Synty
{{Short description|Mythological, Finnic concept}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
File:Balto-Finnic languages 2019.png
Synty ('origin, birth, aetiology', pl. synnyt) is an important concept in Finnish mythology. Syntysanat ('origin-words') or syntyloitsut ('origin-charms') provide an explanatory, mythical account of the origin of a phenomenon (such as an illness), material (such as iron), or species (such as a bear), and were an important part of traditional Finno-Karelian culture, particularly in healing rituals. Although much in the Finnish traditional charms is paralleled elsewhere, 'the role of aetiological and cosmogonic myths' in Finnic tradition 'appears exceptional in Eurasia'.Frog, 'Shamans, Christians, and Things in Between: From Finnic-Germanic Contacts to the Conversion of Karelia', in Conversions: Looking for Ideological Change in the Early Middle Ages, ed. by Leszek Słupecki and Rudolf Simek, Studia Mediaevalia Septentrionalia, 23 (Vienna: Fassbaender, 2013), pp. 53–97 (p. 62), https://www.academia.edu/4049431. The major study remains that by Kaarle Krohn, published in 1917.Kaarle Krohn, Suomalaiset syntyloitsut: Vertaileva tutkimus [Finnish Origin-Incantations: A Comparative Study], Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia, 157 (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1917); Magische Ursprungsrunen der Finnen, trans. by Arno Bussenius (Kerava: Keravan Kirjapainossa, 1924).
Meanings of ''synty''
The term synty is used in this article and in a range of scholarship as a genre-label, but it had a wide variety of meanings.Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Nykysuomen sanakirja, 6 vols (Helsinki: Söderström, 1953--61), s.vv.; Erkki Itkonen et al., Suomen sanojen alkuperä: Etymologinen sanakirja (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1992-), s.vv. Synty transparently derives from syntyä (‘come into existence, be born’) and means ‘birth’, ‘origin’, ‘aetiology’, and so forth. Its meanings can be literal and mundane (e.g. 'birth'), but it was also used in traditional poetry with a range of more numinous meanings, varying according to region, genre, and time. Thus in Kalevalaic poetry, synty can also denote the mystical power of a tietäjä (in which context it has been argued to refer to the origin of a tietäjä’s own powers and is more or less a synonym for the more frequent term luonto, perhaps being translated as 'fundamental essence'); it can be a synonym for 'god' or 'creator' (in the singular only, often in the collocation suuri synty, ‘great synty’); or it can denote other divine power whose source was more abstract.Eila Stepanova, '[https://www.academia.edu/3709480 Mythic Elements of Karelian Laments: The Case of Syndyzet and Spuassuzet]', in Mythic Discourses: Studies in Uralic Traditions, ed. by Frog, Anna-Leena –, and Eila Stepanova, Studia Fennica Folkloristica, 20 (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjasuuden Seura, 2012), pp. 257-87.{{rp|250–57}}
In Karelian lament poetry, the plural synnyt and more especially its diminutive dialect form syntyiset (usually given in the Karelian form syndyzet) were important terms, found used of divine powers, the abode of the dead, the dead themselves, and even icons. It has been suggested that these usages are a loan-translation from Russian rod ('family') and roditeli ('parents'), which are used in similar ways and have an etymological connection with birth.Anna-Leena Siikala, Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry, FF Communication, 280 (Helsinki: Suomen Tiedakatemia, 2002).{{rp|255-56}}
The term synty is used with varying degrees of specificity to denote poems within a wider body of Finnic incantations, a poem within which might also be referred to as a 'formulas', luku ('passage'), sanat ('words'), or virsi ('verse').{{rp|72}}
Use of ''synty''-poems
Knowing synnyt was a characteristic branch of knowledge for traditional healers, known as tietäjät. It was believed that knowing the origin of things made it possible to exercise control over them. Healing spells might, for example, include words like Kyllä tunnen syntymäsi ('indeed I know your origin').
