Definition/Summary:
Mythology
- The Dead-realm Underworld
- The fate of good & bad is the same, & the dead roam the afterlife as shadows/ghosts
Expanded info:
- Tuoni and his wife Tuonetar are the rulers of Tuonela
- Living people visited Tuonela to gather information and spells. The trip requires weeks of travel in the desert then crossing the river with the help of a ferryman
- Shamans could visit Tuonela by falling into a trance and tricking the guards.
Add/Misc:
- Tuonela is best known for its appearance in the Epic Kalevala.
In the 16th song of Kalevala, Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero, travels to Tuonela to seek the knowledge of the dead where he meets the female ferryman, Tuonen tytti, or Tuonen piika aka (Death’s maid) who takes him over the river of Tuoni.
- On the isle of Tuoni, however, he does not receive the spells he was seeking and barely escapes by turning himself into a snake. from then on he curses anyone trying to enter the place alive.