Piru (spirit)

The Poor Devil by the Fire / The Devil by the Pot (1897) by Hugo Simberg

A piru is a fiend or demon in Finnish mythology. The word is inherited from Proto-Finnic *piru* ‘devil, demon’, with cognates in Karelian, Ingrian and Estonian;[1] its ultimate origin is unknown.[2][3][4]

In folklore, a piru is often featured as a nasty spirit of the forest with which a smart aleck either wins or loses a battle of wits, giving or receiving a forfeit in return. In many cases, poltergeist and haunting phenomena are described as "pirus". The Devil may be referred to as (proper noun) Piru, or Pääpiru, the main piru.[citation needed]

"Piru" is also a mild swearword in Finnish.

References

  1. ^ "piru – Suomen etymologinen sanakirja (online)". Kotimaisten kielten keskus (Kotus) (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  2. ^ Itkonen, Erkki; Kulonen, Ulla-Maija, eds. (1995). Suomen sanojen alkuperä: Etymologinen sanakirja. Vol. 2. Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus; Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
  3. ^ Karjalan kielen sanakirja. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. 1968–2005.
  4. ^ Häkkinen, Kaisa (2004). Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja. Helsinki: WSOY.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piru_(spirit)