáš. The Sami languages are spoken in the very north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

(5) Birna
This female form of Björn/Bjørn is mainly used in Iceland and on the Faroe Islands.

(6) Otso
This name derives from the Ancient Finnish word for a bear. It has become quite popular in the last few years.

(7) Bernhard
Originally German, this name has been used in the Nordic countries for more than 1,000 years. The meaning is 'strong bear', a combination of the Germanic name elements BJÖRN and HARD.

(8) Bierdna
This name derives from the Sami vocabulary word for a bear. A variant form is Bienná.

(9) Bjarnhild
A younger form of the Old Norse name Bjarnhildr, mostly used in Norway and on the Faroe Islands. The combination of the Germanic name elements BJÖRN and HILD means 'bear battle' or 'bear fight'.

www.nordicnames.de/wiki/10_Nordic_Bear_Names

"Sami religion commonly emphasizes veneration of the dead and of animal spirits such as bear worship."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=LZJGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT349&dq=sami+worshipped+the+bear&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBiMK_qbP3AhVO1xoKHS2ABQIQ6AF6BAgMEAM

[Montezuma]

"Down into modern times, the Sami people of northern Scandinavia carried out a bear cult, which at least in some of its variants included displaying bear heads in trees, as the pagans in Frösö appear to have done."




books.google.com.pk/books?id=E26YDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA194&dq=sami+people+worship+bear&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdz8jl7rb3AhUW7rsIHUbaCXkQ6AF6BAgEEAM

"In a nearby cave the remains of offerings have been uncovered, including the bones of bear, reindeer and birds."





books.google.com.pk/books?id=KYdNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84&dq=sami+worship+bear&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1xJap8Lb3AhVSgf0HHUWyDvwQ6AF6BAgMEAM

"The Bear is much revered in Scandinavia".

books.google.com.pk/books?id=E26YDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA194&dq=sami+worship+bear&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1xJap8Lb3AhVSgf0HHUWyDvwQ6AF6BAgKEAM

[Montezuma]

Since we have seen that how much bears are revered un Scandinavia and Finland, now we will see about bear importance in Saxony, Germans and Celts. Now our posts sources in going to be from this source.





books.google.com.pk/books?id=SBmduAAACAAJ&dq=the+bear+history+of+a+fallen+king&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSrNiFj7j3AhWKRvEDHQOgBmAQ6AF6BAgMEAM

[Montezuma]

"From antiquity to the Middle Ages, the bear’s centrality in cults and mythologies left traces in European languages, literatures, and legends from the Slavic East to Celtic Britain."

"Pagan legends of the bear’s power, among them a widespread belief that male bears were sexually attracted to women and would violate them, producing half-bear, half-human beings—invincible warriors who founded royal lines."

"All of Saxony and the neighboring regions in the eighth century, the bear was sometimes venerated as a god, which gave rise to forms of worship that were sometimes frenetic or demonic, particularly among warriors."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=SBmduAAACAAJ&dq=bear+history+of+a+fallen+king&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilzpuRk7j3AhUvQ_EDHbUQAhkQ6AF6BAgFEAM

[Montezuma]

"As chronicles and capitularies clearly attest, bear worship was widespread in both Germany and Scandinavia. It was denounced early on by several missionaries who had ventured well beyond the Rhine."

"In 742, for example, Saint Boniface, on a mission to Saxony, wrote a long letter to his friend Daniel, Bishop of Winchester, in which he mentioned among the "appalling rituals of the pagans" the practice of disguising oneself as a bear and drinking the animals blood before going into battle."

"From time immemorial the bear had been a particularly admired creature throughout the Germanic world. Stronger than any animal, it was the king of the forest and of all the animals. Warriors sought to imitate it and to imbue themselves with its powers through particularly savage rituals. Clan chiefs and kings adopted the bear as their primary symbol and attempted to seize hold of its powers through the use of weapons and emblems."

www.google.com/search?q=bear+history+of+a+fallen+king&oq=bear+history+of+a+fa&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33i160l4.10365j0j4&client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

[Montezuma]

"But the Germans' veneration for the bear did not stop there. In their eyes, it was not only an invincible animal and the incarnation of brute strength; it was also a being apart, an intermediary creature between the animal and human worlds, and even an ancestor relative of humans. As such, many beliefs collected around the bear and it was subject to several taboos, particularly with respect to its name."

"In addition, the male bear was supposed to be attracted by young women and feel sexual desire for them: it often sought them out, sometimes carried them off and raped them, whereupon the women gave birth to creatures that were half man and half bear, who were always indomitable warriors and even the foundeers of prestigious family lines."

books.google.com.pk/books?id=SBmduAAACAAJ&dq=the+bear+history+of+a+fallen+king&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSrNiFj7j3AhWKRvEDHQOgBmAQ6AF6BAgMEAM