Tellervo

Daughter of the forest-king Tapio and the forest-mistress Mielikki, a forest-maiden and herd-keeper of Tapiola. She is invoked in the Kalevala cattle-protection charms (Runo 32) to herd and guard the kine pastured under the trees and to shield them from the bear; in some passages she is so identified with her mother that Mielikki is addressed as Tellervo. Wired as daughter of finnish_tapio and finnish_mielikki and sister of Nyyrikki and Tuulikki.

Parentage

• Tapio
• Mielikki

Powers

• Guard and herd the cattle of the forest

Epithets

• Tapion neiti
• Tellervo, Tapion neiti, metsan piika pikkarainen

Relations

• father: Tapio
• mother: Mielikki
• sibling: Nyyrikki
• sibling: Tuulikki

Sources

• Elias Lonnrot, Kalevala (1849 New Kalevala) Runo 32 (cattle-protection charms)
• Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (Old Songs of the Finnish People), cattle-herding / forest charms naming Tellervo
• Anna-Leena Siikala, Itamerensuomalaisten mytologia (2012)