Central to Estonian culture – and to many others – is the idea of reciprocity. We received so much hospitality during our trip, we are more than happy to offer hospitality in return, if family and friends make it as far as New Zealand.
And in taking from the natural environment, one must also give back to it. (That is what NZ land-using business should do under our laws, and need to do under a future law that right now is causing angst among environmentalists.)
Going up a level: in ancient times the practice of offering sacrifices to the gods as thanksgiving, or in expectation of reward was commonplace throughout Estonia. Marju Kõivupuu writes on this in Eesti Mütoloogia Algajale, Estonian mythology for the beginner.
“We define sacrifice as a magical ritual in which a valuable animal, plant, or object is dedicated to a supernatural being on the principle of ‘I give to you, so that you may give to me’. In making an offering of reconciliation, the concept is to reconcile a sacrificer’s misconduct with written law or unwritten custom; the offering is divided between the sacrificer and the gods.”
Kõivupuu says sacrifices were made to ward off misfortune or ill health, or to give fertility to a farmer’s crops and livestock. Offerings were mainly foodstuffs, coins, jewellery, and agricultural products.
Offerings on a large stone, Estonian Mythology for the Beginner (2023)
The custom persists today in Estonia. A sundial atop a viewing tower on the highest peak in the Baltics – a small hill – was full of 1 and 2-euro coins. Perhaps, the offerings were made in hope of safe passage back down to terra firma.
The offerings to the Olendi lindentree have been mentioned elsewhere. It is not the only such tree. A lindentree on the mainland received offerings in wartime (1700-1721) for protection against bubonic plague. The custom of leaving offerings of bread and salt on a rock beside the tree persisted into at least the 1800s.
Other suitable places for leaving offerings were some of the large stones that dot the Estonian landscape, or freshwater springs. I was hoping for mention of swords laid in rivers, as happened to Kalevipoeg’s blade (which ultimately spelled disaster for the owner).
No mention of swords, which is at odds with Bronze Age and Iron Age tradition in other parts of Europe, eg the Netherlands, Belgium, and in the UK. Chris Gosden in The History Of Magic (2020) writes at length on the subject.
“You would observe that when a man died, the weapons he owned – mainly a spear and a sword – would not have gone with him into the grave. Weapons were carefully placed in water: in rivers, streams and bogs.” Sometimes the swords were deformed to prevent further deployment; in many cases, they were sharpened “to make them even more useful in their new medium”.
Gosden’s explanation of sacrificial offerings mirrors Kõivupuu’s, and he writes: “Gift exchange is said to revolve around three obligations: the obligation to give, the obligation to receive, and the obligation to repay.”
In this way relationships are created, even today in Estonia. When invited to dinner in someone’s home, bringing chocolate, wine or beer is always welcome.
And if mining or quarry companies dig up a forest, they must put back the land and the trees, so the birds and lizards etc can live there again. And they do.
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