Finnic Incantations

Finnic incantations, or charms, are a body of traditional literature in the Finnic languages whose purpose was to effect magical change on the world, most often to ward off disease and injury and to ensure prosperity in farming, hunting, fishing and cattle-raising, though they were also used in many other social situations and everyday tasks. They were in widespread use from the first extensive documentation of Finnic-language cultures in the late eighteenth century through the early twentieth century, and more than thirty thousand verse spells were collected from Finland and Karelia and published in the series Suomen kansan vanhat runot.