It was long thought that synnyt were primarily recited as prefaces to charms much like a historiola, to make the charm itself more effective, perhaps as part of a process of diagnosis.Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967); cf. Lotte Tarkka, 'Interpretation at a distance (Review): Thomas A. DuBois, Finnish Folk Poetry and the Kalevala. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995. 328 pp.', Folklore Fellows Network, 15 (April 1998), 22-28, http://www.folklorefellows.fi/?page_id=776. More recent work, however, has suggested that, though often combined with other incantations, the synty element is in these cases usually central rather than preliminary, and not so much a diagnosis as a cure; their primary context of use seems instead to have been healing physical (as opposed to metaphysical) injuries and wounds where there was no illness agent (such as a witch) to conjure.{{rp|86–90}} Synnyt might also be used in, for example, hunting rituals.Matti Sarmela, 'Karhu ihmisen ympäristössä', Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja, 71 (1991), 209–50, http://www.kolumbus.fi/matti.sarmela/karhu.pdf.
There is some debate over in what contexts synnyt were recited and in what contexts they were sung (and whether it is meaningful to distinguish between these modes). It appears that synnyt were recited in Western Finland by the eighteenth century but might still have been sung in the seventeenth. There is some evidence for synnyt or similar genres being performed by pairs of singers in the manner of epic poems, but not much. The poems themselves, however, give singing a prominent role. The tradition of performing synnyt has been compared with the North Germanic tradition of galdr, where a clear distinction between singing and speaking may not be appropriate.{{rp|264–77}}
Early evidence
File:Raudan_synty_1658_MS_Finnish_National_Archive_Pohjanmaa_KO_a_10_f_609_r_ll_22ff.png
The synnyt mostly survive in nineteenth-century folklore collections. However, the earliest are attested in documents of the 1650s: the minutes of the parliament of Vaasa for 26 August 1657 record aetiological poems for iron and fire.Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967), pp. 367, 369; Suomen kansan vanhat runot vol. XI nos 1570 and 1797.Raphael Hertzberg, [https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Vidskepelsen_i_Finland_på_1600_talet/aOM-AAAAYAAJ Vidskepelsen i Finland på 1600 talet: Bidrag till Finlands kulturhistoria] (Helsingfors: Hufvudstadsbl. Nya Tryckeri, 1889).{{rp|61, 63}} On 30 June 1658, court records for Vaasa record an aetiological poem for a magical shot (pistos)Suomen kansan vanhat runot vol. XI no 992.{{rp|66}} and on 5 July the same year in Isokyrö for cancer, iron, and fire.Suomen kansan vanhat runot vol. XI nos 826, 1586, 1587, 1801.Kihlakunnanoikeuksien renovoidut tuomiokirjat > Pohjanmaan tuomiokunnan renovoidut tuomiokirjat > Varsinaisten asioiden pöytäkirjat > Varsinaisten asioiden pöytäkirjat 1657-1658 (KO a:10) [http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3711107 f. 609r l. 22-v l. 6] (Raudan synty), [http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3711109 609v, ll. 7ff.] (Pistoksen synty), [http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3711109 609v ll. 17-21] (Tulen synty).{{rp|66, 62, 63}}
The earliest scholarly discussion of synnyt is in the fourth fascicule (published in 1778) of Henrik Gabriel Porthan's De poësi Fennica.Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967), pp. 342-43.Henricus Gabriel Porthan, Dissertationis de poësi Fennica, issued in 5 parts (Åbo: Frenckell, 1766-78), pp. 87-88; [http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2014-00004879 fascicule 1]; [http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2014-00004872 fascicule 2]; [http://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/109616 fascicule 4]; [http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2014-00004890 fascicule 5].
