Finnish Paganism

In Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus says:

However, when Frodi denied his request, Arngrim turned to Erik, the King of Sweden, and asked him for advice. Erik told Arngrim to earn Frodi's respect by killing Egther, the king of Bjarmaland and Thengil, the king of Finnmark.

Bjarmaland is known from the Norse sagas to correspond to modern day Finland, and a Finnish poem says: Syntyi poika Poimarissa, Emo kutsui Ehtaroksi.

Which roughly translates to "A son was born in Poimari, his mother called him Ehtaro" (compare germanic: Egther). In the germanic Beowulf saga, Egther is mentioned as the son of Ecgtheow, who belongs to the clan of Waegmunding, and the head of the Waegmunding clan was called Wægmund (compare pronunciation of Väinämöinen). This would correlate with the Norse sagas Orkneyinga and Hversu Noregr which state family lineages since a Finnish king called "Fornjotr" down to the royal houses of Norway and Sweden, but the reliability and factual accuracy of the sagas is usually disputed as they were written by Snorri Sturlasson hundreds of years after the supposed events took place.

Ecgtheow, the father of Egther (or Ehtaro) is described as separating from the Swedish clan and joining the Geats. Fornjotr translates as "the ancient geat" and is mentioned as the first of the line of rulers in Fundinn Noregr.

The 75th paragraph of the Widsith, dating to the 9th century, also says:

...and shining torcs, Eadwine's son. I was with the Sercings and with the Serings. I was with the Greeks and Finns, and also with Caesar, who had the power over prosperous cities, riches and treasure and the Roman Empire.

The 25th paragraph says: Casere ruled the Greeks and Caelic the Finns, Hagena the Holm-Riggs and Heoden the Gloms. Witta ruled the Swaefe, Wada the Halsings, Meaca the Myrgings, Mearchealf the Hundings. Theodric ruled the Franks, Thyle the Rondings.

While the link between "Kalevala" and "Caelic" and "Väinämöinen" is unclear, it can be assumed that Väinämöinen is not a fully legendary character, but rather a mixture of historical characters of early Bjarmaland and/or Finland and in the modern world, the character of Väinämöinen is heavily influenced by fiction, folklore and legend.