Origin of Fire

Ukko of the air struck fire,
produced a sudden flash
with three feathers of Kokko,
the eagle of fire,
in the sky above,
behind the enclosure of stars.

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In Finnish mythology the eagle is a bird of fire, the king of skies and all other birds. Many tales tell that the first lightning was struck by using the feathers of a mighty eagle, and that lightning started the first fire. In old Finnish language the eagle was more commonly known as “kokko” which nowadays means a large bonfire, typically a specific kind of bonfire that has some ritualistic and even sacred meaning.

Painted in ink, white poster color and gold medium on 300 g/sqm Saunders Waterford hot press watercolour paper. The painting is unframed.