Synty next makes a significant appearance as a genre term in Christianus Erici Lencqvist's dissertation De superstitione veterum Fennorum theoretica et practica, published in 1782.Matti Haavio, Suomalainen mytologia (Porvoo: WSOY, 1967), pp. 342-43. Discussing the mythical figure Kaleva, Lencqvist mentioned Kaleva's sword, and noted that one mention of that appears ‘in his versibus ... quibus ortus serpentis mythice exponitur (Kärmen syndy)’ ('in these verses ... in which the origin of the serpent is mythically expounded (Kärmen synty)'), quoting the following lines with his Latin translation:Christianus Erici Lencqvist, [http://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/109676 Specimen academicum de superstitione veterum fennorum theoretica et practica], 2 vols (Åbo: Frenckell, 1782), I 27 n. u.
Soon after, Cristfried Ganander included an entry for synnyt in his Mythologia fennica, defining them thus: ‘Synnyt, Archæologier öfver elden, ormen, sten, alla trän; läses öfver skador och sår af vidskeplige' (‘Synnyt: ancient histories of fire, the snake, stone, all trees; spoken over injuries and wounds by the superstitious').Christfrid Ganander, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MDVKAAAAYAAJ Mythologia fennica], eller förklaring öfver de nomina propria deastrorum, idolorum, locorum, virorum, &c. eller afgudar och afgudinnor, forntidens märkelige personar, offer och offer-ställen, gamla sedvänjor, jätter, trol, skogs- sjö och bergs-rån m. m. Som förekomma i de äldre finska troll-runor, synnyt, sanat, sadut, arwotuxet &c. samt än brukas och nämnas i dagligt tal; til deras tjenst, som vela is grund förstå det finska språket, och hafva smak för finska historien och poëin, af gamla runor samlad och uttydd (Åbo: Frenckell, 1789), p. 88.
Example
File:Joseph Alanen - The Birth of Iron.jpg
The most widely attested subject for synnyt, according to the Suomen kansan vanhat runot, is the origin of iron. One example of such a synty, as edited by Lönnrot and translated by Abercromby, is:Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, ed. by Elias Lönnrot (Helsinki: Suomen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), pp. 317-18 (no. 32b), http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48751; John Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern and Western: With the Magic Songs of the West Finns, Grimm Library, 9-10, 2 vols (London: Nutt, 1898), pp. 351-52 [https://archive.org/details/cu31924078305897 vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/preandprotohisto00aber vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/cu31924071194728 vol. 2], [https://archive.org/details/preandprotohisto02aber vol. 2].
| class="wikitable"
| Kyllä tieän rauan synnyn, Arvoan alun teräksen: Toisin ennen tuulet tuuli, Toisin ennen säät sävisi, Maata kuokki koivun latvat, Peltoja petäjän kerkät. Tuuli silloin kuusi vuotta, Seurui seitsemän keseä, Tuuli taittoi tammen latvat, Rutaisi ruhevat raiat, Maasta mättähän mäkäisi, Tuopa myöstihe merelle, Siitä saari siunautui Meren selvälle selälle, Saarelle salo sorea, Salohon sileä nurmi, Siihen kasvoi kaksi neittä, Koko kolme morsianta. Niinpä neiet astunevi Niitylle nimettömälle, Istuivat itähän rinnoin, Etelähän päin elivät, Lypsit maalle maitoansa, Niitylle nitusiansa. Läksi maiot vieremähän, Vieri soita, vieri maita, Vieri auhtoja ahoja, Vieri suolle mättähäsen, Metisehen mättähäsen, Kultaisehen turpehesen. Siitä syntyi rauta raukka, Siitä syntyi ja sikesi, Suon sisällä, maan navalla, Maalla keskikorkealla, Kasvoi rautaiset orahat, Miehen peukalon pituiset. Vaka vanha Väinämöinen, Tietäjä ijän ikuinen, Oli teitensä käviä, Matkojensa mitteliä, Löysi rautaiset orahat, Teräksiset touvon taimet, Katselevi, kääntelevi, Sanan virkkoi, noin nimesi: ‘Mitkä nää on toukojansa, Ja kutka orahiansa? Jotain noistaki tulisi, Luona taitavan takojan.’ Kokosi ne knottihinsa, Kantavi sepon kätehen; Tuop’ on seppo Ilmarinen Etsivi pajan sijoa, Löysi maata pikkuruisen, Notkoa ani vähäisen, Johon painoi palkehensa, Johon ahjonsa asetti, Vaan ei kasva rauta raukka, Sukeu suku teräksen, Pajassa ovettomassa, Ahjolla tulettomalla; Puita puuttui pauan seppä, Tulta rautojen takoja. Saapi puita, tuopi tulta, Vaan ei vielä rauta synny, Kun ei liene lietsojata, Palkehella painajata. Otti orjan lietsomahan, Palkkalaisen painamahan, Katsoi ahjonsa alusta, Lietsimensä liepehiä, Jopa syntyi rauan synty, Sikesi suku teräksen. | Full well I know the iron's genesis, I remember the origin of steel. Of old the winds blew otherwise, of old storms whistled otherwise, the head of a birch tore up the ground, the young shoots of a fir the fields. Then it blew six years, seven summers it inflicted harm, the wind broke off the heads of oaks, smashed branching [v. huge] sallow trees, knocked a hillock from the ground and conveyed it to the sea; an isle was formed by spells from it on the clear and open sea on the island was a lovely wood, in the wood meadow smooth, on this two girls grew up, a triplet of brides. Well, the three maidens walked along to a meadow without a name, sat down with their breasts to the east, with their heads to the south, milked their milk upon the ground, their paps upon the mead. The milk began to flow, flowed over swamps, flowed over lands, flowed over sandy fields run wild, flowed to a hillock on a swamp, to a honeyed knoll, into golden turf. Hence did poor iron originate, then it was born and was produced, in a swamp, on an earthy knoll, on ground of medium height iron sprouts grew up as high as the thumb of a man. Trusty old Väinämöinen, the soothsayer old as time, was wending his way, was pursuing his course; he found the iron sprouts the growing shoots of steel, he looked about, turned round, uttered a speech and thus he spoke:-- What sort of growing corn is this and what these sprouting shoots? Something would result from them at a skilful hammerer's.' Into his pouch he gathered them, to a smith's hands he carried them. The smith Ilmarinen sought a place for his forge, found a tiny bit of ground, a very tiny dell where he put his bellows up, where he set up his forge, but wretched iron is not produced (F. grows not) and steel does not originate in a smithy without a door, in a forge without a fire; the blacksmith had lack of wood, the forger in iron—of fire. He got some wood and fire he fetched, but still iron is not made (F. born) unless there be a bellowsman, a man to press the bellows down. He took a servant to blow, a hireling to press them down, he looked underneath the forge, along the bellows' outer edge, iron was already made (F. born) and steel produced. |
Topics of recorded ''synnyt''
The Suomen kansan vanhat runot editions list around 131 topics for synty texts, 114 of them categorised as syntyloitsut ('synty-charms'), in a total of around 6900 individual records.{{rp|119}} Its categorisation of charms is based on a F. A. Hästesko's 1918 study of the genre.Frans Aleksi Hästesko, Länsisuomalainen loitsurunous (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 1918).Tuukka Karlsson, '[http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-51-7801-5 "Come here, you are needed": Registers in Viena Karelian Communicative Incantations]' (PhD thesis, Helsinki University, 2022).{{rp|26}} The ten most popular subjects among the synnyt categorised in the SKVR as incantations (loitsut) are, in declining order, rauta ('iron', 862 examples), käärme ('snake', 714), tuli ('fire', 690), niukahdus ('sprain', 539), käärmeen purema ('snakebite', 290), pistos ('stabbing pain', 260), puu ('tree', 219), koi ('cancer', 180), voide ('ointment', 175), ähky ('colic', 137), riisi ('rickets', 135), läävämato (literally 'cowshed-snake', 125), and löyly ('sauna steam', 108).{{rp|119}}
Of the other categories of synnyt, the most important are those classified as epic texts, pre-eminently the maailma ('world', 455) and kantele (371). These overall patterns of popularity are consistent with the earliest attested synnyt, recorded in trial-records from Ostrobothnia in the 1650s (where the synty tradition had been lost by the nineteenth century): these are all on topics which were later in the top ten (cancer, stabbing pain, fire, and iron).{{rp|119}}
The following table lists all the SKVR topics of synnyt.
