Perkele

Perkele is the god associated with thunder in Finnish mythology, like Thor of Norse mythology. In modern Finnish perkele is a common swearword.

Origins

The name is of Indo-European origin. Related gods from other areas are Perkūnas (Lithuania), Pērkons (Latvia), Percunis (Prussia), Piarun (Belarus), Peko or Pekolasõ (Estonia) and Perun (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech republic, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine).

Use

As "Perkele" is the original name for Ukko, it has a history of being used as a curse: a cry for the god for strength. It still is a common curse word in vernacular Finnish. To a Finn, the word entails seriousness and potency that more lightly used curses lack. Also, when the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland held a popular contest to nominate the "most energizing" word in the Finnish language, one of the suggestions was Perkele because "it is the curse word that gave the most strength for the reconstruction of Finland after the wars." However, the popular vote was won by the word "Aurinko", sun.

Introduction of Christianity

As Christianity was introduced to Finland, the church started demonizing the Finnish gods. This led to the use of "Perkele" as a translation for "devil" in the Finnish translation of the Bible, thus making the use of the word a sin. Later, in 1992 translation, the word is switched to paholainen.

Uses in popular culture

Many Finnish heavy metal bands like Impaled Nazarene and Norther use the word perkele for emphasis and to reference Finnishness. The Swedish Oi! band Perkele is also named after the Finnish swear word.

In the Danish webcomic Scandinavia and the World, which features personification of countries (focusing primarily on Nordic countries), Finland is portrayed as almost never talking, except when angry, then he shouts "Perkele!"

See also

• Perkwunos, Indo-European god of thunder
• "Management by perkele", a Swedish expression
• Finnish profanity