Tuonetar

Sources in the Kalevala and modern summaries present Tuonetar as the ruling female of the subterranean world Tuonela and the consort of Tuoni. She is described in later summaries as the mother of a set of personified pains and death-figures (named in secondary sources as Kipu-Tyttö, Kivutar, Vammatar, Kalma, and Loviatar) and as progenitor of various plagues and monsters. The provided materials do not supply a cosmogonic birth tale or a detailed origin myth beyond her status as Tuonela's queen and maternal figure for certain malignant beings.

In the Kalevala Rune 16 Tuonetar's portrayal emphasizes actions and role—she offers a goblet, waves a 'magic wand of slumber', and commands attendants—rather than a detailed physical portrait. Later and secondary sources (popular summaries and roleplaying materials) commonly depict her as an 'incredibly ugly, terrifying crone'; these modern visualizations are not foregrounded in the primary Kalevala episode quoted in the supplied materials.

Tuonetar administers a 'beer of oblivion' in the Kalevala episode: a black poison described in modern summaries as containing frog spawn, young poisonous snakes, lizards, adders, and worms, which causes drinkers to forget their former lives and be unable to return to the living world. She uses a 'magic wand of slumber' to put Väinämöinen to sleep and, according to the Kalevala narrative as summarized, commands servants (including a 'three-fingered son') to weave many iron and copper nets to prevent escape along the river of Tuoni. Secondary sources identify her as a maternal source of various pains, diseases, demons, and monsters. Primary-material emphasis is on her role as hostess, guardian of the dead, and enforcer of finality within Tuonela.