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|Editorial category |Subject |Number of variants in SKVR |SKVR categorisation |
| Ailahan synty
| |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ajettuman synty
|swelling |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ammuksen synty
|ammunition |33 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ampiaisen synty
|wasp |20 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Eläinten puremien historioloita
|animal bites historioloita |7 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Erilaisia syntyjä
|various aetiologies |12 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Etanan synty
|snail |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hammastaudin synty
|dental disease |42 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Haukan synty
|hawk |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Herhiläisen tai mehiläisen synty
|hornet or bee |10 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hevosen synty
|horse |31 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hien synty
|sweat |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hiiren synty
|mouse |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hirven synty
|moose |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hylkeen synty
|seal |26 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Hä'än synty
|?smoke |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Härän synty
|ox |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ihmisen synty
|human |20 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Jään synty
|ice |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kalman synty
|death |7 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Karhun synty
|bear |94 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Keihään synty
|spear |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kipujen synty
|pain |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kissan synty
|cat |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kiven kasvamattomuuden historiola
|historiola of the stone's lack of growth |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kiven synty
|stone |38 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kohtauksen historiola
|historiola of seizure |47 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kohtauksen synty
|seizure |14 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Koin historiola
|historiola of cancer |180 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Koin synty
|cancer |9 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Koiran synty
|dog |62 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Korpin synty
|raven |16 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Koskeman synty
|an abscess or boil |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kurkkutaudin synty
|throat disease |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kuvun synty
|swelling on the neck |7 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kärpän synty
|fly |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kärpäsen synty
|fly |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Käärmeen pureman historiola
|historiola of snakebite |290 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Käärmeen synty
|serpent |714 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Lampaan synty
|sheep |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Lehmän synty
|cow |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Leinin historiola
|historiola of rheumatism |16 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Leinin synty
|rheumatism |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Letyn synty
|a kind of disease |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Loukkauksen synty
|insults |5 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Läävämadon synty
|cow-house snake |125 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Löylyn synty
|sauna steam |108 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Maahisen synty
|gnome/rash |22 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Matajaisen synty
|spavin or swelling in humans or horses, or the supernatural being responsible for it in Finnish folk healing tradition |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Muurahaisen synty
|ant |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Naurismadon synty
|turnip-worm |5 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Niukahduksen historiola
|sprain historiola |539 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Noidan synty
|witch |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Noidannuolten synty
|witch's arrows' |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Nuotan synty
|seine |8 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pahkan synty
|gnarl |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Painajaisen synty
|nightmare |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Paiseen synty
|abscess |14 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pakkasen synty
|frost |70 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Paran synty
