Perkele

Perkele ( Pronunciation of "perkele" ) means devil in modern Finnish and is used as a rude profanity.[1] Some researchers consider Perkele an original name of Ukko, the chief god of the Finnish pagan pantheon,[2] but this view is not shared by all researchers.[3] There are related words in other Balto-Finnic languages: in Estonian, põrgu means hell, in Karelian perkeleh means an evil spirit.[4][5]

Origins

The name is of Indo-European origin. Related gods from other areas are Perkūnas (Lithuania), Pērkons (Latvia), Percunis (Prussia), Piarun (Belarus), Peko or Pekolasõ (Estonia), Parjanya (India) and Perun or Piorun (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia).

Use

It has a history of being used as a curse: a cry for the god for strength. It still is a common curse word in vernacular Finnish. To a Finn, the word entails seriousness and potency that more lightly used curses lack. Also, when the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland held a popular contest to nominate the "most energizing" word in the Finnish language, one of the suggestions was Perkele because "it is the curse word that gave the most strength for the reconstruction of Finland after the wars." For comparison, "Parom" a corrupted form of the name "Perun", is used as a mild curse in Slovak language - "Do Paroma!" is roughly equivalent to perkele in Finnish.

Introduction of Christianity

As Finland was Christianized, the church started demonizing the Finnish gods. This led to the use of "Perkele" as a translation for "devil" in the Finnish translation of the Bible. Later, in a 1992 translation, the word is switched to paholainen.

Uses in popular culture

Many Finnish heavy metal bands like Impaled Nazarene, Norther and Pepe Deluxe use the word perkele for emphasis and to reference Finnishness, while another Finnish metal band, Amorphis, have song titled "Perkele (The God of Fire)", which serves as the sixth track from their album Eclipse.

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home a Finnish-speaking Norwegian whaler crew can be heard exclaiming 'Perkele!' after the Klingon Bird of Prey decloaks ahead of the whaling vessel.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kielitoimiston sanakirja. Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus. 2006. ISBN 952-5446-20-4.
  2. ↑ Siikala, Anna-Leena (2013). Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia. Helsinki: SKS.
  3. ↑ Salo, Unto (1990). Agricola's Ukko in the light of archeology. A chronological and interpretative study of ancient Finnish religion: Old Norse and Finnish religions and cultic place-names. Turku. ISBN 951-649-695-4.
  4. ↑ "Miten suomalaiset kiroilivat ennen kristinuskoa?". Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  5. ↑ Suomen kielen etymologinen sanakirja. 3. Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura. 1976. ISBN 951-9019-16-2.
  6. ↑ Schwarzmann, Phil. "Finnish in Star Trek". Retrieved 31 March 2014.


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