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A piru is a fiend or demon in Finnish mythology. It was borrowed from Slavic mythology and was the counterpart of Perun, Slavic thunder god. However, piru lost its original meaning and refers to only demon in Finnish mythology.
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.
"Piru" is also a mild swearword in Finnish.
References
- ^ Haavio, Martti (1964). "The Oldest Source of Finnish Mythology: Birchbark Letter No. 292". Journal of the Folklore Institute. 1 (1/2): 57. doi:10.2307/3814030. JSTOR 3814030.
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