He withholds the game and his grey beard is also the bear
Resonance
Hunters and woodcutters
Symbols
Beard of lichenMossPineGame bones
Mythology Summary
Tapio is the Finnish forest god or spirit, called King of the Forest, with a beard of lichen and eyebrows of moss in the runic songs; hunters prayed to him before a hunt, and he is the husband of Mielikki, mistress of the forest, and the father of Tellervo, Tuulikki and Nyyrikki. In the runos his name often slides into Mielikki's or simply means 'forest', and several of his epithets are also used of the bear. He is a hunting deity of the eastern Finnish and Karelian tradition, known from the Kalevala and from collected incantations rather than from a temple cult.
Modern Practice
Tapio is asked before a hunt and thanked after one: the first game or a portion of it, salt, bread and a silver coin left in the wood, and no boasting about the catch. The practice is the courtesy of a guest who wants to be invited back.