Fun Fact: Before the "sauna elf," people used to move around in the sauna while the steam was rising

Before the sauna became a place of relaxation for the entire nation, it was a much stranger and more potent place in folk tradition. In ancient spells, the sauna was not merely a place for washing, but a space where heat was summoned, pain was warded off, the sick were tended to, and one interacted with invisible forces. The steam was not seen as mere vapor, but as a living force with its own origin and its own guardians.

Auteretar is perhaps the most mythical of these. She is known as the guardian of mist, fog, and the sauna, and has also been regarded as a healing goddess. Auteretar is associated with the sauna’s steam, the healing of fevers and inflammations, and the ancient sanctity of the sauna. Her name is linked to the words auer and autere, which refer to mist or fog floating in the air. That is why the idea is particularly beautiful: the steam does not rise only from the stove, but belongs to the same world as mist, heat, breath, and invisible power.

In ancient spells, the sauna steam even has its own mythical family tree. The steam is called the son of Auterinen and the creation of Auterettaren. This makes the sauna much more than just a warm room: it is a place where steam, body, and spirit are connected. The steam can cleanse and heal, but it must also be respected.

Sanervatar brings both healing and danger to the sauna. In spells, he is called the sauna spirit, whose task is to bring heat and steam to the sauna. At the same time, she is asked to keep excessive heat away from wounds and sore spots. The idea is clear: steam can heal, but in the wrong place, it can also cause pain. The sauna was therefore not just a place for relaxation, but a place where heat had to be used correctly.

Kylyn akka takes the sauna even deeper into ancient tradition. In the Karelian context, “kyly” means sauna or bath, and Kylyn akka has been interpreted as the guardian of the sauna and a figure associated with sauna attendants and midwives. This serves as a reminder that the sauna has also been a place strongly associated with birth, care, and women’s work. It was not merely a steam room, but a liminal space of the body, the life cycle, and beliefs.

It wasn’t until later that the more familiar sauna elf—the sauna’s own guardian and quiet spirit—entered the picture. And much later, when folklore met the internet, the sauna gnome crawled in under the benches. It’s not an ancient tradition like spells and guardians, but it’s a fun way of showing how the sauna keeps giving birth to new characters: first the spirits of the steam, then gnomes, and finally meme-like bench creatures.