maa-alused

maa-alused, in Estonian folk religion, mysterious elflike small folk living under the earth. Corresponding to these are the Finnish maahiset and Lude muahiset, which refer both to the spirits and to an illness caused by them.

These terms refer to beings living under the earth with an existence quite parallel to that of people living on earth. The main differences are in the opposite orientation of life, in which up becomes down and right becomes left, and in the diminution of all things possessed by the elflike creatures. In Finland the subterranean abode of the maahiset was believed to be a source of many kinds of skin disease, which were called by the same term. People came in contact with the maa-alused or maahiset either by chance or at the wish of the elves themselves. Legends tell of distraught elves seeking help from humans in difficult cases of childbirth or illness. A human could marry an elf, but such a marriage eventually dissolved as the spouse returned to his or her former home.

The elf tradition is by no means homogeneous, carrying with it many often distinct concepts. Some scholars have considered the maa-alused to be spirits of the dead. Others place them in the realm of nature spirits. Often humans are forced to purchase the land on which they wish to build their homes from the previous spirit owners of the area. An equation of the elves with the former human inhabitants of the land has been offered as another explanation of their origin. The elves are also thought of as overseers of certain localities, and in this sense they blend with the haltia, the household spirit, and function as supernatural guardians of moral order among the humans dwelling on their territory.