|a being created to bring milk or butter to its creator |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pirtin synty
|cottage's |6 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pirun synty
|devil |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pistoksen synty
|stitch or pleurisy |260 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Poron synty
|reindeer |5 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pukin synty
|billygoat |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Purun synty
|sawdust |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Puun synty
|tree |219 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pyssyn synty
|gun |5 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Pässin synty
|ram |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Päästäisen synty
|shrew |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Raanin synty
|cancer |34 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ranskan synty
|leprosy |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Raudan synty
|iron |862 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Riiden synty
|rickets |135 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ruosteen synty
|rust |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ruton synty
|blight |11 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ruusun synty
|erysipelas |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ruven synty
|scab |27 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Räähkän synty
|a kind of disease |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Sammakon synty
|frog |29 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Saunan synty
|sauna |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Sian synty
|pig |10 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Siikasen synty
|chaff (in the eye) |11 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Silmien synty
|eyes |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Sisiliskon synty
|lizard |111 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Suden synty
|wolf |41 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Suolan synty
|salt |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Syyhyn synty
|scabies |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Syöpäläisten synty
|lice |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Syövän synty
|cancer |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tautien ja vammojen historiolta
|diseases' and injuries' histories |38 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tautien synty
|diseases |71 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tervan synty
|tar |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tietäjän apurin synty
|the tietäjä's helper |17 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tietäjän varusteiden synty
|the tietäjä's equipment |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tulen synty
|fire |690 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tuohen synty
|birch bark |4 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tuohuksen synty
|candle |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tuulen synty
|wind |9 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Tuuliaisen synty
| |16 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ukkosen synty
|thunder |9 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vamman synty
|injury |3 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vasken synty
|brass |8 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vatsataudin synty
|stomach disease |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Veden synty
|water |20 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Veren synty
|blood |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vesihiiden synty
|water demon |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vesikauhun synty
|rabies |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Viljan synty
|grain |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vilutaudin synty
|cold disease |1 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Vitun synty
|vagina |24 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Voiteen synty
|ointment |175 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Yskän synty
|pneumonia |2 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Ähkyn synty
|colic |137 |loitsut ➜ syntyloitsut |
| Kalojen synty täistä
|fish |3 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Kanteleen synty
|371 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Maailman syntyruno
|the world |455 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Oluen synty
|ale |14 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Tanssin synty
|dance |4 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Tuohuksen synty
|candle |2 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Viinan synty
|alcoholic drink |2 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Väinämöisen syntymä
|3 |kertovat runot ➜ epiikka |
| Pyhäkosken nimen synty
|the name of Pyhäkoski |1 |kertovat runot ➜ proosakertomuksiin liittyvät säkeet |
