Antero Vipunen

Antero Vipunen is a giant who appears in Finnish mythology and Kalevala folk poetry. He is buried underground and possesses very valuable spells and knowledge.

Myths & Legends
The god-hero Väinämöinen has a spell with three words or luotes missing. In order to obtain them, he goes to wake up the sleeping Vipunen by pushing sharp stakes into his grave and through his mouth and stomach. Väinämöinen hits Vipunen in the stomach so hard that he gives up the luotes to get rid of the stomach ache.

In Kalevala, Antero Vipunen is a giant shaman that possesses mighty spells dating to the creation. Epic hero Väinämöinen sets out to learn these spells from him, but Vipunen is buried underground, and when Väinämöinen digs him out, he is accidentally swallowed by Vipunen. Väinämöinen then forces Vipunen to submit and sing the spells out by hammering his insides. An analysis by Martti Haavio is that Vipunen is not physically large, but his familiar animal (astral form) is a whale. The depiction is not found in the majority of Finnish original stories, and most probably originates from the book's compiler Elias Lönnrot.