Sky Father

Spirit-class sky-god (classed as deity). Native compound: num/numi 'upper, high' + torum/torem 'sky, god'. Authored under the Khanty label (Num Turem Aśi, 'Upper Sky Father'); the Mansi form Numi-Torum is given as a transliteration and the Mansi figures (Mir-susne-khum, Kaltes-Ekwa) are authored separately under the Mansi label per the tradition split.

Children

• World-Watching Man
• Golden Old Man
• Lower Sky Lord
• World-Surveyor Man

Domains

• sky
• weather
• world order

Powers

• rules from the highest of the seven heavens
• begets the seven sons and the daughter who order the world
• sends a diver to raise the earth from the primal water
• sends the diving bird to raise the earth from the primal water

Epithets

• Num-Torum latin · Num-Torum · cultThe high sky-god and creator of the Khanty upper worldK. F. Karjalainen, on Ob-Ugric religion (secondary)
• Num Turem Aśi Khanty · Num Turem Asi · cultUpper Sky FatherK. F. Karjalainen, Die Religion der Jugra-Völker (FFC, 1921-1927) (secondary)

Relations

• spouse: KaltesHusband of the mother-goddess Kaltes, whom he casts down from heaven; father by her of the World-Watching Man.Holmberg [Harva], Finno-Ugric [and] Siberian Mythology (1927); Kulemzin et al., Khanty Mythology (2006) (secondary)
• equated with: Upper Sky FatherOb-Ugric sky-father: both theonyms = num 'sky' + torum/torem 'god/heaven' (< Uralic *num 'sky, high').Uno Holmberg (Harva), Finno-Ugric and Siberian Mythology (Mythology of All Races, vol. 4), 1927 (secondary)
• equated with: Sky (Num)Both continue Uralic *num 'sky/high'; the Samoyedic supreme sky-creator Num is the cognate of Ob-Ugric Num-Torum."Num," Encyclopedia of Religion (citing Uno Holmberg, Mythology of All Races vol. 4, 1927) (secondary)
• equated with: Sky (Nom)Ob-Ugric Num-Torum and Samoyedic Selkup Nom continue Uralic *num 'sky/high'."Num," Encyclopedia of Religion (citing Uno Holmberg, Mythology of All Races vol. 4, 1927) (secondary)
• sibling: Lord of the UnderworldReciprocal of khanty_kul_otyr.sibling — In Ob-Ugric cosmogony the underworld lord is the dark brother of the sky god Num-Torum.V. Kulemzin et al., Khanty Mythology (Encyclopaedia of Uralic Mythologies 1, 2006) (secondary)
• enemy: Lord of the UnderworldReciprocal of khanty_kul_otyr.enemy — Adversary of the sky god: he corrupts the creation and rules the dead below.V. Kulemzin et al., Khanty Mythology (Encyclopaedia of Uralic Mythologies 1, 2006) (secondary)

Sources

• Num-Torum (Khanty Num Turem; Mansi Numi-Torum) is the Ob-Ugric supreme sky-god who rules the uppermost of seven heavens and fathers the divine children, including Mir-susne-khum, by Kaltes-Ekwa.: K. F. Karjalainen, Die Religion der Jugra-Völker, FF Communications, 1921–1927 (secondary); Bernát Munkácsi, Vogul Folklore Collection, 1892–1921 (secondary)