| Saarten synty
|islands |1 |kertovat runot ➜ proosakertomuksiin liittyvät säkeet |
| Virren synty
|hymn |2 |lyriikka ➜ laulut laulusta |
| Tupakan synty
|tobacco |11 |häärunot ➜ ennen hitä ➜ kihlajaiset |
| Ei tuli kivettä synny
| |1 |loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt |
| Maa kiven kovaksi laati
| |9 |loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt |
| Tiijän tiaisen synnyn
| |7 |loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt |
| Vesi vanhin veljeksistä
|water, the oldest of brothers |206 |loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt |
| Vuoresta veden synty
|water from a mountain |65 |loitsut ➜ sananlaskusynnyt |
Elias Lönnrot's 1880 edition selects synnyt on the following fifty-one topics:
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|Lönnrot number |subtypes |Abercromby number |Lönnrot title |Abercromby title |
| 1
| |183 |Ampiaisen synty |Wasps |
| 2
| |184 |Etanan synty |Snails |
| 3
|a–g |185 |Hammasmadon synty |Tooth-worm |
| 4
| |186 |Hauvin synty |Pike |
| 5
| |187 |Hevosen synty |Horse |
| 6
| |188 |Hirven synty |Elk |
| 7
| |189 |Horkan synty |Ague |
| 8
| |190 |Hylkeen synty |Seal |
| 9
| |191 |Ihmisen synty |Man |
| 10
| |192 |Kaalimadon synty |Cabbage worm |
| 11
|a–c |193 |Karhun synty |Bear |
| 12
| |194 |Keräjäin synty |Courts of law (folk-moots) |
| 13
| |195 |Kissan synty |Cat |
| 14
|a–b |196 |Kiven synty |Stone |
| 15
| |197 |Koin synty |Cancer (whitlow) |
| 16
|a–b |198 |Koiran synty |Dog |
| 17
| |199 |Koivun synty |Birch |
| 18
|a–b |200 |Korpin synty |Raven |
| 19
| |201 |Kuvun synty |Swelling on the neck |
| 20
|a–b |202 |Kyykäärmeen synty |Viper |
| 21
|a–g |203 |Käärmeen synty |Snake |
| 22
|a–c |204 |Liinan synty |Flax |
| 23
|a–f |205 |Läävämadon synty |Cow-house snake |
| 24
|a–b |206 |Maahisen synty |Earth elf (skin eruption) |
| 25
|a–b |207 |Noidan synty |Sorcerer |
| 26
|a–b |208 |Nuolien synty |Arrows |
| 27
|a–b |209 |Oluen synty |Ale |
| 28
|a–c |210 |Pakkasen synty |Sharp frost |
| 29
|a–d |211 |Pistoksen synty |Stitch or pleurisy |
| 30
|a–i |212 |Puiden synty |Trees |
| 31
| |213 |Raanin synty |Cancer |
| 32
|a–f |214 |Raudan synty |Iron |
| 33
| |215 |Riiden synty |Rickets, atrophy |
| 34
|a–e |216 |Rikkeitten synty |Injuries caused by spells |
| 35
| |217 |Ruosteen synty |Rust in corn |
| 36
| |218 |Rupien synty |Scab |
| 37
| |219 |Sian synty |Pig |
| 38
| |220 |Siikasen synty |Particles of chaff in the eye |
| 39
|a–e |221 |Sisiliskon synty |Lizard |
| 40
|a–c |222 |Suden synty |Wolf |
| 41
| |223 |Suolan synty |Salt |
| 42
|a–e |224 |Tammen synty |Oak |
| 43
| |225 |Tijasen synty |Titmouse |
| 44
|a–f |226 |Tulen synty |Fire |
| 45
|a–b |227 |Vasken synty |Copper |
| 46
|a–d |228 |Veden synty |Water |
| 47
| |229 |Veneen synty |Boat |
| 48
|a–c |230 |Verkon synty |Net |
| 49
| |231 |Viinan synty |Brandy |
| 50
|a–g |232 |Voiteen synty |Salves |
| 51
|a–c |233 |Ähkyn synty |Gripes (colic, constipation) |
Literary adaptations
Literary adaptations of the synnyt appear in the Kalevala, for example the origin of oak and arrows in Runo II, flax in Runo IV, iron in Runo IX (an account which influenced oral tradition in turn),Thomas A. Dubois, Finnish Folk Poetry and the ‘Kalevala’, New Perspectives in Folklore, 1/Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, 1895 (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 184-201. and the serpent in Runo XXVI.Alaric Hall, 'On the Origins of Things: Finnic Syntyloitsut and Cultural Constructions of the Material World', in [https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/346783 Pre-Print Papers of the 18th International Saga Conference: Sagas and the Circum-Baltic Arena, Helsinki and Tallinn, 7th-14th August 2022], ed. by Frog, Joonas Ahola, Jesse Barber and Karolina Kouvola (Helsinki: Folklore Studies, Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki, 2022), pp. 118-22.{{rp|119}}
Editions and translations
The first substantial, scholarly collection of synty poems was Suomen kansan muinaisia loitsurunoja, ed. by Elias Lönnrot (Helsinki: Suomen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1880), http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48751. A very large part of this was translated into English by John Abercromby, The pre- and proto-historic Finns, both Eastern and Western: with the magic songs of the west Finns, Grimm Library, 9-10, 2 vols (London: Nutt, 1898), [https://archive.org/details/cu31924078305897 vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/preandprotohisto00aber vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/cu31924071194728 vol. 2], [https://archive.org/details/preandprotohisto02aber vol. 2]. Lönnrot adapted his sources extensively, however, such that this edition should be viewed, like the Kalevala, more as a literary work by Lönnrot than as a direct representation of oral traditions.{{rp|120-21}}
Further texts, closely representing the field records of folklore collectors, were published in the Suomen kansan vanhat runot series.[http://skvr.fi SVRK online.]