Iku-Turso (creature)

Iku-Turso (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈikuˌturso], "the eternal Turso"; also known as Iku-Tursas, Iki-Tursas, Meritursas, Tursas, Turisas among others) is a malevolent sea monster in Finnish mythology, best known for appearing in the Kalevala. Nowadays Meritursas means octopus in Finnish, named after Iku-Turso, but originally tursas is an old name for walrus while the more common term is mursu. However, it is more common to see the word mustekala (lit. "ink fish"), the name of its Subclass Coleoidea in Finnish, for the octopus.

The name Turisas is probably an early loanword from the Proto-Germanic *Þurisaz ("giant"). According to Anna-Leena Siikala, it is likely that Turisas and Tursas were originally two different beings who got mixed with each other in runic songs. One song mentions "Iku-Turilas" as a great warrior and Väinämöinen's father, while others speak of "Meri-Tursas" and "Turilas" as malevolent giants. Siikala drew a connection between Kaleva, Iku-Turso/Tursas, and the Norse giants such as Ymir.

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