Metsanpeitto

Metsanpeitto, literally ‘forest’s cover,’ is a term in Finnish folklore. This refers to the belief that the forest could hide, or imprison, people or domestic animals, such as cows or horses, so that they couldn’t escape & would be invisible to people who went in search of them. Another term for the same phenomenon is metsankatko, literally “the forest’s secret place for hiding things.” Swedes in Finland called this: skogen haller (“the forest keeps”).

People “covered by forest” were recounted as not being able to recognize the landscape around them, even if they were on familiar grounds. In other cases, they might’ve walked endlessly through unfamiliar landscapes, or were rendered completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak. Unnatural silence barren of the sounds of nature was also common.

People, or animals, under the influence of the phenomenon were described as becoming either completely invisible to other people, or looking like part of the nature around them, like a rock. In 1 story, a man had been looking for a missing cow for days. When he finally gave up & returned to his work, the 1st tree stump he struck with his axe transformed back into his cow.

The cause of metsanpeitto was sometimes credited to maahiset (maahinsen, singular) who were supernatural small human-like beings imagined to live underground. It’s literally earthlings or earth-dwellers, often translated as “gnomes.”

A lost person could sometimes free oneself by reversing one’s garments, turning their jacket inside out, by switching their shoes to the wrong feet. Or by watching world upside down through their own legs.

This was because of the idea that everything was topsy-turvy in the lands of the maahiset. Some were released without reason. Others only after being sought after by a shaman. Some were never seen again.

Metsanpeitto greatly looks like “Kamikakushi” or “spirited away,” found in Japanese folklore.

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#Finland #FinnishFolklore #Forest #Gnomes #Japan #JapaneseFolklore #Kamikakushi #Maahinsen #Maahiset #Metsankatko #Metsanpeitto #Shaman #SkogenHaller #Swedes